Boxing Day fixtures are a staple of the English football calendar as fans celebrate the festive period by watching their favourite club.
Unlike most people in England, Premier League footballers will be unable to over indulge with their Christmas dinner or booze with their families ahead of a match the following day. The majority of players will also train on the big day, forcing them to leave their families in the morning before returning home for dinner.
With that in mind, here is a breakdown of how professional footballers spend their Christmas Day, from early starts to leaving their families behind.
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Christmas dinner
(Image: Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
With the fixtures coming thick and fast over the festive period, players cannot go wild when it comes to how much they eat on Christmas Day.
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright has previously admitted that it was difficult for him to moderate what he ate as a player. However, he added that they would get turkey and “bucketloads of broccoli” at the team hotel if they were away the next day.
Speaking to The Sun in 2019, he explained: “You can eat anything you want really – Arsene Wenger was a little bit less keen on it, but he always wanted us to eat together.”
Festive drinking
(Image: MANCHESTER UNITED FC)
In addition to managing their food intake, footballers must also avoid boozing with their friends and family over Christmas to avoid a Boxing Day hangover.
Jamie Carragher once revealed that his family never understood why he could not drink during his playing career, admitting: “They’d be like ‘have a drink!’ And we’d be like ‘got a game’ but it didn’t bother me too much.
“One drink or something isn’t going to do absolutely anything but I’d never drink at Christmas. I don’t understand having one or two – go out and have a good drink or what is the point? I’ve never drank in the house, ever.”
Meanwhile, ex-Newcastle United goalkeeper Shay Given told the Irish Independent in 2017 that he would stick to water. “They’d be cracking open a few drinks whereas I’d be on the water,” explained the former Republic of Ireland international.
Training sessions
(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Ahead of the Boxing Day fixtures, most clubs train as usual on Christmas Day, although managers will generally hold a morning session to give their players the chance to spend the afternoon with their families.
Neil Warnock told talkSPORT last year: “If you look back at my record it weren’t bad really overall. You’re going to get criticised if you lose. But you’ve got lads travelling two hours in and back just to do a warm up. We did everything the day before and I trusted them.”
From a player’s perspective, Wright added: “It’s weird [training over Christmas]. When you drive on Christmas morning there’s no-one there – it’s beautiful. Everyone’s really nice, people wave to you in the cars because it’s Christmas morning… even Spurs fans!
“But when you get to training it’s all the same – all the guys have just left their families and it’s just one of those things that you get used to as the years go by.”
Leaving families
(Image: Getty Images)
As well as leaving their families to go to training on Christmas morning, players will have to abandon their loved ones in the evening if they are playing away on Boxing Day.
Teams that are away from home will often travel in the evening before spending Christmas night in a hotel. As a result, players will check whether they are home or away on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day first when the fixtures are released.
Given revealed: “There was a period where Newcastle had about seven or eight consecutive away games on Boxing Day. It felt like we’d been totally jinxed.”
Wright explained that it was heartbreaking to have to leave his family on Christmas Day, especially with young children. He did admit, though, that Boxing Day football is special due to it’s “celebratory atmosphere”, with larger crowds and families watching together.
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