Image Credits: Imago Images
There will be no Premier League or Championship football over Easter weekend next season, as well as a 21-day break from Premier League football as the calendar reshuffle around international fixtures starts to bite for English clubs and supporters.
From next season, FIFA’s revamped calendar will see the traditional September and October breaks combined into one elongated block, running from 21 September to 11 October – a full 21 days without Premier League or Championship action as clubs release players for up to four international fixtures in that period.
The change stems from the revised men’s international match calendar for 2026–2030, which stretches the March international window so that it now swallows Good Friday and Easter Monday.
Normally, the Premier League would schedule one round of fixtures over the Easter weekend, while the Championship and the rest of the EFL often cram in two matches during one of the most traditional slots on the English football calendar. Those games will disappear next season, with international fixtures instead expected to be played across the Easter period.
The break will begin after domestic matches on 20 March, with players then joining up with their national teams and club action not resuming until the FA Cup quarter-finals in early April according to the Daily Mail. That gap is part of a wider shake-up the aforementioned 21 day break between September and October.
Clubs were not consulted on the decision to consume Easter with internationals, something that is expected to anger executives already frustrated by fixture congestion and player workload. The move also ends a streak of more than a century in which league football has been a staple of the Easter programme, with top-flight games on the holiday weekend dating back to the late 19th century.
Additionally, ahead of next season, it’s also reported that the EFL campaign will open with the first round of the Carabao Cup, played on August 8 rather than a week earlier. League fixtures will then begin on August 15, with the Premier League kicking off on August 22.
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