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The Premier League wants 2023 to be an atypical year for English football: they plan to schedule a match on Christmas Eve, December 24, breaking a tradition that has only been broken once since the competition was renamed in 1992. The Premier League wants to place the match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea on the 24th, to please television operators, who want to move this match 24 hours, as it is currently scheduled for December 23.
In 2017, there was an attempt to move matches to this date, but pressure from politicians and fan groups overturned the motion. The explanation was the transportation chaos it would cause, due to the scarcity of trains operating on those dates, which will worsen this year because December 24 is a Sunday. Beyond the problems that may exist, the Premier League has no rule prohibiting matches on that date, but it is an unwritten rule.
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Matchweek 19 is the list of matches for the traditional Boxing Day. One possible change being discussed is to move the Arsenal vs. West Ham match to Thursday, December 28, giving both clubs an extended break after Christmas and their previous matches.
The next football round of the Christmas calendar will take place around the weekend of Saturday, December 30. Therefore, since the third round of the FA Cup will not start until the following weekend, more matches are likely to be delayed during that week to benefit the television audience. As usual in the Premier League, there will be matches on New Year's Day.
The English league usually experiences a particularly congested period during Christmas, with matches from December 23 to January 1, but the date of the 24th has remained clear since 1995 when Manchester United and Leeds faced each other at Elland Road.
What is Boxing Day like for this season?
On December 26, 1860, the first football match in history was played between Sheffield FC and Hallam FC. However, the first Boxing Day took place in 1880, with two matches scheduled for that date. Since then, the date has become a tradition that can present up to 10 matches on the same day.
Here is the Premier League schedule for Boxing Day 2023:
- Sheffield United vs. Luton
- Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace
- Burnley vs. Liverpool
- Newcastle vs. Nottingham Forest
- Arsenal vs. West Ham
- Manchester United vs. Aston Villa
- Brentford vs. Wolves
- Bournemouth vs. Fulham
- Everton vs. Manchester City
- Brihgton vs. Tottenham
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