Were there any thoughts of Neil Warnock retiring following Cardiff's relegation at the end of last season?

"I really should be on the Mediterranean now, because we should have stayed up," he said. "That would have been a lovely time to call it a day.

"But life's not like that, it's not straightforward. We have to regroup.

"I think we have a really good squad now and we are going to give it a really good go."

Right, time to focus on the Championship then.

And we'll start off by looking at a couple of the teams relegated from the Premier League last season.

Burton Albion surprised many by being promoted to the Championship in 2016 and even more by staying in the second tier for a couple of seasons.

Nigel Clough's side are preparing for a second consecutive campaign in League One - so what chance a repeat of that unexpected promotion for the Brewers this time around?

Clough told BBC Sport: "We reckon there are about 16 to 18 teams who have a realistic chance of being in the top six. I think that is more than any other league.

"It will be extremely tough to get into the top six - you need a bit of luck, you need to keep people fit and need people to stay in form.

“We have a reasonable chance, but you don’t know how the season is going to pan out at this stage.

“Certainly you look at the Portsmouths and the Sunderlands and the size of the crowds and the spending power, we have Ipswich at home in our first game at home on Saturday and they are one of the biggest clubs to come into League One.”

Michael Perkins
BBC Radio Derby's Burton commentator

I'm looking forward to seeing how Burton will go this season. The play-offs has to be to the aim - realistically that is what would represent progress after stabilising last season, having been relegated from the Championship the year before.

Some will want an even higher finish than that of course and, whilst not unrealistic, I think it is unlikely particularly given a couple of injuries are already making a small squad look light going into tomorrow's first game.

The on-loan acquisition of Manchester United goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara, who helped Macclesfield stay in League Two last season, is likely to bring supporters the most cause for optimism, but they will justifiably be most concerned by the departures of Jamie Allen and Kyle McFadzean to Coventry City.

Recruitment has been ongoing and, whatever happens, it will be interesting. It always is with the Brewers.

They will finish fifth to 10th, so I will be positive and say they will scrape into the play-offs in sixth place.

Image source, Rex Features

Jack Ranson
BBC Radio Manchester

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Is he the coolest manager in the league? Brian Barry-Murphy certainly steadied the ship at the end of last season, with four wins in the last six games securing League One status once again for Rochdale.

Possibly his biggest achievement this summer has been keeping the core of his squad together. And that includes his captain and top scorer, Ian Henderson.

I don’t think anyone is expecting fireworks from the season ahead, particularly looking at the big clubs around them in League One. But success for Rochdale will be survival. If their manager’s anything to go by, they could do it in style.

Richard Hoskin
BBC Radio Bristol

Image source, Getty Images

It's Graham Coughlan's first full season in charge, and after guiding the club to safety last season I sense ambitions are realistic among supporters this time out.

After losing captain Tom Lockyer, Coughlan has signed two new goalkeepers and added defensive cover to his squad.

The Rovers boss will be hoping strikers Tyler Smith and Victor Adeboyejo impress on loan. But the big question centres around Jonson Clarke-Harris.

Once fully fit, can he maintain his sensational goalscoring form from last season? That could be key to where Rovers finish in nine months time.

Nick Alliker
BBC Essex

Southend United need to improve. It was such a struggle last year and they were dogged by injuries.

They’ve got some tough fixtures in the first couple of months and a hangover of injuries from last season plus a couple of new ones, including last season’s top goalscorer Simon Cox.

Kevin Bond signed a two-year deal as manager and he has made some signings. Whether it’s enough is open to question, but of course there’s still some of the window to come.

He has brought in Brandon Goodship from Weymouth, who scored a shedload of goals in non-league, and also Mark Milligan.

The Australia skipper has joined from Hibernian and Bond has given him the captaincy, so his experience means he looks a solid pro and it could be a catalyst for good things for Southend.

Let’s hope we’re not talking about injuries so much this season!

Image source, Rex Features

Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Shropshire

Sam Ricketts has made wholesale changes to both his playing and backroom staffs in an attempt to stabilise a club that came so close to boom and then so close to bust in the past two seasons.

Fan expectations have forever been altered by the club’s run to the League One play-off final in 2017-18, but last season’s sobering fall to earth and struggle to avoid relegation, even after the former Wales defender took over, means his team needs to start quickly to avoid testing the home crowd’s patience.

Ro-Shaun Williams is a fantastic prospect in defence and Fejiri Okenabirhie will hope to build upon a solid first season as a League One striker. The signing of Ryan Giles on loan from Wolves is exciting, while Steve Morison and Dave Edwards will offer plenty in the way of experience.

Town will be hoping to finish in the right half of the table and might fancy their chances of making a run at the play-offs, but an improvement on last season is a must.

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With under two hours to go until the EFL season starts let's take one last look at League One before turning our attention to the Championship and then this evening's big game.

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The new EFL season is now just 120 minutes away. Leaving you just enough time to watch Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg comedy The Other Guys before Luton v Middlesbrough.

Here are a few of the the things you might have missed today:

• Sheffield United have signed Swansea City striker Oli McBurnie for £20m
• Burnley have signed Leeds United goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell for an undisclosed fee
• Hull City have signed Sunderland skipper George Honeyman for an undisclosed fee
• Tranmere have brought in Aston Villa striker Rushian Hepburn-Murphy on a season-long loan deal.

