Why is there only one Premier League game this year on Boxing Day?
For the first time in modern memory, England’s top flight will stage just one match on December 26: Manchester United hosting Newcastle United under the lights at Old Trafford. No mid-afternoon pile-on. No wall-to-wall goals on the telly. Just a single Friday night fixture, acting as the soft launch to a festive round that really begins a day later.
Boxing Day football is part of the fabric of the Premier League
Boxing Day lands awkwardly this year
In 2025, December 26 falls on a Friday. That matters more than it sounds.
Under the Premier League’s scheduling model, the season is rigidly divided into 33 weekend rounds and five midweek rounds. Those definitions are written directly into domestic TV contracts, shaping how matches can be distributed across the week. When Boxing Day lands midweek, it can comfortably host an entire round. When it lands on a Friday, it becomes part of a weekend round instead.
That single technicality is the root of everything that follows. A weekend round can only accommodate one Friday match. The rest must spill into Saturday and Sunday to satisfy the league’s obligations.
The fixture list was never meant to be festive
When the Premier League released its season schedule back in June, every match in Gameweek 18 was listed for Saturday, December 27. Boxing Day, at that point, was completely empty.
That initial decision triggered concern that December 26 might pass without top-flight football at all. The eventual compromise was to move one game forward for broadcast, leaving seven matches on Saturday and two on Sunday. Boxing Day survives, but only just.
The delay in confirming festive fixtures was telling. The league acknowledged “complexities” in balancing Christmas and New Year scheduling, a phrase that has become shorthand for a calendar under genuine strain.
Arsenal will be at the top of the Premier League table on Christmas Eve for the 5th time in their history. The other 4 times they….HAVEN’T WON THE TITLE THAT SEASON! Will they be able to break the curse this time? pic.twitter.com/1LOhrK5ayt
— 365Scores (@365Scores) December 21, 2025
TV money shapes everything
The current domestic broadcast deal is the largest sports media rights agreement ever signed in the UK. More games than ever are televised, but that comes with strict structural demands.
Broadcasters want fixtures spread across premium windows: Friday night, Saturday lunchtime, Sunday afternoon, Sunday evening. Concentrating ten matches on a single day makes little sense commercially, especially when Saturday’s 3pm blackout still restricts domestic broadcasts.
This season, the Premier League also chose not to use its exemption to televise multiple Saturday 3pm games over the festive period. That decision made spreading fixtures across the weekend even more necessary.
The FA Cup has quietly squeezed the league
Changes to the FA Cup calendar mean that rounds four, five, and the quarter-finals now take place on weekends exclusively reserved for the competition, with no Premier League fixtures allowed. Those protected weekends reduce flexibility elsewhere, forcing the league to be more rigid about how and when its own rounds are staged.
When Boxing Day falls on a Friday, that lack of wiggle room becomes painfully obvious.
Player welfare finally matters
There is at least one human upside.
The Premier League has committed to ensuring teams receive a minimum of 48 hours’ rest between festive fixtures. In previous seasons, especially when Boxing Day fell earlier in the week, squads were often pushed into punishing turnarounds.
Manchester United, notably, raised concerns earlier this season about their heavy run of midweek matches before Christmas. Clubs are increasingly vocal about the toll of the modern calendar, and this year’s festive layout reflects a rare nod to those complaints.
Is this the end of Boxing Day as we know it?
Probably not.
The league has already confirmed that next season will feature more Boxing Day matches, helped by December 26 falling on a Saturday. This year is a quirk rather than a revolution, the by-product of calendar alignment rather than a philosophical shift.
Lower down the pyramid, Boxing Day remains untouched. The EFL will stage a full festive programme as usual, reinforcing just how culturally embedded December 26 football still is in England.
The tradition hasn’t died. It’s just been temporarily rearranged.
FAQs
Why is there only one Premier League game on Boxing Day this year?
Because December 26 falls on a Friday, which is treated as part of a weekend round. Under league rules, only one match can be played that day.
Which match is being played on Boxing Day?
Manchester United vs Newcastle United at Old Trafford.
Are there still lots of games over the festive period?
Yes. The rest of the fixtures are spread across Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 December.
Has the Premier League abandoned Boxing Day football?
No. The league has said this is a one-season outcome driven by calendar structure, not a permanent change.
Will Boxing Day return to normal next season?
Almost certainly. December 26 falls on a Saturday next year, which makes a full fixture slate far easier to schedule.
By Nicky Helfgott – NickyHelfgott1 on X (Twitter)
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