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When is the Carabao Cup draw? Start time, Birmingham City ball number and how to watch

Birmingham City will discover their Carabao Cup first round opponents this afternoon after finding out the full Championship schedule on EFL fixture release day

The balls are placed ready for the draw for the second round of the Carabao Cup
(Image: Leicester City FC via Getty Images)

Birmingham City find out against whom their Carabao Cup campaign begins today, hours after discovering their Championship fixture list.


After an early exit to a Jay Stansfield-led Fulham in the second round last season, there will at least be no repeat this year, as Blues are back in the northern section this year instead of the south. They are one of only 70 teams from the EFL who will make the first round, with two set to exit in a preliminary round.


National League champions Barnet and play-off winners Oldham Athletic feature at that stage. The former faces Newport County, while the latter plays Accrington Stanley.


Implementing that initial round reduces the number of Premier League teams entering the second round. The reason for that is nine clubs qualifying for UEFA competitions next season, including Aston Villa in the Europa League.

Birmingham Live details everything you need to know before today's draw below.

When is the Carabao Cup first-round draw?

The draw will start at 4:30pm, with the preliminary round starting proceedings ten minutes earlier. That follows the fixture list release for Championship, League One and League Two clubs at midday, then the Vertu Trophy group stage draw at 2:30pm.


How to watch the Carabao Cup draw?

Sky Sports News will broadcast the draw live. It will also be available on YouTube through the Sky Sports Football channel.

When is the Carabao Cup first round?

The first round ties will take place during the week commencing 11 August. They will be during the first midweek of the Championship campaign and the second midweek for teams in League One and League Two.

What are the Carabao Cup ball numbers?

North Section

1 Barnsley


2 Barrow

3 Birmingham City

4 Blackburn Rovers


5 Blackpool

6 Bolton Wanderers

7 Bradford City


8 Burton Albion

9 Chesterfield

10 Crewe Alexandra


11 Derby County

12 Doncaster Rovers

13 Fleetwood Town


14 Grimsby Town

15 Harrogate Town

16 Huddersfield Town


17 Hull City

18 Leicester City

19 Lincoln City


20 Mansfield Town

21 Middlesbrough

22 Notts County


23 Peterborough United

24 Port Vale

25 Preston North End


26 Rotherham United

27 Salford City

28 Sheffield United


29 Sheffield Wednesday

30 Shrewsbury Town

31 Stockport County


32 Stoke City

33 Tranmere Rovers

34 Walsall


35 West Bromwich Albion

36 Wigan Athletic

37 Wrexham


38 Accrington Stanley or Oldham Athletic

South Section

1 AFC Wimbledon

2 Bristol City


3 Bristol Rovers

4 Bromley

5 Cambridge United


6 Cardiff City

7 Charlton Athletic

8 Cheltenham Town


9 Colchester United

10 Coventry City

11 Crawley Town


12 Exeter City

13 Gillingham

14 Ipswich Town


15 Leyton Orient

16 Luton Town

17 Millwall


18 Milton Keynes Dons

19 Northampton Town

20 Norwich City


21 Oxford United

22 Plymouth Argyle

23 Portsmouth


24 Queens Park Rangers

25 Reading

26 Southampton


27 Stevenage

28 Swansea City

29 Swindon Town

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30 Watford

31 Wycombe Wanderers

32 Barnet or Newport County

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