THIS season may be far from over yet but the planning never stops for The Football League's competitions department who have confirmed the key fixture dates for the 2010/11 season.

The fixtures for the new campaign will be announced on Thursday 17 June 2010 with next season kicking-off on Saturday 7 August 2010.

The Carling Cup gets underway a matter of days later, during the week commencing 9 August 2010. Three weeks later, in the week commencing 30 August, Round 1 of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy will be played.

As ever, Christmas will be a busy period with four matchdays scheduled in the space of nine days. The traditional Boxing Day fixtures are followed by games on Tuesday 28 December, New Year's Day and Monday 3 January 2011.

The Final of the Carling Cup will take place on 28 February 2011, with the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final planned for 3 April 2011.

The season for clubs in League 1 and League 2 will end on Saturday 7 May 2011 with teams in the Championship playing their final matches a day later on Sunday 8 May 2011.

For a full list of key dates please click here

KEY DATES IN BRIEF:

Fixture release date: Thursday 17 June 2010
First day of the season: Saturday 7 August 2010
Last day of the season: League 1 & League 2 - Saturday 7th May 2011; Championship - Sunday 8th May 2011