York host Crawley; Tranmere welcome Rochdale in EFL Cup
- Published
The first fixtures of the 2026-27 season have been revealed with the draw for the preliminary round of the Carabao Cup.
With Crystal Palace's victory in last month's UEFA Europa Conference League final ensuring nine Premier League clubs will compete in Europe next season, they will not enter the competition until round three.
It means a preliminary round is required to ensure 32 teams are in the pot at that stage, with 23 winners of round two ties.
Newly-promoted National League sides York City and Rochdale joined Tranmere Rovers and Crawley Town, the sides who finished 21st and 22nd in League Two last season, in the hat, with the ties randomly drawn by former Derby, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham goalkeeper Lee Camp.
York were drawn at home to Crawley and the winner of that tie will proceed to the Southern section of the round one draw.
Tranmere will host Rochdale in the other tie, with the winner joining the northern section when the draw takes place on 25 June - EFL fixture release day.
Dates and times are yet to be confirmed but ties are expected to take place during the weekend of 1-2 August.
The regionalised sections of the draw will be re-adjusted ahead of round two of the competition.
