2023-12-24 16:24:23
Christmas is synonymous with gifts, family gatherings and happiness, but in England they have been combining it with football for decades through Boxing Day. This legendary tradition is celebrated every December 26 and arose in 1860, where the British met with their closest friends to give each other different gifts and be dazzled by English football. The first match in the history of this important date was a local derby that pitted Shefflied FC against Hallam FC. However, It took him 28 years to establish himself in the English professional league and began to take root in the championship in the 1888-89 season with a 5-0 between Preston North End y Derby Country. Until 1957, the match was played every Christmas Day, but after a communication failure, it was advised to move the matches to every December 26 and that has lasted until now.
When it comes to bringing English football to the market, ‘Boxing Day’ is a differentiating factor over the rest of the leagues, since practically only in the British country is it played during these dates. In fact, the rest of the important competitions are paralyzed until the beginning of the new year. In addition to that, In the economic aspect, it is a date marked in red for the Premier League, since as it is a national holiday, the stadiums attract much more public and at the television level the audiences increase. It is true that this area does not worry the leaders of English football much, as most of the time there are full stadiums and large television numbers, but it is worth taking into account.
Despite all this, Not everything is praise for this Christmas day, since there are constant complaints from professionals, whether footballers, coaches or referees. During his time at Manchester United, the Dutch coach Louis van Gaal He was critical of ‘Boxing Day’: “There is no rest in winter and that is the worst thing that can be said about this culture. It is not good for the teams or the national team. How long has it been since England won anything? It’s because their players arrive exhausted at the end of the season.”. Pep Guardiola also complained about the excessive load of matches during these days: “The problem is the games, the calendar, the teams immersed in big competitions and many games… The players have two or three weeks of vacation in the summer and then the season starts again. It’s too much”.
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Historical parties
Throughout this legendary tradition in the English championship, matches have been played that have gone down in history, but we are going to highlight a few. The first of them, This is the Fulham-Ipswich Town of 1963, which ended with a 10-1 home victory. That season’s Boxing Day was the highest scorer of all time and this clash brought with it a sublime performance from Graham Leggat, who scored the fastest hat-trick ever seen in the English top division, however, in 2015 Sadio Mané when he played for Southampton he took the record away from him. In 1978, another very notable match was played on this Christmas day, but not because of the size of the result, but because of everything that lay behind that match. Was a 0-3 between Manchester United y Liverpoollos reds, Led by Bob Pairsley, they took revenge for the previous season, as the Mancunian team left them without a treble after stealing the FA Cup.
In 2000, on the first Boxing Day of the 21st century, It was a rout to remember, Arsenal beat the 6-1 Leicester City with a spectacular Thierry Henry scoring three goals on one of Highbury’s last afternoons. Seven years later, they saw each other’s faces Stamford Bridge, Chelsea and Aston Villa. Los blues and the Birmingham team left a match for history after finishing the match 4-4. It was a duel that was characterized by constant alternations on the scoreboard and emotion, since the villains tied the game with a maximum penalty in stoppage time.
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Finally, we highlight one of the last encounters of Sir’s era. Alex Ferguson. The Scottish coach, an idol at Old Trafford, at one point even asked for the competition to be stopped during these dates, but it was non-negotiable. In 2012, they closed this date Manchester United y Newcastle United and the match, like the one we have highlighted previously, had comebacks and unrest until the last moments. In 68′, Papiss Cissé He put 2-3 on the electronic, but 20 minutes at the Theater of Dreams were, are and will be very long, it is special in the Ferguson era. And going epic in the last minutes between Robin van Persie and Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández made the final 4-3, giving the three points to the locals. After that, there have also been more recent meetings with historic results such as a 3-3 between AFC Bournemouth and West Ham in 2017 or Manchester City’s 6-3 – Leicester City of the year 2021.
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Moments to remember
Football has always been and will be a fabulous spectacle for football lovers, but when the protagonists give their all even more and leave us wonderful anecdotes. A date as important as ‘Boxing Day’ was not going to be left behind in this aspect and leaving aside matches that left their mark, there have been moments to remember.
In 1996, in a Manchester United – Sunderland, Eric Cantona He left a great goal that very few fans of the red devils and of the Premier League They have forgotten. After a dizzying drive from the center of the field, with a wall included with Brian Mcclair, a Vaseline shot from outside the area made it impossible for the visiting goalkeeper to stretch after placing the ball in the top corner after hitting the post. In addition to that, left an iconic celebration, which is called ‘The King Celebration’as he extended his arms under a defiant gaze after the work of art he had made.
Another great moment to highlight was the exhibition of Didier Drogba before him West Brom in 2010, where he scored a hat-trick and one was a tremendous header after a very unorthodox, but tremendously effective, jump. However, he is not the only header from the Ivorian who has left his mark on Boxing Day. In 2007 against Reading he scored after surpassing the goalkeeper in the jumpin the image the African player’s ability to rise in front of the goalkeeper is striking.
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