Sheffield United 2026-27 fixtures: Big start and potentially even bigger finish

The Blades kick off their campaign with a televised home game against Birmingham City, and end with a match at Southampton.

Birmingham have invested heavily for the last two seasons under American ownership, and will be expecting to at least be in the conversation for promotion.

The game has certainly caught Sky Sports' imagination, so the Blades' season will kick off later than most, at 5.30pm on the opening Saturday, August 15.

That is then followed by consecutive weekends in Wales, against Swansea City and Cardiff City.

They finish their campaign at Southampton, who may or may not have been promoted last season had it not been for the Spygate scandal that saw them thrown out of the play-offs.

They have been served up with a cracker of a Boxing Day game, at home to Middlesbrough, who lost the play-off final to Hull City. The return fixture is the last game before the March international break, which signals the start of the run-in proper.

Chris Wilder's side are away for the rest of the Festive period but close by, at Derby County on December 29, and Burnley on New Year's Day. The home game against the Clarets, relegated from the Premier League last season, is on December 12.

The Blades' final home match of the campaign is a tough one too, against Millwall on the final weekend of May.

After a disappointing 2025-26, where they never recovered from a short-lived but damaging spell as manager by Ruben Selles, the Blades will be expected to push for promotion in 2026-27 now Wilder is back in charge but they will have to operate smartly, as it will be the first campaign in seven where they have not been subsidised by Premier League money, either for being in the division or in the form of parachute payments after relegation.

All fixtures are subject to change, with more games moved for live television coverage to be announced in due course.

The draw for the first round of the League Cup is due to take place at 4:30pm.

August

15 Birmingham City H

22 Swansea City A

29 Cardiff City A

September

1 Bolton Wanderers H

5 Norwich City H

8 Blackburn Rovers A

12 Wolverhampton Wanderers H

19 Stoke City A

October

10 Lincoln City H

14 Portsmouth A

17 Bristol City A

24 Derby County H

31 Wrexham H

November

3 Preston North End A

7 Charlton Athletic A

21 Watford H

24 Southampton H

28 Queens Park Rangers A

December

5 West Ham United H

8 Millwall A

12 Burnley H

19 West Bromwich Albion A

26 Middlesbrough H

29 Derby County A

January 2027

1 Burnley A

16 Bristol City H

23 Wrexham A

26 Preston North End H

30 Charlton Athletic H

February

6 Watford A

13 Wolverhampton Wanderers A

16 Portsmouth H

20 Stoke City H

27 Lincoln City A

March

3 Swansea City H

6 Birmingham City A

13 Queens Park Rangers H

17 West Ham United A

20 Middlesbrough A

3 West Bromwich Albion H

April

7 Blackburn Rovers H

10 Norwich City A

17 Cardiff City H

20 Bolton Wanderers A

24 Millwall H

May

1 Southampton A