Has a Premier League game ever been played on Christmas Eve? When did it last happen?

Premier League soccer on Boxing Day has long been a Christmas tradition, although the modern-day festive schedule in the English top flight is somewhat watered down compared to yesteryear. Once upon a time, matches on Christmas Day were commonplace, although the last fixture played in England on 25 December was a 4-2 win for Blackpool against Blackburn Rovers in 1965. Fast forward 58 years and the 2023 clash between Wolves and Chelsea caused controversy for being scheduled for Christmas Eve.

How many Premier League games have been played on Christmas Eve?

Since the Premier League was founded in 1992, only once before had a game taken place on 24 December. Cast your minds back 28 years to 1995, when a Manchester United team featuring a young David Beckham made the short trip to Elland Road to take on fierce rivals Leeds United, who had Gary Speed and Tony Yeboah in their ranks.

Leeds make light work of Manchester United and Beckham

The Red Devils had been beaten to the Premier League title the previous season by an Alan Shearer-led Blackburn and were also playing catch-up to Newcastle United, who had started the season in scintillating fashion. Leeds went into the game in poor form, having picked up just one point from their last five fixtures, but flew out of the blocks and raced into an early through Gary McAllister’s penalty.

Andy Cole briefly levelled, but Tony Yeboah restored the hosts’ advantage with a sublime finish past Peter Schmeichel before Brian Deane’s second-half header secure a deserved three points for the Whites.

It was a day to forget for Beckham, who was booked and substituted with quarter of an hour to play. But despite the result, the Manchester side would go on to overtake Newcastle and win a third title in four years, while 1991-92 champions Leeds ended up in 13th place.

Chelsea fans unhappy about Christmas Eve fixture against Wolves

Christmas Eve soccer returned last year after a long wait, with Wolverhampton Wanderers hosting Chelsea at Molineux. But the fixture didn’t exactly bring the Christmas spirit to the festive schedule. Blues fans in particular made their unhappiness known to the Premier League, with the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust launching a #GetStuffed protest campaign in which they claim to have been treated as customers rather than supporters.

London to Wolverhampton is an approximate 250-mile round trip, but few public transport services run on Christmas Eve due to regular suspensions over the festive period and strikes.

In the end, it was the home side who prevailed, with Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty scoring for Wolves to win 2-1. Nkunku got a late consolation goal for the London side, but it was not enough and the seeds of doubt were firmly planted in the Chelsea board’s mind, with Pochettino on the ropes. We all know what happened after that...

No Christmas Eve games in 2024-25

Their protest certainly caught the attention of Premier League bosses, who quickly moved to announce there will be no matches played on 24 December this season.

Of course, that’s good news for Santa, who needs to get a nap in before he sets off later in the day.

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