For many Premier League fans, the festive period is the best time of the season with top-flight games coming thick and fast. But why is that the case?
Where did England’s unique love of Christmas football come from, how does it compare to Europe’s other top leagues and what are some of the most memorable festive football moments? Here, football writer Ben Bloom investigates.
Festive Football’s origins
It all began in the late 19th century.
When Boxing Day was designated as a public holiday in England and Wales from 1871, it meant most workers received a rare two-day break over Christmas Day (25 December) and 26 December.
With the creation of the Football League in 1888, the festive period was seen as the ideal time to cram in as much football as possible to cater to the masses during the holiday period.
For the next 60 to 70 years, top-flight Christmas Day and Boxing Day football became something of a ritual, with most teams playing on consecutive days in the hope of drawing bumper attendances.
Unlike modern times when Christmas in England is largely seen as an opportunity to gather domestically, public holidays used to be seen as an opportunity to leave the house and congregate at large-scale events.
“For the working class, whose residences were often uncomfortable, overcrowded and unappealing, a rare day free from work was reason to take to the streets, not relax at home,” explained Martin Johnes in his book Christmas and the British.
Eager to capitalise, football clubs routinely scheduled matches over the Christmas period, and played up to three times during the long Easter weekend.
Until the 1950s, there was usually a full round of top-flight fixtures played on Christmas Day.
But, as time went on, living standards improved and Christmas Day family gatherings moved within the home. Public transport options also became more limited.
Christmas Day football began to dwindle until the last English league match on 25 December 1965, when Blackpool beat Blackburn Rovers 4-2.
“Loads of people would go to Blackpool for a Christmas break, so the idea was to give them something to entertain them,” Blackpool winger Graham Oates recalled to the Telegraph. “And for the club to make some money, obviously.”
Yet while Christmas Day football fell by the wayside, the tradition of Boxing Day matches endured and football remained a prominent feature of the festive period.
Recent changes
With supporters of Premier League clubs eager to watch as much football as possible and administrators keen to cater to their wishes, fixture congestion around the festive period reached what some managers and players suggested was unsustainable levels a few years ago when top-flight football would take place daily (other than Christmas Day) over the festive period.
With a greater understanding of the physical and mental exertions placed on top-flight clubs, a winter (or mid-season) break was brought in for the first time during the 2019/20 campaign.
That pause was allocated to individual clubs at different points throughout January, but it was dropped ahead of the 2024/25 season in favour of a longer summer break (there were 83 days between the end of the last season and the start of the current campaign).
While the festive period remains busy, no Premier League club will play two games within 60 hours of each other across Matchweeks 17, 18, 19 and 20 this season, ensuring sufficient rest time for players and staff.
With fewer weekends available for Premier League competition following the expansion of European club competitions, this season features just one top-flight Boxing Day game (Manchester United v Newcastle United), as the bulk of Matchweek 18 fixtures take place on Saturday 27 December.
Assurance has been given that next season there will be more Premier League matches on Boxing Day, as the date falls on a Saturday.
Premier League 2025/26 festive fixtures
20 December: Eight fixtures
21 December: One fixture
22 December: One fixture
23 December: No PL football
24 December: No PL football
25 December: No PL football
26 December: One fixture
27 December: Seven fixtures
28 December: Two fixtures
29 December: No PL football
30 December: Six fixtures
31 December: No PL football
1 January: Four fixtures
2 January: No PL football
3 January: Four fixtures
4 January: Six fixtures
Christmas in Europe’s other top leagues
For some time, England was unique among Europe’s biggest leagues in not implementing a break during the festive period. Nowadays, among Europe’s top five leagues it is joined by Italy in continuing with regular football throughout Christmas and the New Year.
This season, all top-flight football in France (15 December to 1 January) and Germany (21 December to 9 January) pauses for 17 days, with Spanish action halting for 10 days (23 December to 2 January).
Memorable Boxing Day matches
As an English football tradition, Boxing Day matches often live long in the memory.
The most remarkable set of top-flight results took place on 26 December 1963, when an astonishing 66 goals were scored across 10 matches.
Boxing Day results 1963
| Results | |
| Blackpool 1-5 Chelsea | Nott'm Forest 3-3 Sheff Utd |
|---|---|
| Burnley 6-1 Man Utd | Sheff Wed 3-0 Bolton |
| Fulham 10-1 Ipswich | West Brom 4-4 Spurs |
| Leicester 2-0 Everton | Wolves 3-3 Aston Villa |
| Liverpool 6-1 Stoke | West Ham 2-8 Blackburn |
Incredibly, the reverse leg of all bar one of those fixtures took place just two days later, when West Ham United, Manchester United and Ipswich Town all avenged their heavy defeats with victories.
In the Premier League era, Sir Alex Ferguson’s first and last Boxing Day matches at Man Utd are two of the most memorable.
His first, in the Premier League’s inaugural 1992/93 season, saw United trail 3-0 at Sheffield Wednesday before two goals from Brian McClair and another from Eric Cantona salvaged a dramatic draw.
Two decades later, Ferguson’s last Boxing Day match in 2012 saw Chicharito score a 90th-minute winner as United came from behind three times to beat Newcastle United 4-3 in a classic.
Stamford Bridge hosted a Boxing Day cracker in 2007 when Chelsea shared eight goals with Aston Villa in a 4-4 draw - a match that also produced two red cards for the hosts, one for the visitors, and two penalties.
Brown's Etihad antics
One of the most iconic Boxing Day images came when furious Hull City manager Phil Brown sat his players down on the Etihad Stadium pitch for a half-time dressing down after his side found themselves 4-0 down against Manchester City in 2008.
“I thought it was nice and cold, and I thought I would keep the boys alive because they looked as if they were dead,” said Brown.
“Our 4,000 travelling fans deserved some kind of explanation for the first-half performance and it was difficult for me to do that from the confines of a changing room. We owed them an apology for the first-half performance.”
The team talk had little impact, with Man City going on to win 5-1.
Premier League Boxing Day all-time records*
| Team | P | W | D | L | Win % |
| Man Utd | 29 | 22 | 4 | 3 | 75.9% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 27 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 66.7% |
| Arsenal | 25 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 64.0% |
| Coventry | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 62.5% |
| Spurs | 27 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 55.6% |
| Man City | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 54.5% |
| Birmingham | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 50.0% |
| Nott'm Forest | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 50.0% |
| Wigan | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 50.0% |
| Chelsea | 29 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 44.8% |
| Stoke | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 44.4% |
| Portsmouth, Wimbledon | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 42.9% |
| Blackburn | 17 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 41.2% |
| Brighton | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 40.0% |
| Leeds | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 40.0% |
| Everton | 29 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 37.9% |
| West Ham | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 36.4% |
| Swansea, Wolves | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 33.3% |
| Sunderland | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 31.3% |
| Sheff Wed | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 28.6% |
| Southampton | 21 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 28.6% |
| Bolton | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 25.0% |
| Fulham | 17 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 23.5% |
| Newcastle | 26 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 23.1% |
| Crystal Palace | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 21.4% |
| Middlesbrough | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 20.0% |
| Aston Villa | 27 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 18.5% |
| Bournemouth | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 14.3% |
| Charlton, Watford | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 14.3% |
| Burnley, Derby | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 14.3% |
| Leicester | 18 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 11.1% |
| West Brom | 12 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8.3% |
| Sheff Utd | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0.0% |
| Norwich | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.0% |
*minimum five matches played. Scroll across to see the full table