Christmas Special #2 of 2 - 'Festive Football - Upstanding Tradition or Outdated Practice?'

In the second of our festive double-header, Chris and Nathan investigate the history, traditions and future of Festive Football.  The inspiration for this episode came during a WhatsApp conversation between the two hosts in which Chris highlighted how this Boxing Day sees only one fixture taking place in the Premier League (between Manchester United and Newcastle United), as opposed to the usual full calendar.  As ever, Nathan was keen to remind Chris that football does exist beyond the top-flight with a full league and non-league programme taking place on Boxing Day!Within this second Christmas special, the co-hosts explore how football became as big a part of British football fans' festive calendar as Roast Turkey and all the trimmings.  We touch upon how modern football's synonymity with Christmas could perhaps stem from traditional forms of football such as Orkney's Kirwall Ba game or Ashbourne's Shrove Tuesday game and their association with public holidays.We then touch upon how football's growth coincided with societal changes such as the 1871 Bank Holiday Act, which granted workers time off over Christmas and with many clubs historically being linked with traditional industries or based in working-class communities fans flocked to stadia to watch their local team.Football was not the only sport to embrace the opportunities presented by the festive break.  Prior to the advent of Super League, Rugby League in England was traditionally a winter sport and Boxing Day was a key date in the sport's calendar seeing clashes between local rivals such as St Helens and Wigan, Warrington and Widnes and Halifax and Huddersfield. Nathan recounts some of his Grandfather's recollections of this fixture.The fact that 2025 sees only a single fixture on Boxing Day is perhaps reflective of and in response to criticism of the traditional British festive calendar from the likes of Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, both of whom have expressed criticism of the demands of the festive period from a 'player welfare' viewpoint.  All of this is discussed and more as we ask whether the traditional festive calendar is an upstanding tradition to be treasured and celebrated or whether it is an outdated practice that needs to move with the times.We wish all of our listeners a Merry Christmas and look forward to a prosperous and successful New Year for us all!