When Portsmouth's Championship fixtures will be released - plus pre-season return date and confirmed friendlies

Indeed, the Blues - who won last season’s League One title with 97 points - have another week to wait, with all Football League fixtures not out until Wednesday, June 26.

Fixture release day is often much anticipated across the football pyramid. Fans love to learn where their latest campaigns will kick off, who their opening-day opponents will be, what has the festive period got in store for them, when they face their biggest rivals, and what’s the run-in looking like.

Pompey fans are no different, with many of the Fratton faithful also looking forward to visiting some old, familiar stomping grounds next season. Or in some of the younger supporters’ cases - grounds they have never experienced, with the Blues last competing at Championship level in 2012. 

Unfortunately, though, there’ll be no south-coast derby in the Championship in 2024-25, after Southampton clinched a return to the Premier League thanks to their play-off final victory against Leeds. By the way, in case you’re interested, the St Mary’s outfit kick-start their latest top-flight campaign with a trip to Newcastle on Saturday, August 17.

Pompey have already started their recruitment drive ahead of their Championship return. They announced the signing of Barnsley right-back Jordan Williams on the day the transfer window opened officially for business on Friday, June 14. Connor Ogilvie has also penned a new two-year deal, while Marlon Pack is expected to follow suit.

A raft of more signings is expected, although it’s unclear if any will be through the door by the time the Blues know their schedule for the season ahead, with the fixtures being released at 9am on Wednesday, June 26.

A day later, the Pompey players report back for some pre-season testing, before they’re back on the grass for pre-season proper on Monday, July 1. Last summer, the Blues had seven new additions taking part on day one of pre-season, so it will be interesting to see what other business, if any, Pompey fans can look forward to seeing between now and then.

John Mousinho and his squad are due to fly abroad on the weekend of July 6-7 for a week-long warm-weather training camp. The Blues remain tight-lipped in regards to the destination of that trip, while there’s no pre-season friendly lined up while they are away. That means the next time Pompey fans will see their team in action will be on Tuesday, July 16, when they travel to Gosport Borough to kick-off their pre-season friendly schedule.

Games against the Hawks (July 19), Bognor (July 20) and MK Dons (July 30) have also been pencilled in. Yet at least one more friendly - to take place between the Bognor and MK Dons games matches - is expected to be announced in the near future.

Focus then turns to that opening day of the season for the weekend of August 10-11. We’ll know a lot more in regards to where and who that game will be against in eight day’s time as the countdown to Pompey’s Championship return gathers pace.