Notts County boss Luke Williams branded his 10-man side’s performance “weak” and “pathetic” after their humbling League Two return ended 5-1 at Sutton.Goalkeeper Aidan Stone was sent off after just 15 minutes at Gander Green Lane.But Williams insisted that was no excuse for his team’s disappointing display.Joe Kizzi opened the scoring for the hosts inside two ...Full Story »

Watford boss Valerien Ismael hailed his players as they got his Vicarage Road reign off to a rip-roaring start with a 4-0 win against a hapless QPR side.All of the goals came in a scintillating first-half display that saw the Hornets take the lead after just 33 seconds through Tom Dele-Bashiru.The impressive Imran Louza, Matthias Martins and Vakoun Bayo also profited from some dismal defending f...Full Story »

Wigan manager Shaun Maloney described Charlie Wyke as “special” after his double clinched a 2-1 League One win at Derby.Wyke suffered a cardiac arrest during training in November 2021 and now plays with a defibrillator fitted in his chest.Maloney was delighted with his team but acknowledged the significance of Wyke’s contribution.“Charlie Wyke is a special case,” he...Full Story »

Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds had “first day of school vibes” ahead of an emotional, long-awaited English Football League return that proved promoted Wrexham still have a lot to learn after a 5-3 defeat to MK Dons.The Welsh club have become one of the most talked about teams in the world over the last 30 months thanks to their famous owners and the acclaimed docuseries charting their ...Full Story »

Salford boss Neil Wood hailed his side’s defensive strength after his side opened their League Two account with a 2-0 win over recently relegated Forest Green.Goals from Conor McAleny and Matt Smith were enough for all three points for Wood’s side at a damp Bolt New Lawn.“I was really pleased with the result and to be able to start with a win. I didn’t think we looked lik...Full Story »

Carlisle manager Paul Simpson believes his side could have come away with more after they started life back in Sky Bet League One with a 1-1 draw against Fleetwood.Owen Moxon opened the scoring for the Cumbrians with a 30-yard free-kick, but it was cancelled out by Brendan Wiredu’s strike just before half-time.Both teams had chances to score the winner and Simpson was left to rue missed op...Full Story »

Bradford boss Mark Hughes admitted his game plan went out of the window following “naive” Dan Oyegoke’s first-half red card but backed the on-loan defender to learn from the experience.City slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Crawley after failing to recover from Will Wright’s 14th-minute opener and 20-year-old Oyegoke’s dismissal before the break.Oyegoke, on a season-long l...Full Story »

Aberdeen manager Barry Robson lamented his team’s wasteful finishing after they began the cinch Premiership season with a hard-fought goalless draw at Livingston.There was a distinct dearth of goalmouth action in both boxes, with the Dons unable to register a single shot on target.Duk lacked composure in both halves as he failed to test Lions goalkeeper Shamal George from promising positio...Full Story »

New boss Matty Taylor heaped praise on Shrewsbury captain Ryan Bowman after his second-half goal secured a 1-0 win over Cheltenham.Bowman pounced in the 50th minute after Luke Southwood had to dive at full stretch to parry Ben Williams’ header towards his own goal following Jordan Shipley’s cross, ensuring it was the perfect start to Taylor’s reign at the Croud Meadow.“I ...Full Story »

Burton boss Dino Maamria rued a sloppy first-half passage of play as his side fell to a 2-0 defeat to Blackpool in the opening weekend of League One action.Shayne Lavery struck in the 19th and 25th minutes to hand the Tangerines an opening victory on Saturday afternoon, a strong response for Neil Critchley’s side after their relegation from the Championship last season.And, despite an enco...Full Story »

Tony Docherty insisted Dundee deserved to take all three points from a 1-1 cinch Premiership draw against Motherwell at Dens Park.The newly-promoted Dark Blues had to settle for a share of the spoils against the Steelmen on their return to the Scottish top flight.Motherwell debutant Theo Bair opened the scoring with a fine finish on the stroke of half-time with Lyall Cameron securing a draw for ...Full Story »

