Fixtures release day offers a chance for football supporters to start plotting and dreaming. Nine sets of Yorkshire fanbases got that chance on Thursday.

Whether it be new grounds or old rivalries, every list has something to look out for. With five Yorkshire clubs in the division, League One is the place to be for White Rose derbies and week two of the new Football League campaign provides the first wave.

Sheffield Wednesday will host Bradford City, Doncaster Rovers are at home to Barnsley, and Rotherham United welcome York City on August 22 or thereabouts once Sky Sports have had their say.

Huddersfield Town are alongside the Owls, the Bantams, the Reds and Rovers in this season's League One, and their New Year's Day trip to Hillsborough should be a good way to start 2027. Barnsley versus Bradford City is less well timed, falling in September/October's now three-week international break.

And although it is pushing it to call Sheffield United v Middlesbrough a derby, in the absence of a bona fide one for either next season, it is certainly a fixture to ring.

The beaten Championship play-off finalists of the last two seasons will be expecting to push for promotion again, and their scheduled Boxing Day game has all the makings of a treat. York travelling to Oldham Athletic, who knocked them out of the Conference play-offs 13 months ago, is another match stacked with potential that day.

But after the shenanigans of last month, one of the first fixtures Boro fans will have looked for was Southampton. Hopefully tensions might have calmed a bit by the time they head to the south coast at the end of November, and if the Saints get off to a poor start, pantomime villain Tonda Eckhart could even have been removed from the cast list. It will be mid-March before their uncomfortable visit to the Riverside.

If Boro are in the promotion race, they could have done with an easier final six games than Portsmouth away, Millwall away, Queens Park Rangers at home, West Bromwich Albion away, Burnley at home, West Ham United at home and Swansea City away.

BOXING DAY CRACKER: Middlesbrough are due at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane on December 26 (Image: Kate McShane/Getty Images)

placeholder image — BOXING DAY CRACKER: Middlesbrough are due at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane on December 26 (Image: Kate McShane/Getty Images)

The trade-off is a more benign start, although facing a newly-promoted side on the opening day is never ideal, and even without departed coach Michael Skubala, Lincoln City are sure to be full of beans.

That game is at 3pm on Saturday, welcome after so many Boro matches not at the traditional time in 2025-26. Hopefully West Ham's return to the division means they can have the dubious honour of being Sky's Friday-night darlings this season.

With the vast majority of TV dates still to be announced, we do know Sheffield United's opening game, at home to Birmingham City, will be in one of the premium slots, so they will be kicking their heels until 5.30pm on the first day, August 15.

Burnley versus West Ham rightly gets the prime Sunday 4pm slot.

ON A HIGH: Conference champions York City make their Football League return at home (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

With no disrespect to the cities they play in, the good thing about consecutive weekends in Wales in the following weeks is it gets trips to Swansea and Cardiff out of the way whilst the nights are still light.

Southampton away does not have the same baggage for the Blades, but could be a heck of a final match if both are challenging for promotion.

December looks the toughest month for them, so it would be nice to go into it with some momentum after stalling on the start line and never recovering last season.

York's first Football League game in 3,752 days will be at home – to Steve Evans' Bristol Rovers. After their summer “rebirth”, Sheffield Wednesday have a feel-good factor to build on too, so would have preferred not to be away first, at Leyton Orient, where the away end will be packed but obviously a lot smaller than Hillsborough.

NEW GROUND: Barnsley, Huddersfield Town and Sheffield Wednesday have never played at Bromley's Hayes Lane (Image: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Amongst all the derbies, starting December with trips to Oxford United and Leicester City, relegated with them last season, plus a visit from Luton Town, is enticing. There will be an FA Cup squeezed in there too, if they have reached round two.

The U's could be challenging final-day opponents, but at least the Owls are at home.

Like Huddersfield and Barnsley, Wednesday will play at Bromley's Hayes Lane for the first time, exciting for those who can get tickets.

Rotherham have played at Barrow before, but not in the league since 1970, and Middlesbrough's trip to Lincoln will be their first since 1961.

Their preparations disrupted by the lack of a manager, the Millers could probably have done without York and Chesterfield at home when the August transfer window is still open, and Doncaster – slow starters under Grant McCann – might have preferred not to have a South Yorkshire derby in week two and a game against muscular Stevenage in the opening month, but such is life.

They were not fixture lists to read a huge amount into but they were ones to get the diehards who follow our clubs excited about what is to come.

It is the hope that kills you, but from now until reality bites in a couple of months is a time to savour.