Ipswich Town will kick-start their 13th successive season in the Championship with the visit of newly-relegated Fulham on Saturday, August 9, with rivals Norwich City the next team to arrive at Portman Road (Saturday, August 23). The match against Fulham will be televised live by Sky Sports and will kick-off at 5.15pm.

It means that, for the second season in a row, the Blues side will face two sides that have just come down from the Premier League within the opening month of the campaign.

Last season both games were away (narrow defeats at Reading and QPR) though. The hope will be that this time – with the transfer window still open and Fulham and Norwich still likely to be restructuring following their change in division – Town, who have built some stability and spirit under Mick McCarthy’s management, can take advantage of any uncertainty in their opponents’ ranks.

The second East Anglian derby – a fixture which has been missing from the calender for three seasons – is scheduled for Saturday, February 28. Both of those matches could well end up being moved for reasons of policing/television yet though.

In between those early games against Fulham and Norwich, Ipswich have three away trips – to League One side Crawley in the Capital One Cup first round (Tuesday, August 12), Reading (Saturday, August 16) and Birmingham (Tuesday, August 19). The month of August concludes a trip to last season’s beaten play-off finalists Derby County (Saturday, August 30).

Other midweek away trips are Sheffield Wednesday (Tuesday, September 30), Cardiff (Tuesday, October 21) and Leeds (Tuesday, March 3).

Town play at newly-promoted West London side Brentford on Boxing Day then host Charlton two days later. There is no New Year’s Day match.

The Easter schedule comprises of Bournemouth at home (Saturday, April 4) followed by Huddersfield away (Monday, April 6).

Town’s season finishes with a trip to McCarthy’s former club Wolves, a home game against Nottingham Forest, followed by a trip to Blackburn Rovers.

– See tomorrow’s EADT and Ipswich Star for full fixture poster and reaction.