Mark Bonner felt Cambridge hit a high standard as they opened their Sky Bet League One campaign with a win.Cambridge, who produced a great escape to survive in the third tier at the end of last season, made a perfect start to the new campaign with a 2-0 victory over Oxford.Jack Lankester fired them ahead before a goal on debut from the impressive Gassan Ahadme saw them in control at the break an...Full Story »

Stevenage manager Steve Evans felt his side were good value for all three points after they started the new Sky Bet League One season by beating Northampton 1-0.Boro’s first ever win at Sixfields came courtesy of Carl Piergianni’s 81st-minute close-range finish as Stevenage edged a tight game between two teams who are newly promoted into the division.A total of 22 minutes of stoppage...Full Story »

Ryan Lowe expects his Preston team to have more goal power this season following impressive starts by summer signings Will Keane and Mads Frokjaer in a 1-1 draw against Bristol City.Keane marked the beginning of his second spell as a North End player with an opportunist late equaliser at Ashton Gate, while Frokjaer also played a key role in a determined fightback afterSam Bell’s 47th-minut...Full Story »

Cove Rangers started life in Scottish League One on a losing note as Hamilton put their disappointment at missing out on promotion last season behind them with a 1-0 victory at the ZLX Stadium.Hamilton’s shootout defeat to Airdrie in May condemned the Accies to at least one more campaign in the third tier, with the Toonsers dropping down after finishing last in the Championship last term.I...Full Story »

Hearts head coach Frankie McAvoy praised his players after they overcame first-half rustiness to secure an impressive 2-0 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on the cinch Premiership’s opening day.In a close game that began after a short delay with a VAR power failure, Yutaro Oda eventually gave Hearts the lead with 15 minutes to go with a superb low strike and Lawrence Shankland ...Full Story »

Alex Neil praised his “exciting” Stoke side as they demolished 10-man Rotherham with a 4-1 Championship win.Maritimo recruit Andre Vidigal was the highlight of the Potters’ six debutants as he capped an impressive display with a brace.“I thought we looked like an exciting team,” Neil said. “We wanted to start the season well because there’s been a lot of...Full Story »

Jack Iredale’s first ever Bolton goal in Wanderers’ 3-0 Sky Bet League One win over Lincoln was a touch of deja vu for manager Ian Evatt and his squad.Out of action with a knee injury since January 2, Iredale opened the Trotters’ goalscoring account after four minutes; his first since netting for previous club Cambridge 22 months ago.The versatile Australian’s header came...Full Story »

Simon Weaver praised his “grown-up” Harrogate Town side as he refused to allow want-away striker Luke Armstrong’s future to overshadow their opening day win at Doncaster Rovers.Sought-after Armstrong asked not to be involved in the Yorkshire derby as he seeks to secure a move away.But Town pressed on without the forward and his stand-in Jack Muldoon scored a second-half penalty...Full Story »

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins praised the finishing of hat-trick hero Devante Cole after Port Vale were thumped 7-0 in his first game in charge.Liam Kitching, Jon Russell and debutant Andrew Dallas also got on the scoresheet, with Vale defender Dan Jones turning into his own net before the break.Collins said: “The way he took his goals were clinical. For me Devante scored them when we ...Full Story »

Hull’s management were feeling hard done by after being sunk by last-gasp goal in a 2-1 opening-day defeat against Norwich at Carrow Road.Head coach Liam Rosenior was shown a red card by referee Keith Stroud for the angry protest which followed Adam Idah’s stoppage-time winner.That meant he was forced to miss the post-match press conference under new rules, with assistant head coach ...Full Story »

Jon Dahl Tomasson praised the ambition and attitude of his two young goalscorers after their first league goals for Blackburn secured a 2-1 win against West Brom.Rovers delivered what turned out to be the knockout punches in a clinical three-minute spell as Dilan Markanday’s tidy finish from a narrow angle set the hosts on their way in the 20th minute before they suffocated their opponents...Full Story »

Nigel Clough was pleased with Mansfield’s reaction to being reduced to 10 men in their 2-2 draw at Crewe and felt his side deserved to come away with a victory.Defender Calum MacDonald received what Clough thought was a “very harsh” straight red card for a challenge on Chris Long just before the hour mark, which halted the Stags in their stride after they commanded a two-goal l...Full Story »

Newly-promoted Carlisle started life back in Sky Bet League One with a 1-1 draw against Fleetwood at Brunton Park.Owen Moxon opened the scoring for the Cumbrians with a 30-yard free-kick, but it was cancelled out by Brendan Wiredu’s strike just before half-time.Carlisle captain Paul Huntington went close to opening the scoring in the 29th minute, but his header from Moxon’s floated f...Full Story »

Jack Muldoon’s second-half penalty got Harrogate Town off to the perfect start as they triumphed 1-0 in the Yorkshire derby at Doncaster Rovers.Muldoon confidently fired home in the 66th minute after Joseph Olowu was adjudged to have brought down Abraham Odoh in the box.Harrogate had the better chances throughout against a Doncaster side of which plenty is expected this season.Goalkeeper I...Full Story »

A late leveller from Cameron Coxe earned 10-man Boreham Wood a 2-2 draw at Gateshead on the opening day of the new Vanarama National League season.The hosts broke the deadlock in the ninth minute through Marcus Dinanga before Jordan Hunter made it 2-0 six minutes later after Dinanga had seen his shot saved by visiting goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore.Ashmore then produced a smart save in first-half sto...Full Story »

Two goals in the final seven minutes saw Raith rescue an unlikely point in a 2-2 Scottish Championship draw at Partick Thistle.The hosts looked to have the points sewn up by the interval as Jack McMillan put them ahead in just the fifth minute, when he converted the rebound after Kerr McInroy’s shot hit the crossbar.Aidan Fitzpatrick added a second on the stroke of half-time when he fired ...Full Story »

Comeback defender Jack Iredale scored his first goal for the club as Bolton recorded their best opening day win for 12 years with a 3-0 Sky Bet League One success over Lincoln.Australian Iredale had not played for last season’s play-off semi-finalists since injuring his knee at Barnsley on January 2.But the ex-Cambridge star needed only four minutes to make an impact, heading in Aaron Morl...Full Story »

Kidderminster earned a point at home to Woking in their first Vanarama National League match since 2016.Harriers won promotion last season in remarkable fashion following a run of nine successive wins and they marked their return to the higher level with a creditable goalless draw against a Woking side that finished fourth last term.The best chances of the first half at Aggborough came towards t...Full Story »

An injury-time goal from Farrend Rawson gave Morecambe a 2-1 opening day win over Walsall at the Mazuma Stadium.The central defender was in the right place to bundle the ball home from close range after a goalmouth scramble to give the Shrimps victory.After an even start, Adam Mayor gave Morecambe the lead in the 25th minute with a fine finish after a flowing move.JJ McKiernan and Eli King combi...Full Story »

Southend put their off-field issues aside as they battled to a surprising 4-0 victory over 10-man Oldham.Shrimpers boss Kevin Maher was only able to register 15 players for their Vanarama National League opener due to a transfer embargo that has been in place since September due to money owed to HMRC.But they got off to a flying start when Callum Powell managed to squirm an effort in after Oldha...Full Story »

Kyle Morrison’s stoppage-time equaliser earned Solihull Moors a point at home to Eastleigh in their National League opener.After a pre-match tribute to late Moors chairman Trevor Stevens, affectionately known as ‘Mr Solihull’, it was the visitors who made the quickest start as Paul McCallum went close and Enzio Boldewijn struck a post.The pair were then both denied by home keep...Full Story »

Barnet held off a late fightback to edge a 3-2 National League victory over Hartlepool in their season opener at the Hive.The home side took the lead midway through the first half as debutant Adebola Oluwo bundled the ball home after Harry Pritchard got a touch on a free-kick at the far post.Hartlepool pressed for an equaliser as Chris Wreh and Josh Umerah tested Bees goalkeeper Laurie Walker be...Full Story »

Barrow boss Pete Wild was full of praise for debutant Kian Spence after his stunning strike secured all three points from a 2-1 victory over Tranmere at Prenton Park.On a rain-soaked afternoon on Merseyside both teams played their part in a fascinating encounter which saw plenty of goalmouth action at both ends.Tranmere looked more threatening in the opening minutes as Josh Hawkes forced Barrow ...Full Story »

John Coleman admitted the 3-0 scoreline flattered Accrington in their opening-day victory over Newport.Stanley, relegated last season, opened the scoring in the 24th minute when Tommy Leigh’s through ball split the Newport defence and found Jack Nolan who rounded keeper Nick Townsend and slotted home.Brad Hills hooked a Ryan Delaney header off the line as the Exiles looked for an equaliser...Full Story »

Lorent Tolaj scored a brace as Aldershot denied Oxford City a winning start to life in the National League with a comprehensive 5-2 opening-day victory at the EBB Stadium.Jack Barham broke the deadlock after 13 minutes from close range before Josh Parker equalised midway through the first half.The Shots re-took the lead through Haji Mnoga following a corner just after the half-hour mark before T...Full Story »

Gary Rowett is happy for Millwall to continue flying under the radar in their quest for a Championship play-off spot after starting the season with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough.Romain Esse’s 79th-minute strike secured victory at the Riverside for the Lions, who missed out on a top-six place on the final day of last term after their capitulation in a home defeat to Blackburn.The Lions have ...Full Story »

Gillingham boss Neil Harris was delighted for his team’s travelling army of fans after substitute Robbie McKenzie’s late goal sealed a 1-0 opening day victory at Stockport.McKenzie pounced with just four minutes left of a clash between two of League Two’s most fancied sides for promotion.The late strike sent the Gills’ 800-strong away support wild ahead of a lengthy trip ...Full Story »

Matt Bloomfield admits his Wycombe players suffered a significant “reality check” after weeks of pre-season work went up in smoke against Exeter.Two goals in the first five minutes fired Gary Caldwell’s red-hot Grecians to a comfortable 3-0 opening day victory as Jack Aitchison, captain Will Aimson and James Scott all netted at Adams Park.Bloomfield says that left his players &...Full Story »

Dominic Thomas and Tom Robson helped Queen’s Park start their cinch Championship campaign on a winning note as they edged out Inverness 2-1.Caley Thistle started brightly as Nathan Shaw saw an effort saved while Charlie Fox’s last-gasp tackle stopped Charlie Gilmour going through on goal, but the visitors went ahead after 31 minutes when Thomas latched on to Barry Hepburn’s pas...Full Story »

Last season’s League Two playoff semi-finalists Salford made a winning start to the campaign as they beat recently relegated Forest Green 2-0 at The Bolt New Lawn.A Conor McAleny strike and late substitute Matt Smith’s header were enough for all three points against opponents who had not lost an opening-day game since 2016.Rovers should have taken the lead through Tyrese Omotoye, but...Full Story »

Dilan Markanday and Harry Leonard scored their first league goals for Blackburn to give them a hard-fought 2-1 win over West Brom in a pulsating season opener.On their first league starts for the club, the duo did the damage in a devastating three-minute spell in the first half as Markanday slotted home from a narrow angle and within seconds of the kick-off, academy graduate Leonard hammered in ...Full Story »

Ten-man Bradford suffered a blow in their opening match of the new season as a first-half strike from Will Wright condemned them to a 1-0 defeat at Crawley.City, who were beaten in the League Two play-off semi-finals last season, have now won only one of eight visits to Broadfield Stadium after failing to recover from Wright’s early effort and the 41st-minute dismissal of Dan Oyegoke.Crawl...Full Story »

