FOOTBALL AT XMAS IS AS TRADITIONAL AS A TURKEY

FOOTBALL AT XMAS IS AS TRADITIONAL AS A TURKEY.

Religious holidays and bank holidays have long been a time to pile on the football, and there was a time when the top teams played nearly every day at Christmas.

Christmas is a time when we’re encouraged to have too much of everything - TV, food, time with family, and football.

During the Victorian era, football was played on Christmas Day because it was a day off. There was a tradition of public working-class events. It was also at times played on Boxing Day, meaning two games in two days. For many working people, this could be the only chance of the year to catch a game, due to long working hours. Working-class homes were often uncomfortable, overcrowded, and unappealing, so a rare day free from work was reason to take to the streets, not relax at home. Over the years, the popularity of Christmas Day football dwindled. As living standards improved and food, gifts, and decorations became more affordable, communal entertainments clearly declined. The festival took greater root in the home. In the early 1900s, it was not uncommon for clubs to play on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, the following day, and New Year's Day.

The last Christmas Day game in England was in 1965, when Blackpool beat Blackburn Rovers 4-2 at Bloomfield Road. The last Christmas Day game in Scotland was Saturday, December 25, 1976. Clydebank and St Mirren drew 2-2 in a top-of-the-table First Division clash, and Alloa beat Cowdenbeath 2-1 at home in the Second Division.

Northern Ireland still hosts the Steel of Sons Cup final every Christmas Day. If Christmas is on a Sunday, it moves to Christmas Eve. Even though local derbies were often scheduled for Christmas, the demanding schedule put a strain on players with all the travelling involved. Since 1965 in England, football has shifted to Boxing Day only. Christmas Day has become more family-oriented and, importantly, public transport is now more limited.

In most of Europe, it is customary to have a minimum two-week winter break over Christmas, although Italy introduced a Boxing Day football fixture for the first time in 2017. It’s not the absence of Christmas football in Germany and other parts of Europe that’s surprising - it’s the tradition of Christmas football in Britain that seems a bit strange.

As to why our Christmas football habit contrasts so much with our European neighbours, it could just be down to football being such a traditionally popular spectator sport in Britain.

Love it or loathe it, there’s no denying that football is a particularly treasured part of British culture, older than many well-established Christmas customs practised today.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone involved with our clubs a very merry Christmas & a happy New Year.