League One clubs will have to wait until the end of next week to discover when the 2020/21 season will get under way.
Two dates are currently under consideration, August 29th and September 12th, although with some clubs believed to prefer to start once fans can return to grounds en masse, which is unlikely to be until the new year. However, the September date currently looks most likely.
It was anticipated that a decision would be made this week but, according to Peterborough United director of football Barry Fry, the EFL has put it back until Friday 24th July.
The EFL is believed to want to play both its cup competitions in 2020/21 despite what would be a shorter season with discussions ongoing with the FA and the Premier League. There is little scope to stretch the campaign into next summer due to Euro 2020 being staged a year late.
"It's incredibly frustrating, but we’ve now been told we won’t hear anything about a start date until July 24th,” Fry told the Peterborough Telegraph.
"The Premier League and the FA are still talking with the EFL about cups and all sorts. It's driving our manager Darren Ferguson up the wall as he can't plan properly for next season.
"It can't start any later than September 12th or we'll never get the fixtures in. If we start on September 12th it will be six months between competitive matches for us.”
Town boss Paul Lambert and general manager of football opertaions Lee O'Neill will similarly be frustrated by the delay in fixing a date for the start of the season.
As things stand, the Blues squad are pencilled in to return to training at Playford Road later this month.