2016/17 Fixtures Announced

By Tom Easterby - Newcastle United Club Reporter

Newcastle United will kick off the 2016/17 Sky Bet Championship season with a trip to Fulham, after the full fixture list for the coming campaign was confirmed on Wednesday morning.

Rafa Benitez's side will make the journey to the capital to take on the Cottagers on Friday, 5th August, with the game set to be screened live on Sky Sports.

Huddersfield Town will be the first visitors to St. James' Park on Saturday, 13th August, with another home game against Reading to follow in midweek before a trip to face Bristol City.

Another home game against Chris Hughton's Brighton and Hove Albion closes the month of August, with away games at Derby County, Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa to come in September, with the Magpies also set to host Wolverhampton Wanderers and Norwich City that month.

A busy October sees United face Rotherham United, Brentford, Barnsley, Preston and Ipswich while there are only three scheduled league games in November - trips to Tyneside for Cardiff City and Blackburn Rovers and an away game at Leeds United.

The traditionally hectic month of December begins with an away game at Nottingham Forest and a St. James' Park clash with Birmingham City, before the frantic festive period kicks in with away games against newly promoted duo Wigan Athletic and Burton Albion as well as home fixtures against Sheffield Wednesday and Forest before the close of the year.

United's first game of 2017 sees Benitez's men head to Lancashire to take on Blackburn, with Brentford, Rotherham and Brighton the other opponents in January.

QPR visit on Wednesday, 1st February and Derby head north three days later, before back-to-back away games at Wolves and Norwich. Another relegated side, Aston Villa, arrive in Newcastle on Saturday, February 18th, with Bristol City the visitors a week later.

The Magpies will spend most of March on the road, with trips to Huddersfield, Reading and Birmingham sandwiching a home game with their opponents on the opening day, Fulham.

And the end-of-season run-in begins in earnest in April as United host Wigan and - for the first time ever - Nigel Clough's Burton Albion. There's a trip to Hillsborough to face Wednesday and a home outing against Leeds, before heading to East Anglia to take on Ipswich at Portman Road.

Matches against Preston (home) and Cardiff (away) finish off the month, with Newcastle set to bring the curtain down on the campaign in front of the United faithful. Barnsley will be the visitors on the final day of the season, on Sunday, 7th May.

Please find a full list of Newcastle United's 2016/17 fixtures below. Please note that all fixture dates are provisional and are subject to change at any time.

AUGUST
Aug 5 Fulham (a)
Aug 13 Huddersfield Town (h)
Aug 17 Reading (h)
Aug 20 Bristol City (a)
Aug 27 Brighton and Hove Albion (h)

SEPTEMBER
Sep 10 Derby County (a)
Sep 13 Queens Park Rangers (a)
Sep 17 Wolverhampton Wanderers (h)
Sep 24 Aston Villa (a)
Sep 28 Norwich City (h)

OCTOBER
Oct 1 Rotherham United (a)
Oct 15 Brentford (h)
Oct 18 Barnsley (a)
Oct 22 Ipswich Town (h)
Oct 29 Preston North End (a)

NOVEMBER
Nov 5 Cardiff City (h)
Nov 19 Leeds United (a)
Nov 26 Blackburn Rovers (h)

DECEMBER
Dec 3 Nottingham Forest (a)
Dec 10 Birmingham City (h)
Dec 13 Wigan Athletic (a)
Dec 17 Burton Albion (a)
Dec 26 Sheffield Wednesday (h)
Dec 31 Nottingham Forest (h)

JANUARY
Jan 2 Blackburn Rovers (a)
Jan 14 Brentford (a)
Jan 21 Rotherham United (h)
Jan 28 Brighton and Hove Albion (a)

FEBRUARY
Feb 1 Queens Park Rangers (h)
Feb 4 Derby County (h)
Feb 11 Wolverhampton Wanderers (a)
Feb 14 Norwich City (a)
Feb 18 Aston Villa (h)
Feb 25 Bristol City (h)

MARCH
Mar 4 Huddersfield Town (a)
Mar 7 Reading (a)
Mar 11 Fulham (h)
Mar 18 Birmingham City (a)

APRIL
Apr 1 Wigan Athletic (h)
Apr 5 Burton Albion (h)
Apr 8 Sheffield Wednesday (a)
Apr 15 Leeds United (h)
Apr 17 Ipswich Town (a)
Apr 22 Preston North End (h)
Apr 29 Cardiff City (a)

MAY
May 7 Barnsley (h)