An opening day trip to newly-promoted Oxford United will win headlines, but there are plenty of other interesting takeaways from Norwich City's fixture list.
The reality is that beyond learning the order, the facts haven't changed - Norwich knew the make-up of the division and the fact they would play each side home and away between August and May. But, there can be some gentle analysis of the work from the supercomputer.
Just look at Portsmouth, who open the campaign with a run of Leeds, Luton, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, West Brom, Burnley and Sheffield United in the opening seven matches. Ouch.
City's run is gentler overall than John Mousinho's start, and for supporters, it represents the opportunity to begin formulating plans across the next nine months.
Below are some of the key takeaways from City's Championship fixture list after they were revealed on Wednesday morning.
Testing Carrow Road start
Norwich City's home form was a key component of their push to the Championship's top six last term.
David Wagner's side enjoyed an unbeaten run of 15 matches between November and May last term as they turned around a campaign that was left in jeopardy after defeat to Blackburn Rovers on Bonfire Night last November.
By coincidence, Rovers will be City's first home opponents for Johannes Hoff Thorup - just as they were for Wagner in the FA Cup back in January 2023.
After that clash, Norwich's next six at Carrow Road pit them against tough opponents in newly relegated Sheffield United, Watford, Leeds, Hull, Middlesbrough and Bristol City. Only Tom Cleverley's side finished outside the top half of the Championship.
That is followed by a gruelling midweek trip to Norfolk for Wayne Rooney's Plymouth before another tough double header of recently relegated Luton and Burnley.
If Thorup was hoping for a gentle introduction to the Canaries supporters, then he has been afforded some choppy waters by the fixture computer. In City's first 10 home matches, the average positions of sides faced based on their standings last season is eighth.
April Fools
Given the geography of the Championship and without Ipswich or any other East Anglian side, Norwich were always going to be left with plenty of miles to travel this season.
Norwich supporters will be used to gruelling away journeys following the club, and this season will be no different, with a total of over 9,000 miles during the upcoming campaign.
In a league that includes Plymouth, a clutch of north west, east and Welsh clubs, that is inevitable. But some months are worse than others.
The most miles covered will be towards the back end of the season, especially in March and April. During those months, Norwich will travel to Blackburn, Bristol City, Plymouth, Burnley, Millwall and Middlesbrough.
Norwich will cover more miles in April (over 1,800) than in any other during the campaign. Any month that contained the trek to Devon would likely have sat near the top of the list, but it's compounded by journeys to Burnley and Middlesbrough, all in the space of just 21 days.
On the flip side of the coin, February represents the month with the fewest miles clocked. For Norwich fans, it will be a case of travelling 500 miles to both Watford and Hull.
Late season litmus tests
Whenever the fixtures are released, eyes are immediately drawn to the opening day, the festive schedule and the run-in.
So what are the final weeks of Norwich's season looking like at this stage?
Whenever looking at fixtures on paper, there is always the necessary caveat that teams outperform and underperform expectations pretty readily at this level, even if parachute payment sides have done better in recent campaigns.
Thorup and Ben Knapper will be keen to end the campaign showing progress in terms of playing style and the implementation of young talent.
In the final eight weeks of the campaign, Norwich will face West Brom, Sunderland, Burnley and Middlesbrough. They will serve as a litmus test for City's progress under the Dane given the need for patience.
Norwich will inevitably face hurdles and stare down adversity, but everyone will be targeting a better consistency as City make the turn onto the home straight.
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