What are the origins of Boxing Day football in the Premier League?

For many is the best part of Christmas break is all the football you get to see on television while they pig out on leftover turkey, boxes of chocolates and the beverage of their choice.

This year is no different: the Premier League The Christmas calendar is packed with fantastic matches between top teams up and down the league, with each side diving headfirst into what is always a season-defining period of the long season in England.

When is Boxing Day?

Boxing Day falls on December 26, the day after Christmas Day. It is one public holiday in the UK and something you may not know is that when December 26th falls on a Saturday, Boxing Day is moved to the following Monday. If December 26 falls on a Sunday, the public holiday is the following Tuesday.

Why is it called Boxing Day?

The name derives from the rich families’ tradition of boxing and give gifts to their servants on December 26. Boxing Day was traditionally a holiday for servantswhen they would receive a special Christmas box from their masters and go home to give the boxes to their families.

Why is Premier League football played on Boxing Day?

Christmas Day is now a football-free daybut this was not always the case. In the days before television, there would be a full program of matches on 25 December.

IN 1957 Great Britain hosted the last ever Christmas Day football match and from then on Boxing Day became the traditional day for football in Great Britain.

While most other European countries are enjoying their winter holidays, the English and Scottish leagues are just a few of the competitions that play matches over the festive period. Originally, teams played local rivals on the 25th/26th. December due to the lack of infrastructure in place to ferry them around, during often harsh winters.

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This season, at the time of writing, the Premier League plays 5 matches on Boxing Day. These matches will include Spurs vs Nottingham Forest and Manchester City vs Everton.

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