{"id":308186,"date":"2025-11-25T17:56:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T17:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/308186\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T17:56:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T17:56:07","slug":"why-is-there-only-one-premier-league-game-on-boxing-day-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/308186\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is there only one Premier League game on Boxing Day this year?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christmas might be just around the corner, but for many football fans the Boxing Day football is of a bigger focus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the panic of buying Christmas gifts, whether it be a\u00a0blank gift certificate<\/a>, jewellery or a wash and bath set, Boxing Day football has always served as something of a welcome distraction after the business of Christmas Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this year will see\u00a0just one Premier League game take place on Boxing Day<\/a>,\u00a0a clash between Manchester United and Newcastle\u00a0at Old Trafford.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While fans of football league clubs up and down the country\u00a0will still be able to go and watch their teams play, it is\u00a0a crying shame\u00a0that there will be just one Premier League game for football fans to enjoy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Boxing Day football has always been a staple of the English game. While other countries are holding their winter breaks\u00a0during that time, the Premier League having a packed schedule on Boxing Day was something that has set it apart and for many people is a big part of their festive\u00a0holiday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0other nine games from that\u00a0gameweek\u00a0will instead be held over the 27th\u00a0and the 28th. While that might not seem all that significant in the grand scheme of things, the hectic schedule of games amid the growth of European competitions\u00a0and increased TV coverage\u00a0continues to damage traditions in the English game that have gone back many years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is not a big demand that fans should be able to go and watch their team play on Boxing Day\u00a0as has been the norm for so many years now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thankfully, next year\u2019s calendar means there will be a return of the familiar Boxing Day feel.\u00a0With Boxing Day 2026 falling on a Saturday, the\u00a0Premier League has confirmed a full round of fixtures will take place across the day<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fans have certainly made their disappointment over this year\u2019s festive schedule\u00a0known\u00a0but\u00a0can take comfort in the fact that next year will see a reverse back to the norm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The hope, however, is\u00a0that this continues beyond next season and that supporters will continue to get their football feast\u00a0immediately\u00a0after the business of Christmas Day, as it would be a great shame to see a football tradition\u00a0loved by so many\u00a0die out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For this year, though, we will all have to settle for just one top-flight game to keep us entertained.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christmas might be just around the corner, but for many football fans the Boxing Day football is of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-308186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}