Sky Sports has confirmed its opening set of live televised matches for the 2012/13 npower Football League season.
Cardiff City’s clash with newly-promoted Huddersfield Town has been selected as the opening TV fixture of the season on Friday, 17 August, and this will be the first of up to 75 Football League matches to be shown exclusively live throughout the campaign, including the Play-Offs and all three Play-Off finals from Wembley.
Sky have also announced their opening live games of the rebranded Capital One Cup, and they will screen two matches from the first round of the competition, which will take place a week before the opening game of the league season.
They will screen Oldham Athletic’s home tie Sheffield Wednesday on August 13, and Swindon Town’s clash with Brighton the following evening.
Seven other live matches have been confirmed, including a second televised match on the opening weekend where Neil Warnock’s Leeds United host Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were relegated from the Premier League last season.
Two weeks later, Sky Sports will screen its first League 1 matches of the season, with a double-header of action beginning with Coventry City, who were relegated from the Championship, meeting last season’s defeated Play-Off semi-finalists Stevenage.
This will be followed by newly-promoted Crawley Town, who are in the third tier of English football for the first time in their history, hosting 2008 FA Cup winners Portsmouth.
Two further Championship matches will be played in front of Sky Sports cameras in September, including Charlton Athletic against Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough’s visit to Blackburn Rovers.
They will also screen the south Yorkshire derby between Sheffield Wednesday and rivals Leeds United on October 19.
More live matches will be confirmed over the coming weeks.
Sky Sports has exclusive live coverage of Football League and League Cup matches for the next three seasons.
The BBC lost its 10 free-to-air Championship games, as well as its three live matches from the latter stages of the League Cup, in the last live rights deal.
But they will continue to screen The Football League Show every Saturday throughout the season and a League Cup highlights programme every round, having recently struck a new three-year highlights deal.
The line-up of live matches on Sky Sports this season includes Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League, npower Football League, Capital One Cup, Scottish Cup, Clydesdale Bank Premier League, Northern Ireland’s Carling Premiership and selected international fixtures.
More games, including live Barclays Premier League fixtures, will be announced in due course.
UPDATE: Further live matches have been added by Sky Sports (marked with * below)
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