The much anticipated local derby between Sheffield Wednesday and city rivals Sheffield United is to be screened live on Sky Sports in September, with the match confirmed for broadcast alongside six other EFL fixtures in September and early October.
Sheffield United’s promotion sees the return of the Steel City derby to the Sky Bet Championship and the Blades’ visit to Hillsborough will be broadcast live to Sky Sports viewers at 1:15pm on Sunday 24th September.
The match concludes a busy weekend of EFL action, which will also see Forest Green Rovers feature live with the Sky Bet League Two newcomers welcoming Swindon Town in a Friday night kick-off. Nottingham Forest’s visit to Aston Villa takes place in the 5:30pm slot on Saturday 23rd.
A further three games are to be aired over the weekend of Friday 29th September to Sunday 1st October, with the focus turning to West London initially for QPR’s match with Fulham in the Sky Bet Championship.
A 5:30pm kick-off will see Reading host Norwich City on Saturday, before another big game in Yorkshire with Sheffield Wednesday again the hosts. This time, they welcome local rivals Leeds United in a match which gets under way at 12:15pm on the Sunday.
The final game confirmed is Aston Villa’s visit to Barnsley which will take place at 5:30pm on Saturday 16th September.
The list of games selected for live coverage are as follows:
- Saturday 16th September: Barnsley v Aston Villa (5:30pm)
- Friday 22nd September: Forest Green Rovers v Swindon Town (7:45pm)
- Saturday 23rd September: Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest (5:30pm)
- Sunday 24th September: Sheffield Wednesday v Sheffield United (1:15pm)
- Friday 29th September: Queens Park Rangers v Fulham (7:45pm)
- Saturday 30th September: Reading v Norwich City (5:30pm)
- Sunday 1st October: Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds United (12:15pm)
Please note: one further fixture may be confirmed.
Throughout the course of the 2017/18 season, Sky Sports will exclusively show 127 live matches from the Sky Bet EFL season - including the Play-Offs - as well as 15 matches from the Carabao Cup and at least three from the Checkatrade Trophy.
As with 2016/17, the EFL and broadcast partner Sky Sports have again committed to give clubs and supporters at least five weeks’ notice ahead of any EFL matches being selected for live television coverage.
As part of the agreement, the EFL will publicly announce any fixture changes within three working days of their selection (following club consideration) in order to give EFL supporters as much time as is possible to allow for any alterations to travel plans that may be required.
If both the EFL and Sky Sports are unable to meet this timeframe then the clubs involved have the ability to choose not to be broadcast live on television. However, if both clubs mutually agree to the rescheduling of the fixture within this five-week period then the game will be televised on the new date.
TV selection dates 2017/18 (Illustrative but subject to a five-week minimum notice commitment)
- Clubs notified of selections for 7th October to 11th November by 25th August.
- Clubs notified of selections for 18th November to 9th December by 29th September
- Clubs notified of selections for 16th December to 13th January by 3rd November;
- Clubs notified of selections for 20th January to 3rd February by 8th December;
- Clubs notified of selections for 10th February to 3rd March by 29th December
- Clubs notified of selections for 10th March to 31st March by 19th January
- From 23rd February, a minimum five-week rolling selection commences for matches up to and including the penultimate weekend
- Clubs notified of selections for the final day made following the completion of the penultimate round of matches
The EFL has committed to publicly announcing any fixture changes within three working days in order to give EFL supporters as much time as is possible to allow for any alterations to travel plans that may be required.