In Europe, everyone is talking about Boxing Day in the English Premier League. After all, the tradition is more than 160 years old. On Boxing Day, football drives fans into the stadiums or in front of the television.
Christmas is full of presents. Be it the presence of loved ones, the package under the decorated tree – or a whole Premier League game day. In the motherland of football, the sporty Boxing Day is part of the festival of love.
The beginnings of the tradition go back more than 160 years. Because the two oldest football clubs in the world, FC Sheffield and FC Hallam, played their first derby on December 26, 1860.
Before Christmas football was finally included in the Football League, founded in 1888, Everton FC started a test attempt.
The Toffees played a total of three games at Christmas 1888. A whopping 2,000 spectators came for the show match against Ulster alone – quite a lot for the early days.
Pilgrimage to the stadiums
Soccer at Christmas was well received by the population and was henceforth included in the schedule.
The league gave the fans top-class sports on the holidays – back then even on Christmas Day, i.e. December 25th. In addition to the fans, spectators who otherwise had little to do with football were also drawn to the stadiums.
The Guardian described the new folklore as “part of the national character – that bleary-eyed, solemn migration, the essence of a wandering, shivering people drawn to damp, unproductive pilgrimages.”
In fact, the comparison with pilgrimages is not far-fetched. The cult surrounding Christmas football reached its peak in 1949.
Almost three and a half million spectators are said to have attended the three rounds of the Football League in just four days – including singing Christmas carols together and Christmas dinner in the stands.
The Boxing Day
But gradually those responsible slimmed down the jam-packed football program on the holidays. In 1965 the last game was played on Christmas Day – Blackpool beat Blackburn 4-2.
Since then, the English leagues have only given their fans presents on Boxing Day.
It got its name from the old tradition that the rich Britons always gave their servants or other needy people a “Christmas box”, a small package, on that day.
Football with a pilgrimage character?
At least the neutral spectators and fans of the winning teams probably experienced the greatest Boxing Day in 1963.
Back then, an unbelievable 66 goals were scored in ten First Division games. Fulham played the biggest role in that with their 10-1 win over Ipswich Town. Graham Leggat scored the fastest hat-trick in league history. Three goals in just four minutes – a Christmas miracle!
After Boxing Day was canceled last year due to the corona pandemic, the game will be played again this year. sport.de accompanies numerous games of traditional Christmas football with a pilgrimage character in the live ticker!
Florian Puetz