So, you know how the first day of the season always seems to be beautifully warm and sunny, with fans mingling in beer gardens and then regular drinks breaks required for the players throughout?

Hmmm, yeah. According to BBC Weather, here's what we've actually got to look forward to today...

"Heavy showers will spread across Wales, central and southern England, with hail, thunder and strong gusts possible in places, these will gradually ease later.

"Elsewhere, there will be a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers. Breezy in the southwest."

For what it's worth, it's absolutely teeming down here in Birmingham. Lovely.

Jonathan Buchan
BBC Radio Sheffield

Image source, Getty Images

"The Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom described his side as a ‘five-a-side team’ following their last pre-season outing – a 4-0 loss to League One side Rotherham United.

"Key figures from last season’s 14th-placed finish, Josh Scowen, Marley Watkins and Marc Roberts, have all departed and have been replaced by players without Championship experience.

"Their model of signing young, hungry talent has worked in recent campaign, but the latest batch are under a lot of pressure to find their feet quickly.

"A relegation battle could be on the cards, but many said that last season."

Richard Hoskin
BBC Radio Bristol

Image source, Getty Images

"Expectations at Bristol City appear to be fairly realistic going into the new campaign.

"Of course, the dream is a promotion challenge to emulate Huddersfield’s achievement last season.

"But hand on heart I think most City fans would accept a mid-table finish, especially if it means there isn’t a repeat of last season, when it needed a late run of good form to steer clear of the relegation zone.

"It’ll be interesting to see how record signing Famara Diedhiou adapts to English football, and whether apparent interest in defensive duo Aden Flint and Joe Bryan turns into something more concrete or not.

"But, all being well, City should improve on last season’s 17th finish."

Nick Murrell: Better get promoted or Delia out? #NCFC

Jemma Tyers: Winning the league under Neil Warnock! #bluebirds

Mark Huddlestone: Boro: Keep Gibson, score goals, promoted.

Dan Shewell: Aston Villa: Has to be promotion.

Keep them coming, team!

Mike White
BBC Radio Humberside

"It’s not quite the summer of uncertainty experienced a year ago, but for many Hull City fans there’s still a sense of wanting, or rather needing, more.

"The long-awaited return of Fraizer Campbell has largely been viewed as a positive but the departures of Harry Maguire, Tom Huddlestone and Andrew Robertson, among others, have hit hard.

"Head coach Leonid Slutsky certainly brings a reputation of success but the question ‘can he do it in English football?’ will be fully tested.

"As a relegated side they’ll be viewed as contenders but, as others have found before, living up to it is a bigger task in reality."

Mark Regan
BBC WM

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“Aston Villa should go up. The bookies’ odds say Steve Bruce’s side are destined to return to the top flight and I agree with most people’s assertion that this season Villa should be promoted. This is mainly because Steve Bruce has added some much needed guts to his team with the additions of players like John Terry and Glenn Whelan.

“Last season the away form was poor - Villa only won four times on the road. But by bringing in some real experience and resilience Bruce will be looking to see his team pick up far more points away from Villa Park this time around.

“The only thing I can see tripping Villa up is the burden of expectation – everyone expects them to go up – and let’s not forget they are operating in a ruthlessly tough division.

“However, they are better equipped to deal with that burden this season and should be at the very least in the top six come May.”

Aston Villa's signing of former England captain John Terry will go down as one of the transfers of the summer - but at least one person was wishing manager Steve Bruce had looked a bit closer to home.

You can listen to the podcast of BBC Radio 5 live's EFL preview, featuring ex-Hull defender Alex Bruce, by clicking here.

By the way, Villa host Hull City in the 17:30 BST game at Villa Park - and we'll have live text commentary of what we're expecting to be Terry's debut.

Paul Addison
BBC Tees

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"It’s the start of a new era at Middlesbrough as Garry Monk aims to win promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

"The Boro chairman Steve Gibson told BBC Tees at the end of last season that he wanted his side to 'smash the Championship' and he’s put his money where his mouth is - over £30m has been spent, including on record signing Britt Assombalona, so the pressure will be on Monk to deliver.

"One thing fans will crave are goals after suffering a season of abject misery in the top flight which saw them score just 27.

"Boro will be up there challenging at the end of the season – I’m predicting a play-off place."

Mike Taylor
BBC WM

Image source, Getty Images

"Learning from their mistakes or chasing their losses? After a chastening first year owning a football club, Fosun, the Chinese custodians of Wolves, took time to diagnose the reasons that the club lurched around the lower mid-table for most of the season and decided not to change the medicine but to double the dose.

