Image source, Rex Features

A lot more to come.

The first EFL Saturday of the season is in the books and it was one to remember for League One promotion favourites Huddersfield.

The Terriers gave debuts to eight players from the start and they blew away last season's beaten play-off finalists Leyton Orient 3-0.

In League Two, Grimsby were the day's biggest winners, as they hammered relegated Crawley by the same scoreline.

We'll be back tomorrow with two of the most fancied teams in League One, Stockport against near neighbours Bolton from 12:00 BST.

Hope you can join us then and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Cheers!

Image source, Dan Westwell

Newport have drawn their opening League Two fixture of the season against Notts County in a game that was delayed until 16:00 BST.

A medical emergency in one of the stands meant an air ambulance had to land on the pitch before the scheduled 15:00 kick-off.

Still no news on the condition of the supporter who was taken away.

Image source, Rex Features

We are now one Saturday of many down in this long old season.

But the opening weekend of English Football League action is far from over.

We have Stockport County against neighbours Bolton Wanderers in League One still to come on Sunday (12:00 BST kick-off).

And, of course, we will have live text coverage of that to stay across.

Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic boss Ryan Lowe spoke to BBC Radio Manchester after his side’s 3-1 win against Northampton Town.

“I thought our lads were fantastic, our set plays were very good and to score three goals and perform the way we did was excellent,” he said.

“But I’m disappointed with their goal from a well-worked set play.”

On Fraser Murray, who scored two goals on his Wigan debut: “Not many people would have known about Fraser. Being up in Scotland with Kilmarnock he probably went under the radar a little bit, but with both feet he has that quality.

“When I really though he was available and I thought we could get him, I was right up there to watch a couple of game of his.

“He has been a breath of fresh air along with the rest of them, but as you have seen with his quality out there he is a different class and I’m really pleased for him.”

Fleetwood Town boss Pete Wild told BBC Radio Lancashire:

“Really pleasing. It was a proper League Two away from home performance where you’ve got to be good in both boxes. I think that’s the biggest thing about today’s result, it’s about how you are in both boxes. That’s the league."

On the opening goal which came from an error from Barnet keeper Owen Evans: “Their goalkeeper had done that [dribbling out of trouble] two or three times and got away with it so, I’m really pleased, that the press stayed high and they took their opportunity.”

Barnsley

Barnsley boss Conor Hourihane praised the attitude his side showed in winning 3-1 at Plymouth Argyle after having Jack Shepherd sent off with almost 30 minutes of the game to play.

"It had everything. It shows the group and the culture we have created over pre-season," he said.

"I thought you saw moments and glimpses of what we can do

"My big, big message to the players after the game was 'we probably would have folded here last year'. With the group and culture that was here last year we probably would have gone under but this year there's a different mentality and a different grit.

"It's one game so let's not get carried away but it shows the work we have done over the summer."

Bradford City

Bradford City boss Graham Alexander told BBC Radio Leeds just how pleased he was to start life back in League One with a 2-1 victory against Wycombe Wanderers.

“It was a fantastic result for us against a really good team," he said.

"They finished strong in the play-offs last season and we knew we were up against a tough challenge today.

“But we went out, we wanted to press them, get the ball back and put them under pressure, and two goals in the first 15 minutes is a great start to a new season.

“I thought we could have maybe got one more before half-time, I thought we were really good in creating opportunities.

"Then when the second half starts we should score on a couple of transitions when we got an overload. We didn’t take advantage of that and Wycombe slowly came into it.

“They got the goal back and momentum, but we had a good opportunity after it and the boys stuck at it, which they always do”.

Notts County have levelled at Newport in the delayed League Two game.

After Matthew Denis was hauled down in the box, Jodi Jones stepped up left-footed and slotted home from the penalty spot.

Just a reminder, this one kicked off at 16:00 BST after a medical emergency in the stand required an air ambulance to land on the pitch at Rodney Parade.

Image source, Getty Images

And from League Two, these are the headline-grabbing stats from Opta.

• Crewe scored three first-half away goals today at Salford for the first time in a league match since January 2021 against Rochdale, beating the Ammies 3-1 at the Peninsula Stadium.
• Following their 1-1 draw with Tranmere today, Colchester United are now without a win in their opening league game of the season in each of their last 12 campaigns (D8 L4), the longest ongoing run of any side in England’s top four tiers.
• With a stoppage time winning goal against Swindon, 10-man Walsall earned their first home win in League Two in seven attempts, having ended the 2024-25 campaign on a six-game winless run on home turf (D2 L4).
• Including at home to newly promoted Oldham today, MK Dons have now failed to have a shot on target in five different league games in 2025, at least two more times than any other club across England's top four tiers.
• Two of the last three occasions of a player both scoring a goal and an own goal in League Two have been by Salford players (Kadeem Harris vs Crewe today & Matt Smith vs MK Dons in March 2024).

Let's take a look at the afternoon's League One action in a bit more detail, thanks to the stats team at Opta.

