Christmas Day football remembered after Everton played three games in two days

25 December 2023 , 17:00

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There used to be a full programmes of fixtures on Christmas Day (Image: PA)

The festive period heralds a feast of football for fans up and down the country - on every day apart from Christmas Day itself, that is.

But this has not always been the case. From Victorian times through to the 1950s, there were full programmes of fixtures on Christmas Day as well as on Boxing Day.

According to FourFourTwo, 3.5 million fans watched the Football League's three days of Christmas football in 1949, signing carols before kick-off. For many, it was the only match they attended all year.

Everton played two matches on December 25 in 1888 and then one on Boxing Day, while the first Christmas Football League match brought a crowd of 9,000 to see Preston North End beat Aston Villa 3-2 in 1889.

On a particularly foggy Christmas Day in 1937, Charlton goalkeeper Sam Bartram famously stayed guarding his net for 15 minutes after the match finished.

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A huge 3.5 million fans watched the Football League's three days of Christmas football in 1949 (PA)

To the amusement of his teammates, Bartram had assumed his side had the opposition pinned in the other half of the pitch, before being told the game had ended by a policeman patrolling the pitch.

Women's teams maintained the tradition in the absence of the men during World War I and World War II and there have even been many international matches played on Christmas Day - including Copa America matches.

But Christmas Day 1957 was the last with a full league programme of football.

The need to cram fixtures into holiday seasons was removed by floodlights, which allowed for evening matches.

People preferred to stay in the warm with their families than take to the terraces on Christmas, and the last English league match to be played on Christmas Day was Blackpool vs Blackburn in 1965.

The introduction of the floodlight saw the end of Christmas Day football (Getty Images)

An 80s revival sought to bring Christmas Day football back to the country, but it was a failure. Brentford planned to play Wimbledon in a third division match kicking-off at 11am, but both sets of fans protested and the match was played on Christmas Eve instead.

The only Home Nation to still play Christmas Day football is Northern Ireland, when the Steel and Sons Cup Final is traditionally played.

Freddie Keighley