It will be the first summer transfer window, pre-season and full season, for instance, under head coach Steven Schumacher, sporting director Jon Walters and head of recruitment Lee Darnbrough.
It will be a first full season in English football for key men Wouter Burger, Bae Junho and Million Manhoef, who are all trying to build on their experience from the last few months.
It will be the first season with a new 1,550-capacity fan zone behind the Boothen End and the away end is shifting at the bet365 Stadium so that home supporters will flank both sides of the tunnel for the first time since the ground was built in 1997. Licensed standing is being introduced in the upper section across the south stand, known as the Caldwell Construction Stand.
The fixture diary will change too. There will be at least 24 Stoke league matches shown live on television thanks to a new deal with Sky Sports. Only games on the opening weekend will be allowed to broadcast on Saturday afternoons so that means at least 23 Stoke matches not on a Saturday afternoon. There will be games on Friday evenings and Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes as well as selections on Thursday and Monday evenings.
And, fingers crossed, it will most importantly be different on the pitch and Stoke can end a cycle of bottom half finishes in the Championship and start to pull themselves up the table.
The campaign will run from the weekend of August 10 until May 3. There will be 46 rounds of league matches, held over 33 weekends, nine mid-weeks and four Bank Holidays in the Championship. Leagues One and Two will play on 36 weekends and six mid-weeks. The League Cup and Football League Trophy will continue with the same formats from last season. The Carabao Cup will launch in mid-August. The play-off finals, meanwhile, will take place over the 2025 May Bank Holiday weekend
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