• By beating Blackpool, Stevenage have now won their opening day fixture in each of the last five league campaigns, the joint-longest ongoing winning run in England's top four tiers (also Watford).
• Since the start of last season, Plymouth Argyle have conceded more home goals than any other team in the EFL (42).
• There has been three own goals scored in League One so far this weekend, already the most ever in the opening round of fixtures in the competition since the rebranding of the EFL (2004-05).
• George Honeyman's goal after six minutes was Blackpool's earliest strike on the opening day of a league campaign since Keigan Parker scored against Chesterfield after five minutes on the opening day of their 2005-06 League One campaign.
• Against Port Vale, Sam Nombe became the first Rotherham United player to score 2+ goals on the opening day of the season since Lee Frecklington netted a brace against Crewe Alexandra in the Millers' opening game of the 2013-14 League One campaign.
• Huddersfield Town's Alfie May has now scored on his debut for three of his last four EFL clubs (also Cheltenham and Birmingham), while no player has scored more goals than him in the EFL since the start of the 2023-24 campaign (40).
• Cardiff City's Ronan Kpakio (18 years 69 days) became the youngest player to score in a team's opening EFL game of a season since Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha (17 years 270 days) against Leicester City in 2010-11.

Image source, Rex Features

Alfie May got his Huddersfield career off to a perfect start with a goal on his debut.

The goal was also notable as, remarkably, it was the first time a Huddersfield player had scored a penalty in a home match in 1984 days.

The last time they scored a penalty in front of their own fans was Karlan Grant's effort in the Championship v Bristol City on 25 February 2020.

Crazy.

Cardiff City

Cardiff City head coach Brian Barry-Murphy picked the youngest Cardiff team for a league fixture this century.

Their starting XI had an average age of 22.

Both goals were scored by academy graduates, Rubin Colwill and 18-year-old Ronan Kpakio.

Unsurprisingly, the Bluebirds boss heaped praise on the youngsters.

"To have some of the academy graduates is really beneficial because they feel the club in a way that's different from what I do, based on where I come from, so it's really powerful," Barry-Murphy said.

"Matt Turner wasn't complicated [as a selection]. I had an idea of certain players before I came to the club. I didn't know a lot about Matt but, since day one pre-season, he's been exceptional.

"His attitude, in terms of what we asked him to do, his commitment and his skill level as a goalkeeper has been outstanding. Just based on what I saw, he was the clear pick.

"Joel, we have a lot of competition in that position, but again, his appetite to do the things we've asked him to do and his relentless nature of application was evident."

While we wait for some reaction from the 15:00 BST games, there was one lunchtime kick-off in League One.

Cardiff came from behind to beat Peterborough.

Here's what Cardiff's new boss had to say...

Image source, Rex Features

• Ten-man Walsall scored a stoppage time winner to beat Swindon Town 2-1.

• Crewe Alexandra won away at Salford City 3-1 with large thanks to a quickfire double from Conor Thomas.

• Promoted Oldham began their campaign with a gutsy 0-0 draw at MK Dons.

• Grimsby Town comfortably swept aside recently relegated Crawley Town 3-0.

• Tranmere drew at Colchester, Chesterfield beat Barrow and Cambridge narrowly beat Cheltenham.

• Shrewsbury and Bromley was goalless and Accrington drew at home with Gillingham.

• Following a medical emergency, the game between Newport County and Notts County at Rodney Parade began at 16:00 BST, an hour behind scheduled. The home side lead 1-0 thanks to Gerard Garner's 49th minute goal.

Happy with how things went?

Image source, Rex Features

• Promotion favourites Huddersfield thump beaten play-off finalists Leyton Orient 3-0.
• Tom Cleverley gets off to a miserable start as boss of relegated side Plymouth, as they are beaten 3-1 by Barnsley.
• Fraser Murray grabs two goals on his Wigan Athletic debut as they beat Northampton 3-1.
• Two first-half goals prove enough for Bradford as the newly promoted side start life back in League One with a 2-1 win against Wycombe.
• Fellow promoted side Doncaster overcome Exeter 1-0, but Port Vale are beaten 2-1 on their third tier return by Rotherham in a game where both sides finished with 10 men.
• Burton beat Mansfield, Lincoln overcame Reading and Stevenage held on for a 3-2 win against Blackpool.
• In the early kick-off, Cardiff City beat Peterborough 2-1 in what was their first game back in the third tier for more than two decades.

Gary Jones
Former Bradford City captain on BBC Radio Leeds

Image source, Rex Features

It wouldn't be Bradford without any nerves

Wycombe are a good side and they came out in the second half but it's about getting points on the board.

The first half performance was electric. The second half they were a little bit sloppy but they got the job done and getting the points early.

The feel good factor is back and the energy was brilliant to see.

It's onwards and upwards from here.

And with that comes the full-time whistle and it's not the start to the season Barnet fans would have dreamt of last night in their first match back in the EFL in seven years.

Goals either side of half-time from Will Davies and Elliot Bonds were enough for the three points for The Cod Army.

It was a day to forget for Barnet goalkeeper Owen Evans who, after a number of warnings, continued to try to dribble the ball out and midway through the first half he was caught by Davies who ran the ball into an empty net on debut.

Captain Bonds effectively put the game to bed five minutes after the break when his left footed shot was parried into the roof of the net by Evans, who had just made a good save.

A harsh lesson for Barnet on their first day back but one they must learn from if they are going to survive this season in League Two.

Bradford City have survived a Wycombe Wanderers fightback to make it a winning start to life back in League One after six years away.

We have ticked right down into the final minutes of the day's action, but there was still enough time for Huddersfield to cap off a stunning victory against Leyton Orient with a third goal from Ruben Roosken in the fifth minute of stoppage time at the Accu Stadium.