Soccer on Boxing Day, also known as St. Stephen’s Day, usually marks the start of a congested fixture list over the Christmas and New Year period. It is a tradition as old as English football itself, dating back to the first top-flight season in 1888 — but when Manchester United play Newcastle at Old Trafford on Dec. 26, it will be the only Premier League game maintaining the ritual of Boxing Day fixtures in England.
Historically, the post-Christmas glut of games has been a time when coaches complained about the workload and lack of recovery time for players. Frank Lampard said it was “counterproductive for the quality of the Premier League” when his Chelsea side had to play Arsenal then Aston Villa on Dec 26. and Dec. 28 in 2020.
But it’s easy to see why the tradition persisted: Many clubs have recorded their biggest attendance of the season on Boxing Day due to fans taking advantage of the holiday to escape family gatherings and watch their team play.
Yet with the global football calendar becoming increasingly congested due to the expansion of European club competitions and the emergence of the FIFA Club World Cup, which was staged for the first time in the United States this summer, the Premier League has chosen to schedule Matchweek 18 of this season’s fixture list over three days rather than cramming them all into Dec. 26.
So, how has it come to this, with one of the biggest dates in the English football calendar having just one Premier League game on the schedule?
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Has the Premier League ever lacked a full slate of games on Boxing Day?
There has always been Premier League play on Boxing Day, but never just one game.
Top-flight games in general have been played on Boxing Day ever since Preston North End’s 5-0 win at West Bromwich Albion in December 1888 — a long tradition that has seen a few exceptions in 1948, 1954, 1965, 1971 and 1976, when no top-flight Boxing Day games happened in those years.
But this year will see the fewest top-flight games on Boxing Day since 1982, when there were no top-division fixtures due to Dec. 26 falling on a Sunday. At the time, tradition was that when Boxing Day fell on a weekend, the occasion would be held for the next weekday, but that tradition has faded and Boxing Day games have since been played on a Sunday if Dec. 26 falls on that day.
Has Boxing Day been a good fixture for classic games?
Nothing quite beats the incredible results on Boxing Day 1963, when 66 goals were scored across 10 games, including a 10-1 Fulham win against Leicester and 6-1 win for Burnley against Manchester United.
But in the Premier League era, a Thierry Henry hat trick helped Arsenal to a 6-1 win against Leicester in 2000, and Southampton beat the Gunners 4-0 in 2015.
Chelsea and Aston Villa played out a 4-4 thriller at Stamford Bridge in 2007, and Manchester United fought back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 at Sheffield Wednesday with an Eric Cantona equalizer in 1992.
United have the best record on Boxing Day both in the Premier League and historically, with 22 wins in the Premier League era and 54 wins overall.
What does the Premier League say about this year’s fixture list?
The Premier League blamed the global fixture calendar for its decision to stage only one game on Boxing Day when it announced the Christmas schedule in October.
“The Premier League would like to acknowledge the circumstances that have led to a reduced number of matches on Boxing Day this season — impacting an important tradition in English football,” the league said in a statement.
“There are now several challenges to Premier League fixture scheduling rooted in the expansion of European club competitions — which led to a revision of our domestic calendar ahead of last season, including changes to the FA Cup.
“This ultimately left the Premier League as a 33-weekend competition — fewer than previous seasons, despite being a 380-match competition since 1995. With fewer weekends to work with, the League is bound by how the calendar falls.”
So why is spreading games over three days better for congestion than all on Boxing Day?
Nobody has given a logical answer to this question.
The Premier League’s explanation is that it needs to spread the games out to allow for players to have sufficient rest periods between matchdays.
“As with previous years, and in keeping with our commitment to clubs, special arrangements have been made to allow more time between games played across the festive period,” the league said in a statement. “This will allow greater time for players to recover with the rest periods between rounds 18, 19 and 20 being increased to ensure that no club plays within 60 hours of another match.”
However, had the Premier League stuck with tradition and scheduled all of this week’s games for Dec. 26, all clubs would have had at least three days’ rest before Matchweek 19 begins on Dec 30.
In many ways, the Premier League was on the horns of a dilemma with Matchweek 18 due to Boxing Day falling on a Friday. Had it scheduled all games on Boxing Day, that would have resulted in a blank weekend of fixtures on Dec. 27 and Dec. 28, something that would have left broadcasters with no Premier League games to televise and with fans likely upset, too.
So perhaps the least-worst option was to play Matchweek 18 over Saturday and Sunday and select just one game — Man United vs. Newcastle — on Boxing Day to appease the traditionalists.
How have fans reacted to this deviation from tradition?
There has been a media backlash about the reduced fixture list, but there hasn’t been a huge outcry among supporters over the lack of Boxing Day games.
In recent years, the Boxing Day list has often been played over two days — Dec. 26 and Dec. 27 — so fans have become accustomed to the fixture list stretching outside the bounds of Boxing Day.
When the Premier League confirmed the Christmas fixture list on Oct. 31, the Football Supporters’ Association posted just one tweet in response, calling the Premier League “thoughtless” for scheduling the United-Newcastle game at 8 p.m. local time on Dec. 26. There was no condemnation of the rest of the games being played over Saturday and Sunday.
It should also be pointed out that there will be plenty of soccer in England on Boxing Day. There is a full list of fixtures in the EFL and National League, so fans won’t have to go far to find a game in their area if they want to honor the tradition of attending a game on Boxing Day.
So, what will the Premier League do next year?
Don’t worry: The Premier League will be back on Boxing Day 2026 with a comprehensive fixture list.
“The League can give an assurance that next season there will be more Premier League matches on Boxing Day as the date falls on a Saturday,” the Premier League said.
But if you really need to see some English football this year and can’t wait until 8 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET) to watch United take on Newcastle, check out any of the 36 EFL games — including Wrexham vs. Sheffield United and Championship leaders Coventry against Swansea — or the 12 games in the National League.
The game continues in England this Boxing Day, but for this year only, the Premier League has just one fixture to keep the supporters happy.
