FIFA tear up 100-year EFL tradition with Championship and Premier League impacted | OneFootball

Championship and Premier League clubs will not have Easter fixtures next season

Championship clubs are set to encounter a significant change to the traditional footballing calendar next season.

The second tier, League One and League Two, currently adhere to more traditions than the Premier League, as the top tier had just one Boxing Day fixture this season.

In contrast, the EFL had a full fixture programme on 26 December, and many Championship observers will fondly remember Wrexham's thrilling 5-3 victory over Sheffield United this season.

EFL supporters will hope for a similar level of excitement this Easter Weekend, with two vital matchweeks taking place on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Premier League and Championship set for major Easter fixture change next season

Easter weekend is set to play a key role once again at the business end of the Championship, League One, and League Two seasons next month.

Exciting second-tier fixtures on Good Friday this season include a meeting between automatic promotion challengers Middlesbrough and Millwall.

Meanwhile, Monday, 6 April is set to play host to a clash between play-off rivals Wrexham and Southampton.

But as reported by the Daily Mail, there will be no fixtures over Easter weekend in either the Premier League or Championship next season because FIFA’s international break will include the bank holiday. The report states that league games have been played at Easter since 1889, and top-flight games have been in the Easter schedule since 1892.

Other games in the EFL will also be affected, due to international call-ups in League One and League Two.

The Mail's report adds that domestic leagues were not consulted by FIFA over the significant change, while a merged international break next term will cause the Premier League and Championship to pause following 19 September and then not resume again until 10 October.

Easter weekend change is disappointing for Championship supporters

The Championship is one of the most competitive and entertaining divisions in world football, and this season has been no exception, as the play-off race remains wide open, and the title race between Coventry City and Middlesbrough has involved unpredictable twists and turns.

Frank Lampard's men once enjoyed a 10-point gap over Boro this term, but were overtaken by Hellberg's side last month, before re-opening a five-point lead.

Meanwhile, bottom-half sides such as Sheffield United and Stoke City still hold faint play-off hopes, if they can establish a rich vein of form in their last 11 games.

Two relegation spots are also yet to be decided, with big Championship names such as Leicester City and West Bromwich Albion desperately scrapping against the dreaded drop to League One.

The fact that such vital matters are still to be determined means that having two full fixture lists on Good Friday and Easter Monday makes the bank holiday weekend crucial to every second-tier club.

Consequently, the news that there will be no Easter weekend fixtures next season is a kick in the teeth for supporters of every Championship club.

When fixtures are released, many second-tier fans keep a particularly keen eye on when their club are facing their rivals, who they are playing on Boxing Day and who they are playing on Easter weekend.

The spring bank holiday within that equation is arguably the most exciting, given the nature of such a condensed fixture list when the pressure is on.