"This is bold. Even allowing for football’s spiralling inflation, the outlay for the young Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves was breathtaking by Championship standards. He is part of another group of fresh faces, several with Portuguese backgrounds.

"Does Nuno Espirito Santo have the experience to handle the Championship? Will he know what you need to know? Who knows? Wolves new owners could be very wrong or very right. What they have got right, at least, is to get the fans talking and mostly excited - excited enough to sell the ground out for the opening day, which is no small achievement.

"It will be a fascinating story either way. Wolves appear determined to prove most of the accepted conventions of how to tackle the Championship need not apply. If they succeed - and they certainly could - it will be on their terms.

"The owners are taking a huge gamble. If you bet on Wolves, you're taking a huge gamble too."

Shall we crack on with previewing today's action then?

We'll be hearing from some of the BBC local radio commentators talking about their expectations for the season now, starting with BBC WM's Mike Taylor on arguably the Championship's most unpredictable side...

Image source, Rex Features

Barrie McKay's spectacular debut strike earned Nottingham Forest an opening-day win against a Millwall side who wasted numerous chances.

The Lions dominated, with Steve Morison crashing an effort against the bar and Aiden O'Brien and Lee Gregory missing glorious first-half opportunities.

But McKay's long-range shot put the Reds ahead at half-time.

And, although Millwall's direct approach continued to pose problems, the Reds somehow held on for victory.

Click here to read the full report.

Image source, Getty Images

Sunderland came from behind to earn a point as they began life back in the Championship with a draw against Derby.

The Black Cats finished bottom of the Premier League last season to end a 10-year stay in the top flight and fell behind when Bradley Johnson fired home.

Summer signing Lewis Grabban equalised from the penalty spot just before half-time after Jacob Butterfield handled.

Both sides could have won it, with Grabban hitting the post from 18 yards while Derby's Chris Martin fired over.

Click here to read the full report.

Of course, while we all know the first Saturday of the season is where it's really at, it'd still be remiss of us not to acknowledge that the action did actually kick off last night.

One promoted side, one relegated side and a couple of East Midlands rivals were all in the thick of it as the Championship campaign got under way...

Image source, Wycombe Wanderers FC/@AVFCOfficial/Rex Features

It's been a long time since Huddersfield Town and Reading drew the curtains on the 2016-17 season. Well, nine weeks and three days if you want to be pedantic.

But that doesn't mean the past two and a bit months have been without incident.

From crazy kits, weird signing announcements and a whole plethora of new faces - as well as some familiar ones - there's been plenty going on across the 72 clubs that make up the English Football League.

And, to make your life a wee bit easier, Ian has collated some of the best (and worst) bits right here for your enjoyment. You're very welcome.

Image source, Getty Images

Excited? Nervous? Hopeful? Fearful? Probably all of the above if you're anything like me.

We'd like you to channel each and every one of those pre-match emotions into six of your finest words forecasting how your team's season will pan out.

I'll kick us off with my club, Bristol City: "No hideous losing runs, make progress".

Get involved by using #bbcefl on Twitter.

In the meantime, we'll have the thoughts of every BBC local radio commentator who covers the Championship for us, our own pre-season predictions and everything you need to know as the new EFL season gets into full swing.

And we'd like you to get in touch too...

Image source, Getty Images

We'll be bringing you live text coverage of nine Championship matches throughout this afternoon - eight from 15:00 BST, before the evening game at Villa Park.

Here are today's runners and riders...

• Bristol City v Barnsley
• Burton Albion v Cardiff City
• Fulham v Norwich City
• Ipswich Town v Birmingham City
• Preston North End v Sheffield Wednesday
• Queens Park Rangers v Reading
• Sheffield United v Brentford
• Wolverhampton Wanderers v Middlesbrough
• Aston Villa v Hull City (17:30 BST)

Whether your team is home or away, or you're just parked up on your sofa for the day, whatever your story, the buzz is the same. Football's back.

Welcome to our coverage of the first Saturday of the new English Football League season.

The trip to collect the morning newspapers. The desperate search for jobs to do while you wait for kick-off. Your lucky shirt from the 2001-02 season that you insist on wearing even though nobody else can see you. The radio on in the background and the vidiprinter still showing Friday night's goals and full-times on the TV. And, alongside a cuppa, BBC Sport's EFL live text commentary loaded and ready to go.

Image source, Rex Features

The early, Saturday morning alarm. The car trip to the ground at some ungodly hour. The coaches all lined up and ready to take you into enemy territory. The motorway service station packed with football fans travelling to and from all corners. The journey that seems to go on and on and on and on. And then the horrendous view from the away end that doesn't really even seem to matter.