There will be just one Premier League fixture held tomorrow on Boxing Day this year, with the English top flight set to abandon the famous Boxing Day tradition.
According to The Daily Mail, calendar pressures caused by UEFA competition expansion – and the FA Cup switching exclusively to weekend dates – have been major contributing factors in the controversial move.
Premier League bosses are contractually obliged to bring 33 weekends of action to broadcasters, meaning Boxing Day 2025 will be viewed the same as any other Friday in the season.
As a result, only one Premier League match is scheduled for tomorrow – Manchester United vs Newcastle, with action kicking off at 8pm.
The remaining matches over the Christmas period are expected to be staggered over the course of Saturday (December 27), Sunday (December 28) and Monday (December 29).
Will Premiere League games return on Boxing Day next year?
Supporters may be pleased to learn that Boxing Day falls on a Saturday next year, opening the door for normal service to resume.
Fixture congestion over the winter period has long been a source of frustration for Premier League clubs and managers, with the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp calling for a change in the schedule in recent years.
The expansion of UEFA competitions led to FA Cup replays being ditched last year, a move that proved massively contentious given the loss of money through TV coverage and ticket sales for teams competing lower down in the pyramid.
Criticising the change at the time, EFL CEO Trevor Birch said: ‘This is another traditional revenue stream lost for EFL clubs at a time when the financial gap between the biggest clubs and those further down the pyramid is widening.’
Meanwhile, National League CEO Mark Ives argued: ‘We have at no stage voiced our support for the scrapping of FA Cup replays or otherwise.
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‘It was a decision made by the Professional Game Board (PGB) which is made up of the FA, Premier League and EFL.’
What is the Boxing Day tradition?
The popular Boxing Day tradition stretches way back to 1888, when the first recorded Boxing Day match took place.
After that, football quickly became a tradition on Christmas Day and Boxing Day as the public holidays were seen as opportunities to leave the house and attend large-scale events.
Over time, as Christmas Day changed and families opted to stay inside, interest in football on Christmas Day began to dwindle, with the last Christmas Day football match – a game between Blackpool and Blackburn Rovers – taking place in 1965.
Boxing Day football remained popular and a tradition still upheld today.
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