The Football League and Sky Sports have announced the first live TV match selections for what is the broadcaster’s biggest ever season of Sky Bet Football League coverage.

Sky Sports will kick off its coverage of the new Sky Bet Football League season with three live matches across the opening weekend, beginning with Brighton & Hove Albion’s home match against Nottingham Forest on Friday 7 August and followed by matches at Leeds United and Preston North End.





Sky Sports will show 19 clubs from the Sky Bet Championship by the start of October, and as part of the initial selection of 16 matches to be shown live, there are also matches from Sky Bet League 1 and League 2.





Thanks to the start of the new broadcasting partnership between Sky and The Football League, viewers can enjoy more matches than ever before with 112 matches from across the Sky Bet Football League broadcast exclusively live, as well as the 15 Sky Bet Play-Off matches, including all three finals.





Sky Sports Head of Football Gary Hughes said: “Last season’s Championship was one of the most exciting in recent memory and what you can guarantee with the Football League is competitive games from the opening weekend to the final day of the playoffs.





“With more games than ever on Sky Sports we’ll be able to show more of that story, and cover more clubs up and down the country that the fans are so passionate about.”





Alongside their Football League coverage, from August Sky Sports will also show matches from the starts of the SPFL and Premier League seasons.





As the domestic leagues shape up in August and September, viewers will also be able to follow the climax to UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying with all the home nation sides in contention for a place in France next summer.





Sky Sports’ coverage of the Football League will include the analysis and expert views of Don Goodman, Peter Beagrie and Andy Hinchcliffe, and hosted by Simon Thomas.





Sky Sports live Sky Bet Football League fixtures:











