Chaos for fans today as plans to attend their side’s EFL season openers are set to be affected by a rail strike on Saturday the 30th of July.
There are nine Championship fixtures on that day along with 12 in each of League One and League Two, plus the FA Community Shield between Liverpool and Manchester City which this year takes place at Leicester’s King Power Stadium.
Spectators travelling to events on the second day of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham are also set to be affected by West Midlands Trains joining the strike action.
Rail union Aslef said members at eight companies – Arriva Rail London; Chiltern Railways; Greater Anglia; Great Western; Hull Trains; LNER; Southeastern and West Midlands Trains – will walk out for 24 hours over pay.

Chaos for fans as plans to attend EFL season openers set to be affected by rail strike
Train drivers at eight rail companies will strike on the 30th of July in a dispute over pay, their union Aslef has said.
This comes a day after the RMT union said its members at rail operators and Network Rail would walk off the job for 24 hours on the 27th of July.
Mick Whelan, Aslef general secretary, said: “We don’t want to go on strike – strikes are the result of a failure of negotiation – and this union, since I was elected general secretary in 2011, has only ever been on strike, until this year, for a handful of days.
“We don’t want to inconvenience passengers – not least because our friends and families use public transport, too, and we believe in building trust in the railways in Britain – and we don’t want to lose money by going on strike.
“But we’ve been forced into this position by the train companies, driven by the Tory government.
“The drivers at the companies where we are striking have had a real terms pay cut over the last three years – since April 2019.
“And these companies are offering us nothing, saying their hands have been tied by the government.
“That means, in real terms, with inflation running ahead at 9%, 10%, and even 11% this year, according to which index you use, that they are being told to take a real terms pay cut. And that is not acceptable.
“Strike action is, now, the only option available but we are always open to talks if the train companies, or the government, want to talk to us and make a fair and sensible offer.”
Aslef members at eight companies – Arriva Rail London; Chiltern Railways; Greater Anglia; Great Western; Hull Trains; LNER; Southeastern; and West Midlands Trains – will join the strike action on Saturday 30 July.
But Mr Whelan adds that drivers at Greater Anglia would strike on Saturday the 23rd of July and drivers on Hull Trains would also strike on Saturday the 16th of July and Saturday the 23rd of July.
Further ballots close at Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry on Wednesday 27 July; and at Northern Trains; TransPennine Express; and Transport for Wales on Thursday 25 August, he added.
He denies claims from some politicians that giving workers a pay rise could cause inflation to become worse, during a cost-of-living crisis.
“Wage rises aren’t exacerbating inflation, anyway. Excess profiteering is.
“The government isn’t asking companies to cut profits or dividend payments to help manage inflation. Wages are chasing prices, not putting them up.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “It’s incredibly disappointing that, just three days after their ballots closed, Aslef bosses have already opted for destructive strike action, instead of engaging in constructive talks.
“Not only that but, by seemingly co-ordinating strike dates around the Commonwealth Games, it’s clear union bosses are determined to cause as much misery as possible and derail an event the whole country is looking forward to.
“Train drivers, such as those Aslef represent, earn, on average, just under £60,000 – more than twice the UK average and significantly more than the very workers who will be most impacted by these strikes despite stumping up £600 per household to keep the railway running throughout the pandemic.
“Our railway is in desperate need of modernisation to make it work better for passengers and be financially sustainable for the long term.
“I urge union bosses to reconsider this divisive action and instead work worth their employers, not against them, to agree a new way forward.”

Opening weekend fixtures in EFL (3pm unless stated)
Championship
Friday, July 29
Huddersfield Town v Burnley (8pm)
Saturday, July 30
Blackburn Rovers v Queens Park Rangers
Blackpool v Reading
Cardiff City v Norwich City
Hull City v Bristol City
Luton Town v Birmingham City
Middlesbrough v West Bromwich Albion (5.30pm)
Millwall v Stoke City
Rotherham United v Swansea City
Wigan Athletic v Preston North End
Sunday, July 31
Sunderland v Coventry City (12pm)
Monday, August 1
Watford v Sheffield United (8pm)
League One
Saturday, July 30
Accrington Stanley v Charlton Athletic
Bristol Rovers v Forest Green Rovers
Cambridge United v Milton Keynes Dons
Cheltenham Town v Peterborough United
Derby County v Oxford United
Ipswich Town v Bolton Wanderers
Lincoln City v Exeter City
Morecambe v Shrewsbury Town
Plymouth Argyle v Barnsley
Port Vale v Fleetwood Town
Sheffield Wednesday v Portsmouth
Wycombe Wanderers v Burton Albion
League Two
Saturday, July 30
A.F.C. Wimbledon v Gillingham
Bradford City v Doncaster Rovers
Carlisle United v Crawley Town
Harrogate Town v Swindon Town
Leyton Orient v Grimsby Town
Northampton Town v Colchester United
Rochdale v Crewe Alexandra
Salford City v Mansfield Town
Stockport County v Barrow
Sutton United v Newport County
Tranmere Rovers v Stevenage
Walsall v Hartlepool United
As mentioned, there is chaos for fans as plans to attend EFL season openers are set to be affected by the rail strike…
@DeclanWelch: First Saturday of EFL season and the rail strike is announced. It’s obvious that’s the reason they wanna cause the most disruption but ffs selfish cunts.
@albert_55: Anyone else think the rail union has targeted the opening day of the @EFL? for the next rail strike, I feel sorry for fans who have purchased advanced tickets
@nickbse: So, @greateranglia, please negotiate seriously with ASLEF and reach a sensible agreement. Strike on day 1 of EFL season so can’t get to see my beloved @IpswichTown is unacceptable.
@tlmfootball: Rail strikes for the first day of the EFL season. That’s gonna be a nightmare for people going to games 😬
@SA5Swan: Nothing like a train strike on the opening weekend of the football season to fuck up your plans
@MitchMoylan (Crawley fan): Train strikes for the opening game. Ffs. It’s only Carlisle, not too far 😡😡😡

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