What is the significance of Boxing Day football?

Boxing Day is not a day for boxing. It is a day when football fans eat their Christmas leftovers and rejoice in the beauty of football. And they don't have to worry about work, too. So why is it so important to English football fans?

A full day of the beautiful game

A full day of Premier League while not having to worry about work is a dreamland for adult English football fans. There are a minimum of 4 games they could watch at home in full. First up is the Jonjo Shelvey derby, Newcastle vs Nottingham Forest, but Shelvey himself played on Christmas Day. Two and a half hours later it's Bournemouth v Fulham and relegation derby Sheffield v Luton. Another two and a half hours later Burnley will host Liverpool at Turf Moor. ANOTHER two and a half hours later is the pick of the bunch: Man United against Aston Villa, which Man United would most likely lose (ha).

A full day of Premier League. Merry day-after-Christmas.

Classic Boxing Day games

Boxing Day has given us some classic matches of Premier League football before. There was an absolute balls-up Chelsea 4-4 Aston Villa game in 2007. In 2017 there was a crazy 3-3 draw between Bournemouth and West Ham. There was also Man United's 3-2 comeback win over Hull in 2013. Boxing Day games are always rollercoasters. And Man U vs Villa is destined to be an absolute cracker.

1963 Boxing Day madness

Image Credit: The Sun

But the most iconic boxing day of maybe premier league history, of COURSE is the 1963 boxing day.

I mean, most of these scores look unbelievable. Except for the Liverpool and Man U results (ha). You have Burnley beating Man U 6-1, which would still likely happen when these two sides meet next time. Fulham thrashed Ipswich 10-1 which absolutely would not happen now, Ipswich is on fire and maybe can even beat Fulham. West Brom then had a frantic 4-4 draw with Tottenham. If this one was played, then Tottenham would have won 100%, seriously. Not even roasting them, Tottenham plays beautiful football under Postecoglou. And finally, Blackburn beating West Ham 8-2, well, is unbelievable but still slightly believable, because they had been beaten 5-0 by Fulham. Boxing Day is always a rollercoaster, but it's this one that helped it get its big idea.

In Short

It's Christmas, so I won't be writing too much this time, but every Boxing Day game promises to be an absolute treat. Whether it's crazy scorelines or storylines, if there's one day of Premier League football that delivers more rollercoaster matches, drama to the brim, and crazy scorelines than the others, it's Boxing Day.