By Bradley Stead
The English Football League (EFL) have announced that the last nine rounds of Championship fixtures will begin on Saturday the 20th of June, with Huddersfield Town kicking off against Wigan Athletic at the John Smith’s Stadium at 15:00.
All games will be played behind closed doors.
Fixtures will pick up from where they left off after football was forced into a shutdown on March 13th due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
This means that following their match against Wigan, Huddersfield will then travel to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest on Sunday 28th June, with a kick-off time of 14:15, as the game will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Town supporters who have a Season Card will be able to watch all of the remaining nine games using the iFollow HTAFC service.
The latest fixture announcement follows the news (from June 7th) that out of 1,179 tests conducted, two people from two Championship clubs have tested positive for Covid-19.
One of those positive tests was a member of staff at Barnsley. Those who test positive have to self-isolate for 14 days, in line with EFL guidelines.
The announcement of the June 20th restart date initially caused some clubs, most notably QPR, to express their opposition to the scheduling of the restart of the Championship season.
At the start of June, in a statement on their club website, QPR CEO Lee Hoos said: “The players haven’t even returned to full-contact training at this moment and yet they are now expected to be in a position to play at a competitive level in just three weeks’ time.”
Last week KLTV reported on Danny Cowley’s thoughts on the return to training and restart of the championship season.
The resumption of the Championship will begin at 12:30 on Saturday, June 20th, when 4th placed Brentford host 3rd placed Fulham, live on Sky Sports, in what will be the first Championship game since the 8th March.
League leaders Leeds United will restart their campaign away to Cardiff City on Sunday, June 21st with a 12:00 kick-off.
Evidence from the Bundesliga restart suggests that teams form will largely be unaffected by the enforced break, however, only time will tell if the break was either a blessing or a hindrance.
Huddersfield is currently 18th in the Championship table, three points above the relegation zone.
Full list of Huddersfield’s remaining fixtures:
- Saturday 20th June – Wigan Athletic (H), 15:00
- Sunday 28th June – Nottingham Forest (A) 14:15
- Wednesday 1st July – Birmingham City (A) 19:45
- Saturday 4th July – Preston North End (H) 15:00*
- Tuesday 7th July – Reading (A) 19:45*
- Saturday 11th July – Luton Town (H) 15:00*
- Tuesday 14th July – Sheffield Wednesday (A) 19:45*
- Saturday 18th July – West Bromwich Albion (H) 15:00*
- Wednesday 22nd July – Millwall (A) TBC*
*Dates and kick-off times for these fixtures may change due to TV broadcast selections