Watch Swindon Town goalkeeping coach Steve Mildenhall preview the new season, as he gets a lift to the County Ground from BBC Points West.

The 40-year-old former Bristol Rovers stopper, who began his career at Swindon, returned to the Robins as a coach in 2018.

Mildenhall praises manager Richie Wellens for his ability to "go old-school when needed" as well as being a "new-age" manager.

Swindon, who finished seven points off the play-off places last term in 13th, travel to Scunthorpe for their opening League Two game on Saturday.

Rob Stevens
BBC Sport

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Leyton Orient’s return to the English Football League following two years in the National League is tinged with sadness as the club continue to come to terms with the death of manager Justin Edinburgh aged 49, following a cardiac arrest in June.

Ross Embleton, Edinburgh’s assistant, has been appointed as interim head coach and is aiming to lead the club back to normality again, while maintaining the former boss’ memory.

Chairman Nigel Travis and principal investor Kent Teague have brought stability to east London following the erratic reign of Francesco Becchetti, which saw the O’s drop from League One into non-league in three years. The target is a top-half finish, with players hopeful of pushing on towards the play-offs.

Saturday’s opener against Cheltenham at Brisbane Road will be an emotional occasion for all as the club pay tribute to Edinburgh.

Image source, Getty Images

What do Gianluca Vialli and a nursery in a Hertfordshire town have in common?

Well, both are helping fund a League Two club's promotion aspirations.

Stevenage owner Phil Wallace takes pride in "doing things differently" - and having a world-renowned, Champions League-winning former Italy striker oversee the part sale of a club that has a creche on site is certainly that.

Read more in Andrew Aloia's feature piece here.

Geoff Doyle
BBC Three Counties Radio sport

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Stevenage have big ambitions and with off the field success in the form of fans shareholding, a new North Stand, a high profile sponsor and a recent world boxing title fight, the club will want to see success on the pitch as well.

The Boro have steady midfielder Dean Parrett back at the club from Gillingham and have signed a couple of exciting young talents in the form of Charlie Carter and Tyler Denton.

Much could depend on whether striker Kurtis Guthrie can continue where he left off at the end of last season to score the goals that get Stevenage into promotion contention.

Paul Newton
Sports Editor, BBC Cumbria

Image source, Rex Features

Carlisle United will be the definition of an 'unknown quantity' heading into Steven Pressley's first full campaign in charge.

Changes in backroom staff and a substantial overhaul on the club's playing squad (only six senior players contracted from last season remain) means it is impossible to judge just how well this new-look team will knit together.

A major overhaul of contract policy and playing budget means this season's squad will be made up of players on one-year deals, season-long loans and untested youngsters making the step-up from the club's youth set-up.

A good start will help but it's fair to assume the players won't be weighed-down too much by the burden of expectation this season.

Rob Phillips
BBC Wales Football Correspondent

Manager Mike Flynn reckons Newport County will be a “marked team” this season.

Another headline-grabbing FA Cup run and a late charge to a Wembley play-off final last season ensures they won’t go under the radar in League Two this term.

Flynn has added more depth this summer, while seasoned campaigners Joss Labadie and Mickey Demetriou have re-signed.

Though still one of the smaller clubs in League Two, such is the optimism among the fans, Flynn’s newly acquired Diploma in Leadership and Management may come in handy to quell expectations - although the play-offs are surely within reach again.

Image source, Rex Features

Neil Kelly
BBC Essex

I don’t think it’s possible to replace Sammie Szmodics, who has joined Bristol City, and that’s no criticism to the players that the U’s have bought in.

Everyone knew he was going to go on to better things, the same with Frankie Kent, and I’m genuinely excited to see how the new signings like Jevani Brown and Omar Sowunmi get on.

They’ve got lots of options and done their best to plug the gaps, but it won’t be easy.

They start stronger in goal, bringing back Dean Gerken, because they did have their problems in that area last season.

I’ll stick my neck out and say I certainly think they are capable of finishing in the top seven and making the League Two play-offs, which John McGreal's side missed out on so marginally last season.

Image source, Rex Features

Paul Furley
BBC Radio Gloucestershire sports editor

Cheltenham will look to continue momentum from the last 30 games of 2018-19 when the players started to put into practice what Michael Duff wanted and comfortably worked their way to survival. If the Robins can replicate that across a full season, the play-offs are a possibility.

Midfielder Rohan Ince arrives with plenty of pedigree as he looks to rebuild his career, while the injury to experienced striker Reuben Reid puts more onus on fellow former Forest Green frontman Tahvon Campbell and the veteran Luke Varney to deliver the goals early on.

Image source, Rex Features

Brent Pilnick
BBC Sport

Exeter City manager Matt Taylor goes into his second season in charge with a squad very much with his stamp on it.

While he did not want to lose players such as midfielder Hiram Boateng or goalkeeper Christy Pym this summer, failure to make the play-offs meant he was unable to stop the pair from moving up a division to League One.

Taylor has again recruited experience. Charlton forward Nicky Ajose and Carlisle defender Tom Parkes head a list of eight new signings, of which six have played a decent amount of EFL football.

Injuries to key players hit City’s play-off hopes hard last season. If Taylor’s key men can stay fit, they have a good chance of making the top seven for the third time in four seasons.

Image source, Rex Features

If you're a fan of Exeter City, Cheltenham or Colchester and you've been waiting for something on your team all day then you're in luck...