Last updated on .From the section Football

Benik Afobe agreed his loan move from Stoke City to Bristol City on the 8 August transfer deadline day

English Football League clubs have agreed to push the transfer deadline for the Championship back.

The move follows a similar change by the Premier League earlier this month.

Since 2018, the Championship's window has closed the day before the season began - in 2019 on 8 August - to align it with the Premier League.

The window usually closes at midnight on 31 August, but will be extended this summer to 17:00 on 1 September due to the previous day being a Bank Holiday.

Clubs in League One and League Two will be unaffected as they have been able to acquire players up to 31 August in previous seasons.

"A process for formally adopting the change into EFL regulations will now take place in due course, bringing Championship Clubs in line with the current position for League One and League Two," a league statement read.

The transfer window was moved to the beginning of August in England in 2018 following complaints from clubs and managers that keeping it open after the start of the season was disruptive.

It was hoped major leagues across Europe would also bring their own windows forward.

However, that did not happen and a number of clubs found themselves in the uncomfortable position of knowing their players were in demand across the continent but unable to bring in replacements for anyone they wanted to sell.