The Rams will begin their 2011/12 campaign at Pride Park when they welcome the newly relegated and Carling Cup holders, Birmingham City.

The fixture list release and first day of the season are such massive days on the football calander. The first match for the Rams could not have been a much better result as it will be of interest to fans and neutral observers alike.

Niigel Clough was ecstatic with the opening day draw:

"It's a tough fixture to kick off with, but it's great to be at home on the opening day of the season. Birmingham will undoubtedly be one of the favourites for promotion and their team will be littered with Premier League players.”

"But we will be relishing the chance to get at them and be positive from the first whistle. Pride Park will no doubt be full and the atmosphere electric for a Midlands derby; they'll probably bring huge away support as well which will make it even better.”

"Last season we had a blockbuster at Elland Road and rather than be daunted by it we rose to the occasion. We will be looking to do the game again.”

"We are also pleased for supporters that we are at home on Boxing Day and what a fixture as well; Leeds United.”

"The Championship will be the most competitive it's ever been and seeing the fixtures hammers that home."

Tom Glick also added his two pennies worth on what he thought of the fixture:

"It's good to start, and finish, the season at Pride Park. Birmingham at home is a great start for us and I expect us to be pushing for a full-house at Pride Park.”

"It will be a big test for us because they have a strong squad and they will be desperate to start the season well after relegation. Last year we had a great first game at Leeds, and this is another fantastic fixture for us to get the season off and underway.”

"It is great for the fans and it shapes up to be a busy August at Pride Park with three league fixtures, as well as our pre-season friendly with Aston Villa and the Carling Cup tie with Shrewsbury Town."

"It is a great fixture list for our supporters and looking at the fixtures today, it reminds me how great and how competitive this division is. It whets the appetite and it is an exciting time."

Unfortunately in what is and has long been a ludicrous situation, RamZone and most non-official sites cannot publish a full fixture list.

The company who put together and issue the list do not allow the publishing of the fixtures unless quite a large payment is made to do so.

It is another sad indictment on today’s football world when, what is the first fun part a new season, can be commercialised and restricted from the very people who clubs rely on attending their matches.

We would love to tell you that around 24 hours after Christmas the Rams may or may not meet Leeds or that they might bump into Forest during months that start with ‘S’ and ‘F’. But if we did we can risk getting into quite a bit of trouble.

But in what makes an even bigger mockery of the situation we can just post a link to follow for a full list to peruse at your leisure. So to avoid a lifetime of shame for publishing highly sensitive material, RamZone will err on the side of caution.

To check out the full fixture list for the upcoming season CLICK HERE for a full run down on the DCFC official site.

What do you think of the Rams 11/12 Fixture and which match will you be counting down the days to?

Why not join the RamZone Forum by clicking on the link above or our Facebook page and give us your thoughts!

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Photo: Action Images

pkay_brum added 16:10 - Jun 17 Yes, all part of football's inward-looking and precious attitude towards the fanbase that they want to attract to stadia. Please come to the games, they'll say - but if you pass on details of the season's programme to the people you know might be interested, they can 'do' you for copyright infringements.... Football administrators should look at (for instance) how theatre, opera, ballet seasons are circulated; they might learn something.

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ConnexIV added 17:22 - Jun 17 Forest for automatic this year i think, never mind brum. Some quality Dutch signings incoming.... This is going to be a much stronger league than last year. Hull, Burnley and Pompey still have the max parachute payments to spend this year and all are in a much better financial position than last, couple that with the strong teams from last year that didn't go up and the newly relegated, big teams, and it all adds up to a MUCH tougher league this time around. Whoever goes up will do very well, I think it may be a little less tight with the quality rising to the top and a much more definite divide developing. I await the usual considered response claiming that I am cussing and swearing and somehow throwing personal insults around in my post pkay.

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pkay_brum added 00:36 - Jun 19 I don't see any 'stick-ons' for promotion; Forest, Derby, Brum or anyone. West Ham fans are presuming automatic promotion, naturally. There might well be a fair group of clubs pulling away at the top, as there are several now who reckon to be investing, or have parachute money - the top ten could be very competitive! A 'poor relations' bottom 8 might be left to drift through the season looking on. There are still only three promotion spots... Can't see anyone who goes up 'doing very well', as the finance gap and ability to attract enough quality players become bigger factors every year. Back in the Championship 2011-12, Cardiff have to regroup but have a canny manager; Brum have some good players but there's an air of mistrust in the owners, there's a financial cloud, and they could lack cohesion. They ain't even got a manager yet, not a good place for a relegated club to be. Hull, Pompey, Boro, Burnley...do have money, fell short last year....more of the same I think. Imports at Forest or anywhere else might need time to acclimatise to a tougher league; having a clutch of Dutch (or a spread of Scots!) among the newcomers can't guarantee owt. Hope you find a cure for your persecution complex, too.

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