Chesterfield hope for another tasty Carabao Cup tie to kick-off the new season
The domestic football season begins with a Carabao Cup tie for Chesterfield and their EFL counterparts this time around.
And even though that will never have the attraction of a league opener, a decent tie on the weekend of August 8 could add a bit of extra interest before the League Two action starts for real a week later.
"There are all sorts of permutations,” said Chesterfield’s assistant manager Danny Webb, speaking ahead of this week’s first round draw. “It is going to be a game we want to win and progress in because you can a bigger club a round earlier than you would in the FA Cup.
"Last year we had the joy of playing Mansfield Town here and although we didn’t get the result we wanted, what a great occasion for the two sets of supporters who don’t really like each other very much. Hopefully we can have a similar tie this year.”
Like last season, a four-team preliminary qualifying round is needed in order to reduce the number of clubs in Round One and Two to accommodate the nine Premier League clubs involved in Europe who will join in Round Three.
The preliminary round involves the two newly-promoted National League sides York City and Rochdale and the two teams that finished 21st and 22nd in League Two last season, Tranmere and Crawley.
Tranmere were drawn at home to Rochdale with the winner of their tie on Saturday, August 1 joining the Northern Section for the first round draw.
York take on Crawley on Monday, August 3 with the victor going into the Southern Section.
Round Two features the 35 winners from Round One alongside the 11 Premier League teams not in European competition.
The first round draw for the Carabao Cup will be screened live on Sky Sports on Thursday. The league fixtures are out at noon the same day.