🤔 Find out why there’s only one match on Boxing Day 2025 | OneFootball

Boxing Day is one of the busiest days in English football, but in 2025, only one match will be played in the Premier League.

Manchester United will face Newcastle at 5:00 pm at Old Trafford, for the 18th round of the English Championship.

The reduction in matches on this day is due to two main factors: the Premier League's commercial commitments and the specificities of this year's calendar.

According to broadcast contracts, 33 of the 38 rounds of the competition must be held on weekends, which means that only one match can take place on Fridays to give more prominence to Saturdays and Sundays.

Since Boxing Day 2025 falls on a Friday, it is automatically classified as a weekend round, limiting the number of matches.

The expectation is that the tradition of multiple matches on this day will return next season, when Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, without contractual restrictions.

In the lower divisions of English football, however, Boxing Day will be packed, with the Championship, for example, having 12 matches scheduled for this Friday (26th).

In the Premier League, Arsenal leads with 39 points, while Manchester City, with 37, and Aston Villa, with 36 points, remain in a tight race for second place.

United, in turn, appears in seventh place, with 26 points, three ahead of Newcastle, who are in 11th place.

🤔 Why 'Boxing Day'?

The term "Boxing Day" dates back to the late 19th century and refers to December 26th.

Celebrated the day after Christmas, Boxing Day is a holiday in the United Kingdom and symbolizes a continuation of the Christmas festivities, where people usually exchange gifts and take advantage of store sales.

The event has become an important cultural tradition in the UK, also serving as a marketing strategy for the Premier League, which stands out amid the Christmas break of other leagues.

The name has several theories about its origin, but the most common include:

Christmas Boxes

One explanation is that, during the Victorian period in the 19th century, it was common for employers to give their employees "boxes" as gifts.

These boxes were opened the day after Christmas, hence the name "Boxing Day," the day of the boxes or "packing day," in more literal translations.

Charity Boxes

Another theory suggests that people used to place donations in boxes at churches for charity during the Christmas festivities.

These boxes were opened on St. Stephen's Day (December 26th), and the money collected was distributed to those in need.

'Post-Christmas'

Over time, Boxing Day also became a day when people exchange gifts they did not like or that did not fit during Christmas, similar to a second day of festivities.

In many countries that celebrate Boxing Day, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, the day is marked by big sales and store promotions, similar to Black Friday in the United States, making it an important commercial event on the calendar.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

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