The key dates every Portsmouth fan needs to know ahead of the 2020-21 season

The Blues suffered League One play-off semi-final defeat to Oxford three weeks ago and there have been plenty of talking points dissected since.

We’ve also seen players such as Brett Pitman, Oli Hawkins and most recently Brandon Haunstrup depart Fratton Park in the aftermath.

But now the attention is starting to turn towards the upcoming campaign, with Kenny Jackett’s side's looking to escape the third tier at the fourth time of asking.

So to help supporters out, we’ve picked out all of the key dates that are worth making in their diaries ahead of another important campaign...

When does the League One season get under way?

Pompey's league season will begin on Saturday, September 12.

The final weekend of fixtures will be on May 8 and May 9, 2021, with the play-off finals reverted back to the Spring Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May.

The delayed start means there will be up to 11 midweek games, including a run of three in a row.

When will the 2020-21 fixtures be released?

Pompey are still awaiting news on who they'll be playing on the opening day of the season.

Fixtures list will come out when the Football League know all 72 teams who are in the three divisions.

That will be after Tuesday, August 4, when the Championship play-off final takes place.

At present, Brentford, Swansea, Cardiff and Fulham are battling it out to see who joins Leeds and West Brom in next season’s Premier League.

On Sunday, August 2, Notts County and Harrogate will meet in the National League play-off final for the last spot in League Two.

Last year, fixtures were released on Thursday, June 20, which was just more than six weeks before the campaign ensued.

When are Pompey back in training?

Kenny Jackett's troops are earmarked to return to their Hilsea base on Monday, August 3.

That means the Blues will have a four-week summer break following their play-off semi-final defeat to Oxford on Monday, July 6.

In total, it will give Pompey a six-week period to prepare for the new season.

Will there be a pre-season tour?

It's unlikely the Blues will be heading abroad, after tentative talks of returning to Ireland. They spent 2018 in Cork and the following year in Dublin.

Heading back to the former had been mooted before the Covid-19 outbreak.

Pompey may instead look at staying somewhere within the UK.

During Jackett’s first summer in charge in 2017, the Blues stayed on the south coast to prepare.

Are any friendlies organised?

Not yet, but that's something Pompey will currently be trying to arrange.

In recent years, the Blues have faced League Two clubs such at Crawley and Stevenage.

Non-league fixtures are usually on the schedule. However, those could hinge on when the likes of the Hawks and Bognor's respective seasons are due to start.

When does the summer transfer window close?

The transfer window is now officially open and clubs are free to go about their business.

The international window closes on Monday, October 5.

That won't impact Pompey too much, although any deals with Scottish clubs will need to be agreed by then.

For the following 11 days, the Blues will only be able to do business with Premier League and Football League sides.

Will the January transfer window be any different?

The winter window is expected to operate as normal, with clubs allowed to sign new players between January 1 and January 31, 2021.

When will fans be allowed back into Fratton Park?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced earlier this month that fans could be in stadiums by October.

There will be a list of pilot events before that is confirmed, however.

On Saturday, 5,000 spectators can attend the final day of Glorious Goodwood.

If supporters are allowed into grounds as planned, the Prime Minister said it will be in a 'Covid-secure way’, meaning some form of social distancing is likely.

Chief executive Mark Catlin was encouraged that Fratton Park could be back to full capacity by November.

What about the wage cap?

The vote on whether to approve its introduction to League One and League Two has now been delayed until August 6.

That means the cut-off point for contracted players has now also been put back to August 6.

The initial proposal stated this was backdated to June 30, meaning players signed after that date would fall under wage cap restrictions.

Now that has been altered, clubs are currently able to recruit unimpeded by wage restrictions