Key summer dates for Sunderland including transfer…

Key summer dates for Sunderland including transfer window, pre-season, and fixture release day

Sunderland's return to the Championship saw the Black Cats surpass all expectations as they secured a sixth-placed finish and a play-off spot. Tony Mowbray's side missed out on a trip to Wembley after they saw their 2-1 semi-final first leg lead overturned, and they eventually lost out 3-2 on aggregate against Luton Town.

But despite that, Sunderland's first season back in the second tier following their four-year stay in League One will be regarded as a success. The players have now gone their separate ways for their summer breaks, but the planning for next season has been under way for some time at the Academy of Light.

Mowbray had been involved in meetings with sporting director Kristjaan Speakman and head of recruitment Stuart Harvey to work out which areas of the squad needed strengthening over the summer, while plans for pre-season have already been drawn up. Here are some key dates for your diary ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Retained list

The majority of Championship clubs had to submit their retained lists to the EFL by last Saturday, although they do not have to make them public at that point.

Clubs such as Sunderland who were involved in the play-offs were given a little more time, with the Black Cats understood to have until June 2 to hand over their list, which is unlikely to contain any surprises with only one senior player - Carl Winchester - out of contract this summer, and he has already confirmed that he will be leaving.

Sunderland have always made their retained list public when it is finalised, but in any case the EFL publishes every club's list by the second Saturday in June.

Transfer window

Sunderland will bring in new players over the summer and the dates for the opening and closing of the transfe window have now been confirmed.

The Premier League and EFL transfer window will open on Wednesday, June 14, and deadline day will fall on Friday, September 1, with an 11pm cut-off.

The winter window dates have also been confirmed and will open on Monday, January 1, and will close on Thursday, February 1, again with an 11pm cut-off.

Traditionally, the summer window has closed at the end of August and the winter window at the end of January, but next season's deadlines have been set after consultation with other major leagues around Europe to ensure harmonisation.

Fixture release day

Fixture release day is of the most eagerly-anticipated days in the football calendar - and a sign that the new season is just around the corner.

The EFL has confirmed that the fixtures for the 2023-24 season will be published on Thursday, June 22, at 9am.

Time to dig out the diary and start planning some away trips (or at least pencil them in, because games can still be moved by the TV broadcasters).

Pre-season

Sunderland players are expected to report back for pre-season training at the Academy of Light at the end of June to begin their prepararations ahead of the new Championship campaign.

The Black Cats have already confirmed six pre-season fixtures, and more could be added in the coming weeks.

Three of the six games that have been announced will take place during a ten-day trip to the USA in mid-July, while the other three are against non-league opposition - Mike Williamson's National League North side Gateshead, Sunderland hero Julio Arca's National League North South Shields, and National League Hartlepool United.

The games that we know about so far are:

Saturday, July 8: South Shields (a) 12.30pm

Saturday, July 8: Gateshead (a) 4pm

Saturday, July 15: San Antonio FC (a) 8pm (ET)

Wednesday, July 19: New Mexico United (a) 7pm (MT)

Friday, July 21: North Carolina FC (a) 7pm (CT)

Tuesday, August 1: Hartlepool United (a) 7.30pm

The big kick-off

The Championship season itself gets under way on Saturday, August 5, although it is likely that one game will be moved to the Friday evening for live TV broadcast.