Nine of the ten Premier League Matchday 19 duels are scheduled to take place on Boxing Day in the 2021/22 Premier League season, which is probably one of the UK’s greatest sporting traditions.
Because league games are scheduled around Christmas and New Year’s Day, the Premier League is the only major football competition where players do not have a break during the holidays.
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is observed on the 26th of December, the day following Christmas Day. It is a national bank holiday in the United Kingdom, and if it falls on Saturday or Sunday, it is shifted to Monday or Tuesday.
Significance of the Name
The name stems from the custom of wealthy families wrapping and distributing gifts to their staff the day after Christmas. Those boxes would then be given to the servants’ families as a Christmas present. Although it began as a day when masters would give away gifts to the impoverished, it has since evolved into a popular shopping day in the United Kingdom.
The Day is Celebrated with Football – Why?
In the past, British football teams would compete on Christmas Day, but this trend changed in the 1950s when December 25 was designated as a family holiday. As a result, the only ever Christmas Day football game was played in 1957, and Boxing Day football became a tradition in the United Kingdom.
“Football was played on Christmas Day because it was a day off and there was a tradition of public working-class events,” said history professor Martin Johnes.”
“It was also at times played on Boxing Day meaning two games in two days.”
“Communal entertainments were clearly on the decline as the festival took greater root in the home.”
“Football shifts just to Boxing Day, as Christmas Day becomes more family orientated and, more importantly, public transport becomes more and more limited.”
