Richard Sutcliffe visits the newest destination for fans out to tick off visits to all 92 stadiums in English football's top four divisions

Wrexham have broken their record transfer fee to sign Rotherham United midfielder Ollie Rathbone.The 27-year-old has signed a three-year contract at the SToK Cae Ras to become the Welsh club’s seventh summer signing.Neither club is publicly disclosing the fee but The Athletic has confirmed it breaks Wrexham’s previous record, the £300,000 ($383k) paid for Ollie Palmer in January 2022.“To have (won) back-to-back promotions, the club is obviously doing something very right from the outside looking in,” says Rathbone, who arrives with more than 200 League One appearances to his name.

What is Fantasy EFL? How is it different from FPL? And how do you come up with that all-important punny team name? The Athletic explains all

Sky Sports will show live games during the 3pm blackout across the opening weekend of the English Football League (EFL) as part of a new TV deal.The broadcaster announced on Wednesday that every game from all three EFL divisions will be shown on the opening weekend of the 2024-25 season — including those matches scheduled to take place at 3pm on Saturday.Matches kicking off at 3pm on Saturday are not allowed to be shown by domestic broadcasters under Article 48 of UEFA’s statutes, which allows its member nations to select a two-and-a-half-hour weekend slot where live football is...

Sky Sports are planning to announce scheduled English Football League (EFL) TV picks from August up until the third round of the FA Cup in January before the start of the 2024-25 season.The broadcaster, who will also show every game from all three EFL divisions on the opening day of the new campaign, are taking this action to avoid any potential fan disruption.By November, Sky plan to announce TV picks for January to March, and the rest of the season will follow a ‘traditional’ notice period as they keep up with main storylines.Every match from across all three leagues — the...

A new agreement with Sky Sports will bring an end to iFollow for domestic football fans

The 2023-24 Championship campaign has reached its final hurdle.Leicester City will be returning to the Premier League after their 3-0 victory over Preston North End on Monday secured the league title — their first game since promotion was confirmed following Queens Park Rangers‘ 4-0 win against Leeds United on Friday night.Rotherham United’s 1-0 defeat by Plymouth Argyle on April 5 confirmed their relegation to League One.However, there are still several things to be decided heading into the league’s conclusion this week: a final automatic promotion spot, four play-off places...

The Labour Party has challenged the UK government to hurry up and introduce an independent regulator for football or the opposition will make it “an election issue” in constituencies with crisis-hit clubs.Speaking during a parliamentary business debate on Thursday, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell asked her opposite number Penny Mordaunt why the government had not yet introduced the Football Governance Bill that was promised in November’s King’s Speech, the formal statement of the government’s intended programme of legislation.“The much-needed and heralded...

Three teams will leave via the Championship exit door but as many as 10 remain in danger - expect a grandstand finish

The English Football League (EFL) has secured record deals of at least £148million ($188m) for its international TV rights across a four-season period.The new deals ensure record guaranteed international rights fees for EFL clubs, with two agencies, Pitch International and Relevent Sports, representing the organisation across global TV markets until the conclusion of the 2027-28 campaign.The deals could see the EFL — which runs the second, third and fourth tiers of English football (the Championship, League One and League Two), as well as the League Cup and the EFL Trophy — bank more...

A roundup of all the goings on, quirky stories and on-field action from another fascinating weekend in the EFL

Fifteen years after Rotherham left Millmoor, their former stadium still stands with a pitch in place. But the ground is barely used. Why?

Sheffield Wednesday and Colchester United share an unwanted stat as the only clubs in the 72 on zero points. But who else is struggling?

There were plenty of talking points across the EFL's three divisions this weekend. Here, we round up some standout moments…

The anticipation of a sell-on clause being activated will continue to offer hope to many clubs throughout the pyramid

Who goes up, who goes down, which players will emerge? The EFL is back this weekend and looks as fun as ever

Rotherham's goalkeeper stood tall to help stop their yo-yo existence last season – manager Matt Taylor thinks he can still get better...

The Championship might be the second tier, but there is still plenty of money flowing through the division

A report on club finances in English men’s football has provided a frank assessment of the state of play, finding that most clubs are “heavily reliant” on their owners to provide cash injections on a regular basis.It adds that many sides owe other teams “significant amounts — resulting in a risk of a ‘house of cards’ systemic failure”.The report comes from LCP, a leading business consultancy based in London which developed TransferLab — the player scouting tool used by clubs and agencies — in partnership with football data company Analytics FC.It found that the...

Wrexham have been drawn at home to Wigan Athletic in the first round of the Carabao Cup.Wrexham, promoted from the National League last season, will welcome a Wigan side who suffered relegation to League One last term at the Racecourse Ground in their first League Cup fixture since 2007.Leeds United have been drawn at home to Shrewsbury Town, while Leicester City travel to Burton Albion.In the southern side of the draw, Southampton will travel to Gillingham and there is an all-Championship tie between Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City.The Carabao Cup first-round fixtures will be played...