Football matches on Christmas Day were once a staple of the festive period in the United Kingdom, but the tradition has long since been consigned to the history books
DAILY STAR
Football matches in the UK used to be a Christmas Day tradition until the 1950s.
Clubs would play a full schedule of games on December 25 and again on December 26, with Everton even playing two matches on Christmas Day in 1888. The introduction of floodlights in the 1950s changed this. Matches could now be played in the evening, reducing the need for festive fixtures.
The last full round of Christmas Day matches was in the 1957/58 season. As fans started to prefer spending Christmas Day at home, match attendances dropped. The final English league match played on December 25 was between Blackpool and Blackburn Rovers in 1965.
In the 1980s, Brentford and Wimbledon tried to bring back Christmas Day football. However, fan protests led to the match being moved to Christmas Eve. Northern Ireland is the only home nation still hosting football matches on Christmas Day, with the Steel and Sons Cup final taking place each year.
In 1949, a whopping 3.5million fans attended Football League matches across three days of festive fixtures. During both World War I and World War II, women’s teams stepped in to keep the Christmas football tradition alive while the men were away. Even international matches have been played on Christmas Day, including the Copa America’s 1925 final.
