Which football teams have won the most times on Boxing Day?

Unlike many other European leagues, the football season continues over the festive season in England. Traditionally, matches were played on Christmas Day itself until games were shifted to the following day, to allow families the chance to spend more time together.

The first time a football match was played on Boxing Day was on 26 December 1860 when Hallam FC hosted Sheffield FC at Sandygate Road. The Blades won 0-2 in a game that was a first in many ways - it was football’s first derby, the newly-formed Hallam were Sheffield’s first local rivals.

Christmas Toffees

Christmas Day fixtures date back to 1888 when the English league was formed. Holding games on 25th December proved hugely popular - Everton even managed to fit two games in, playing out a goalless draw with local rivals Bootle at Anfield on Christmas Day then were back the following day for a Lancashire Senior Cup tie.

The first (non-professional) football matches to be played on Christmas Day took place during the First World War - impromptu kickabouts played during the 1914 truce. How much of the story is myth and whether Allied and German troops actually faced each other or held football matches between themselves isn’t clear. But the idea of football matches being played during a brief pause in the fighting seeped into the public’s imagination.

Christmas Day matches were popular until the late 50s. Games would generally kick off at 11 a.m. and finish just in time to race back home for a slap-up roast dinner. The first Boxing Day fixtures took place in 1957, with plenty of festive cheer for Everton - the Toffees tonked Bolton 1-5 and Man City served up a Yuletide roasting of their own - a 4-1 win at home to Burnley.

Oldham score the biggest Boxing Day win

Those wins were a long way short of the biggest Boxing Day wins - Oldham Athletic fired 11 past a groggy Southport without reply in 1962.

Overall, in the English top flight, the team with the most Boxing Day victories is Manchester United with 53 wins from 93 fixtures played on 26 December. United, who haven’t been in action on this day for the past couple of seasons, have not lost a Boxing Day game since 1978 when Bob Paisley’s Liverpool came out on top - Jimmy Case set up Ray Kennedy and David Fairclough, bagging one himself for good measure inbetween.

For a short while, United versus Liverpool was a Boxing Day classic - the Reds won 2-0 the following year at Anfield but the 1980 fixture ended without goals. Since then, they met just once on St Stephen’s - the 1986 meeting was decided by a late Norman Whiteside winner.

Boro break United’s run

United are also the team with the best figures of the Premier League era, winning an incredible 21 of their 27 Boxing Day clashes and losing just two - to Middlesbrough (2002) and Stoke (2015). Sheffield Wednesday, Blackburn, Burnley and Leicester were the four other clubs to have taken something from their encounters with United on Boxing Day.

After United, the club with the second-best Boxing Day record is the one they face during this festive break - Aston Villa. The midlanders have 46 wins in this fixture, ahead of Liverpool, Everton and Manchester City - all on 43.

In the Premier League era, United are the top team followed by Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea, Everton and City.