Boxing Day: Man United only club to host festive fixture this year | OneFootball

Manchester United will be the only Premier League side to do something on Boxing Day this year.

It has been announced that Old Trafford will be the only Premier League ground to host a match this Boxing Day.

Break with tradition

Boxing Day football is as much a British Christmas tradition as turkey and crackers.

United have a fantastic record on Boxing Day. In both Premier League and English Football League history, “Manchester United have won more games and scored more goals on Boxing Day than any other side.”

They have 22 wins and scored 74 goals in the Premier League era, and boast a total of 54 wins and 202 goals overall.

Nonetheless, they did lose last season’s Boxing Day match versus Wolverhampton Wanderers when a certain Matheus Cunha ran United ragged, even scoring directly from a corner in a 0-2 defeat for the Reds.

They also did not play on Boxing Day in 2023, instead playing against Nottingham Forest on the 27th December in a 1-2 loss at the City Ground.

Boxing Day Results

Only fixture this year

Journalist Ben Jacobs reported that “Manchester United vs. Newcastle has been selected as the sole Boxing Day fixture with kick-off at 20:00.”

“The Premier League say they are ‘bound by how the calendar falls’ and have to honour 33 weekends of action. Boxing Day falls on a Friday.”

A full Boxing Day fixture list is expected to return in 2026.

United’s official website adds, “Sky Sports are showing the Old Trafford clash live and ticket information is available here to attend the game in person.”

“The other nine matches are to be played across the final weekend of 2025, with Sunderland versus Leeds United and Crystal Palace against Tottenham Hotspur taking place on Sunday 28 December.”

Premier League Statement

The league justified their decision by claiming, “the Premier League would like to acknowledge the circumstances that have led to a reduced number of matches on Boxing Day this season – impacting an important tradition in English football.”

They went on, “there are now several challenges to Premier League fixture scheduling rooted in the expansion of European club competitions – which led to a revision of our domestic calendar ahead of last season, including changes to the FA Cup. This ultimately left the Premier League as a 33-weekend competition – fewer than previous seasons, despite being a 380-match competition since 1995.”

Featured Image Carl Recine via Getty Images

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