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Here's why the Premier League is breaking its Boxing Day tradition
Dec 25 2025 09:16 · By Tom Olver · 44 Reads
There is expected to be just one Premier League fixture held on Boxing Day (Picture: Getty)
There will be just one Premier League fixture held tomorrow on Boxing Day this year, with the English top flight set to abandon the famous Boxing Day tradition.
According to The Daily Mail , calendar pressures caused by UEFA competition expansion – and the FA Cup switching exclusively to weekend dates – have been major contributing factors in the controversial move.
Premier League bosses are contractually obliged to bring 33 weekends of action to broadcasters, meaning Boxing Day 2025 will be viewed the same as any other Friday in the season.
As a result, only one Premier League match is scheduled for tomorrow – Manchester United vs Newcastle, with action kicking off at 8pm.
The remaining matches over the Christmas period are expected to be staggered over the course of Saturday (December 27), Sunday (December 28) and Monday (December 29).
Boxing Day will be treated like any other Friday in the season (Picture: Getty)
The Premier League said there would be confirmation over televised games on October 15 (Picture: Getty)
Supporters may be pleased to learn that Boxing Day falls on a Saturday next year, opening the door for normal service to resume.
Fixture congestion over the winter period has long been a source of frustration for Premier League clubs and managers, with the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp calling for a change in the schedule in recent years.
The expansion of UEFA competitions led to FA Cup replays being ditched last year , a move that proved massively contentious given the loss of money through TV coverage and ticket sales for teams competing lower down in the pyramid.
Manchester United lost 2-0 to Wolves on Boxing Day last year (Picture: Getty)
Criticising the change at the time, EFL CEO Trevor Birch said: ‘This is another traditional revenue stream lost for EFL clubs at a time when the financial gap between the biggest clubs and those further down the pyramid is widening.’
Meanwhile, National League CEO Mark Ives argued: ‘We have at no stage voiced our support for the scrapping of FA Cup replays or otherwise.
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‘It was a decision made by the Professional Game Board (PGB) which is made up of the FA, Premier League and EFL.’