The Premier League appears to be bidding farewell to its Boxing Day tradition this year. According to a media report, this is due to contractual and scheduling reasons.
Boxing Day has been an integral part of the English Premier League since its first season. 137 years later, the tradition is apparently in danger of disappearing, at least temporarily. As the Daily Mail reported on Monday, there could be only one Premier League game on the schedule on Boxing Day 2025. The background to this is a combination of scheduling conflicts and a new contract between the Premier League and the English Football Association (FA). Last year, the two parties agreed that the FA Cup round of 16 would also take place on a weekend in the future, but in return, the FA would waive the traditional replay matches in the event of a draw. Since then, the Premier League has been obliged to offer its media partners 33 match days on weekends and five during the week. And because there is only a very limited period of time available for this in the current season, given the Club World Cup, a long European Cup season, and the 2026 World Cup, it is very likely, according to the media report, that December 26, 2025, will be treated like a “normal” Premier League Friday with only one game, even though final talks are still pending.
This affects matchday 18, which will see Arsenal and Brighton, Liverpool and Wolverhampton, Manchester United and Newcastle, and Nottingham and Manchester City face off, among others. In the Championship, League One, and League Two, i.e., leagues two to four, there will be a full schedule as usual on Boxing Day.
Will Boxing Day 2026 return thanks to the calendar?
Last year, eight of the ten Premier League matches were played on December 26. The last time there was a full match day was in 2015/16, as well as in 2014/15, when Boxing Day last fell on a Friday.
At least because December 26, 2026, is a Saturday, there is a good chance that the Boxing Day tradition will be revived in the Premier League in the new season, even if it is to be feared that it will only be a temporary return to the tradition that dates back to 1888.