In England, there is Santa Claus, but especially Boxing Day. December 26, a public holiday in many Anglo-Saxon countries, is traditionally a day of celebration for football lovers with the programming of many Premier League matches. Except this year.
This Friday, December 26, 2025, only one meeting will take place, at 9 p.m. between Manchester United and Newcastle. An anomaly which causes dismay among fans and which can be explained by several reasons.
Calendar… and TV rights
The Premier League first cited the calendar and the reform of the European Cups to justify its choice. Since last year there have been two additional matches during the first phase of the Champions League and the Europa League, the midweeks are busier.
In October, the Premier League said in a press release that this had prompted it to “revise (its) national calendar”, and to schedule the weekends of the FA Cup rounds which usually took place during the week.
Added to this are the contractual obligations of the English league with TV broadcasters. Indeed, the Premier League must organize at least 33 championship days during weekends. She therefore had to schedule matches on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28, abandoning Friday 26.
If the Boxing Day program had already been slimmed down in recent years, it had not been this lean since 1982.