Late goals from Yutaro Oda and Lawrence Shankland gave Hearts a winning start in the cinch Premiership as they defeated St Johnstone 2-0 at McDiarmid Park.In a closely-fought game, Oda made the breakthrough with 15 minutes to go, drilling an unstoppable low shot past Dimitar Mitov,.Shankland rubbed salt into the St Johnstone wounds by tapping in with almost the last kick of the game to double th...Full Story »

Dundee marked their return to the cinch Premiership by coming from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against Motherwell at Dens Park.Theo Bair, who signed for the Steelmen earlier this week, enjoyed a dream debut as he opened the scoring at the end of the first half.The hosts drew level after the break through midfielder Lyall Cameron with both sides ultimately having to settle for a share of the spo...Full Story »

Substitute Joe Quigley scored a dramatic late winner to spare Chesterfield’s blushes as the Vanarama National League promotion hopefuls came from behind to beat Dorking 4-3.Paul Cook’s Spireites – who finished third last season – got their new campaign up and running as Ryan Colclough hammered home the opener in the 23rd minute.Yet semi-professional Dorking were soon leve...Full Story »

Accrington got off to a winning start back in League Two with a 3-0 victory over Newport.The Exiles started well, with Seb Palmer-Houlden blasting over in the third minute while Jack Nolan’s 22-yard strike for Stanley was pushed over the bar by keeper Nick Townsend.Stanley, relegated last season, opened the scoring in the 24th minute when Tommy Leigh’s through ball split the Newport ...Full Story »

Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and fellow Hollywood star Hugh Jackman watched Wrexham’s long-awaited English Football League return end in a 5-3 home humbling at the hands of MK Dons.Saturday’s encounter was an emotional occasion in north Wales as a sell-out crowd watched their side play their first Sky Bet League Two game since 2008.But Wrexham returned with a bump in front of ambiti...Full Story »

Harry Phipps scored with a last-gasp header to salvage Dagenham a point from a 1-1 draw at Altrincham in the Vanarama National League.Dagenham’s Myles Weston hit the goal frame in the 24th minute and Altrincham came close to opening the scoring deep into first-half stoppage time as Chris Conn-Clarke’s shot was deflected out for a corner.Conn-Clarke came knocking again in the last 20 ...Full Story »

Charlton got their League One campaign off to a winning start with a 1-0 win against newly-promoted Leyton Orient.A first-half strike by captain George Dobson was enough for the south Londoners in their local derby.Alfie May was denied his first goal for the hosts after just four minutes, when Sol Brynn stopped his effort.Orient held their own in the first half – although they had to wait ...Full Story »

A dramatic added-time goal from substitute Adam Idah made it a winning start to the new Sky Bet Championship season for Norwich as they beat Hull 2-1 at Carrow Road.The Republic of Ireland international was in the right place at the right time in a late goalmouth melee to prod the ball home and settle an entertaining encounter.Hull had taken the lead lead against the run of play in the first hal...Full Story »

Notts County suffered a chastening return to the EFL with a 5-1 drubbing at Sutton.The visitors conceded twice and had goalkeeper Aidan Stone sent off inside the first quarter of the game.Sutton struck the first goal of the League Two season as Joe Kizzi headed in former Magpie Rob Milsom’s corner at the far post, and County’s afternoon got worse as Scott Kashket pounced on a poor ba...Full Story »

Wealdstone left it late to kick off their Vanarama National League campaign with a 2-1 win over 10-man York.The Minstermen started brightly as Maziar Kouhyar saw a shot blocked by Wealdstone defender Jack Cook before Dipo Akinyemi and Adam Crookes were denied from the subsequent corner.York went ahead when Levi Andoh’s cross picked out Lenell John-Lewis, who teed up Akinyemi for a debut go...Full Story »

A dramatic added-time equaliser from debutant Kusini Yengi saw Portsmouth grab a 1-1 draw against Bristol Rovers at Fratton Park.Luke Thomas had put Rovers ahead in the first half and it appeared they were heading for an opening day victory in League One before Yengi’s late strike.The enthusiastic welcome the players received was not matched by either side in the opening period, with const...Full Story »