Just a 'normal' weekend - what's happened to Boxing Day football?

Boxing Day traditionally stages a full league programme of fixtures

There will be Premier League football on Boxing Day next season, even though the traditional holiday programme of a full fixture list was missing when the top-flight's match schedule was revealed on Wednesday.

Instead, a full round of matches was listed for the following day - though the Premier League confirmed games can be brought forward to 26 December to be shown on television.

Another round of games will follow on 30 December.

To some fans, it was sacrilege to see the staple of the festive period removed from the calendar, another slice taken out of the English game and the holiday season.

To others, it is welcome relief of not having to navigate a limited - or non-existent in some places - public transport system in order to get to a game.

So what was the reason for it?

Congested calendar and lack of weekends

The crux of the matter is the deal the Premier League struck with the Football Association around the congested calendar.

In exchange for scrapping FA Cup replays - another move condemned by the traditionalists - the Premier League agreed to restore the FA Cup fifth round to a blank weekend, having previously been shunted into midweek. It also agreed to not schedule matches on the same weekend as the sixth round.

At that point, it committed to a 38-game season comprising of 33 weekend dates and five in midweek.

That is what the Premier League produced on Wednesday. The five midweeks are at the beginning of December, January and March, one towards the middle of February and, as outlined, another on 30 December.

The only way to have 33 weekend dates in 2025-26 is for 27 December to be one of the regular match weekends.

That's because the competition is starting on 16 August – any earlier would have reduced the gap from the end of the Club World Cup to just four weeks. Manchester City tried, and failed, to get their first match of the season moved, as it was.

There is also a hard stop end to the season of 24 May as the Champions League final is a week later and the World Cup follows after that.

Matches played over three days?

The Premier League is a global brand. Not every place where they have a TV deal celebrates Christmas - and hardly any of those countries play matches on Boxing Day, so 27 December seems an easier fit.

The base kick-off time for that match week is 15:00 GMT on Saturday, 27 December.

Games can be moved – but not all of them. In theory, all four of the televised kick-off slots used on Boxing Day last season, including the 20:00 GMT one, could be used.

Matches could also be shown on the Saturday, or Sunday, 28 December. This is all still to be decided.

Package E of the new TV deal that comes into force in August includes reference to a rather ambiguous "six additional matches" without saying what that means.

But there is no mention anywhere in the deal about a weekend when all 10 games will be screened.

So, while any game moved to Boxing Day will have been done specifically for TV purposes, not all those that remain on 27 December seem likely to be shown live.

For those who devour Boxing Day football from morning until night, there is some good news.

The EFL will have a full programme across their three divisions – and all their games are streamed.

And, in 2026-27, Boxing Day falls on a Saturday - and given it's already a weekend, the chances of a return to a full match programme on that day is high.