FOOTBALL & FESTIVE PERIOD THE TRUE SEASON OF GOODWILL TO ALL

FOOTBALL & FESTIVE PERIOD THE TRUE SEASON OF GOODWILL TO ALL.
All football fans know that the Christmas period is a wonderful time for watching football. Christmas Day, however, is a football free zone, with supporters having to find entertainment in cracker jokes and the kings speech instead. However, back in the Victorian times and up until the 1950s, football on Christmas Day went hand in hand, like pigs in blankets and turkey with cranberry sauce.
Back then, Christmas Day was a rare public holiday and the beautiful game was one of the only sources of entertainment available. There wasnt a TV to gather around, and so families ventured out into the cold to catch the big game. Every Christmas Day there would be a full programme of football, and usually another full schedule on Boxing Day. Football was very much a staple of the Christmas Day tradition ! Take a look at some of the amazing history that surrounds the beautiful game and the most wonderful time of the year.
The first ever Football League match to be played on Christmas Day was a clash between Preston North End and Aston Villa in 1889. Known as the ?Invincibles?, Preston were the reigning league champions, however Villa had won the previous meeting between the top two sides. The hard-fought game ended 3-2 to Preston, who actually went on to win the league title for the second year running. Over 9,000 spectators turned up to watch this battle, making it one of the highest attended games that the football league had seen.
As the Football League expanded, many clubs were forced to travel longer distances for Christmas Day matches. Back then there were no public transport shutdowns, so fans and players could easily catch trains and buses for their festive fixtures. Usually, teams would play against the same opponent over the Christmas Day and Boxing Day period, to ensure that paired-up teams had equal distances to travel!
Playing football on a religious holiday used to be a very contentious issue, playing football on Sunday was banned for a long time and therefore some footballers abstained from playing in Christmas Day matches. The FA made sure that playing on this holy day was actually voluntary and star players like England internationals Arthur Bridgett of Sunderland and Harold Fleming of Swindon refused to play on religious grounds.
Up until 1925, the entire Arsenal football team were actually prevented from playing Christmas Day matches because of a term in their lease. The land Highbury was built upon was owned by St John?s College of Divinity and they prohibited the play of football on any religious holiday. However, in 1925 Arsenal bought the land and played their first ever Christmas Day match against Notts County in front of 22,500 fans, winning 3-0.
Christmas Day of 1957 was one of the final years that there was a full league programme. The following year there were only three First Division matches played on the 25th December and just one in 1959. The arrival of floodlights and evening games had removed the need for fixtures to be squeezed into public holidays, and many fans were preferring to stay at home with their families on Christmas Day.
After that it become a thing of the past, with Christmas Day becoming a day completely devoted to family and religion for some. Today, we enjoy football around the Christmas period, on Boxing Day and before New Year but nothing on the main day. Many footy fans & clubs have mixed views at non league level ,yes it's a time where traditionally larger attendances are experienced but also especially the lower the levels you go , volunteers give up 9 months a year making sure our games go on, our clubs keep running so surely they deserve time off game free to spend with loved ones & i get that , the majority of leagues also understand it & give clubs the option of when football is played over the festive period.
Like a lot of things traditions in football are constantly evolving , football is fast becoming a 7.day a week spectacle with kick off now from as early as 11am right upto 8pm kick offs. There will be plenty of football to watch in & around the Xmas & new year period at all steps of the game obviously weather permitting so as the festive period approaches seasons greetings to all volunteers etc at club & league level.