Football
What is Boxing Day Football All About?
Having taken place for decades, Boxing Day football is one of the UK’s greatest sporting traditions and continues as one of the highlights of the English football calendar.
Beginning in the glory days of the sport in England around the turn of the 20th century and through to the 1950s, football was traditionally played on Christmas Day as it represented one of the only days off for the working class and a day for celebration, fun and games.
As the sport became professionalised and Christmas transformed into a family day, the day after Christmas became the obvious alternative and a suitable substitute for the legendary fixtures.
The last Christmas day football fixtures took place in 1957, and since then, December 26th has been the host of many memorable league fixtures, which will undoubtedly continue in the tradition for years to come.
Over Boxing Day, all four of the professional leagues in England – the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two – will have fixtures played up and down the country, with the majority of the games kicking off at 12:00 and 15:00 GMT.
When is Boxing Day Football?
Boxing Day is the day after Christmas – the 26th of December – and the matches are played throughout the day across the country, with most fixtures taking place at 12:30 and 15:00.
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Which major football leagues are participating in Boxing Day 2023?
The first matches of Boxing Day 2023 are Newcastle v Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, and Preston v Leeds in the Championship, kicking off at 12:30 on December 26th. It will be followed by matches across the top five leagues in England throughout the day, with Premier League kick-offs at 12:30, 13:00, 15:00, 17:30 and 20:00.
The pick of the games over the busy day are Ipswich v Leicester at 19:45 in the Championship as the current table-leaders go head-to-head, and Manchester United v Aston Villa at 20:00 in the Premier League.
Championship Boxing Day Fixtures
| Time | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|
| 12:30 | Preston | Leeds United |
| 13:00 | Millwall | QPR |
| 15:00 | Coventry | Sheffield Wednesday |
| 15:00 | Hull City | Sunderland |
| 15:00 | Huddersfield | Blackburn Rovers |
| 15:00 | Watford | Bristol City |
| 15:00 | Rotherham | Middlesbrough |
| 15:00 | Southampton | Swansea |
| 15:00 | West Brom | Norwich City |
| 15:00 | Cardiff City | Plymouth Argyle |
| 17:15 | Birmingham | Stoke City |
| 19:45 | Ipswich Town | Leicester City |
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Premier League Boxing Day Fixtures
| Time | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|
| 12:30 | Newcastle | Nottingham Forest |
| 13:00 | Bournemouth | Fulham |
| 15:00 | Sheffield United | Luton Town |
| 17:30 | Burnley | Liverpool |
| 20:00 | Manchester United | Aston Villa |
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Premier League Boxing Day Tips
The Premier League serves us up some boxing day treats with most of the top flights team in action across the day. In the early kick-off, Nottingham travel to St. James’ Park to take on the mighty Magpies and Steve Cooper’s side will be looking for a result away from home.
Manchester United v Aston Villa marks the end of the Boxing Day Premier League action at 20:00. With Villa’s recent surge in form, and a few bad results for Manchester United, what would usually be a game with United as clear favourites sees the scales balanced and we are in for a cracking couple of hours of football. For the past ten seasons, United have played eight times on Boxing Day, earning 17 points out a possible 24.
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Championship Boxing Day Tips
The Championship Boxing Day fixture list is headed up by Preston v Leeds. The northern clash will kick off at 12:30 and both teams will be looking to clamber up the table following the brief hiatus of Christmas Day. Leeds have performed well this season and get the nod ahead of this fixture.
The main fixture of the day in the Championship is that of Ipswich and Leicester at 19:45, with both teams top of the league after twenty games played. As it stands the teams are separated by one point, with Leicester just in front on 49pts, and will be looking to create a bigger gap between one another to take home three points.
