Christmas can be an exhausting time and Boxing Day is perhaps a day when it is good to reflect on the previous day, and catch up on a little sleep and regain a bit of energy!
So rather than tucking in to leftovers and that final scoop of Christmas pud, why not enjoy a bit of sport on Boxing Day?
After all, it is something of a tradition that sports is played on Boxing Day, so you’ll be fitting right in with the festivities!
And if you fancy a flutter, then the bet365 Sport website is available 365 days a year for you to enjoy a wager on any of the top Boxing Day sports events! Although we, as always, encourage you to gamble safely and responsibly at all times of the year!
So how come Boxing Day has such a strong link with sport? And what events are on the table for Boxing Day in 2024? Let’s take a closer look and find out!
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Boxing Day’s links with sports go back to 1860 and despite the name, it was a football fixture that started the tradition of sport on the 26th December each year.
Back then, the world’s oldest club, Sheffield FC hosted the second-oldest club, Hallam FC, in a local derby that was the first-ever match between two different football clubs. That’s right, the first ever game of football was played on Boxing Day in 1860.
Prior to that, both clubs had played matches comprised of teams made up from their own players.
Sheffield won that first match 2-0 but the tradition had been started.
When the Football League was founded, games on Christmas Day and Boxing Day became a regular part of the season from the beginning, when Preston North End defeated Derby 5-0 on Boxing Day in the first season in 1888-89. Christmas Day and Boxing Day games remained a fixture of the football calendar up until the 1950s.
By then, the rigours of playing twice in two days, often with plenty of travelling mixed in, saw Christmas Day fixtures start to be scrapped and games instead were played on Boxing Day.
It is a tradition that continues to this day across the Premier League and Football League.
In 1963, the Boxing Day fixtures in the First Division (now Premier League) saw a total of 66 goals in ten matches. The results that day were:
In fact, on that day across the Football League 157 goals were scored in 39 games. So spare a thought for the poor souls who went to watch Crewe Alexandra vs Peterborough for a Boxing Day treat, only to witness the only 0-0 draw of that momentous Boxing Day Thursday.
Another Boxing Day tradition is the Kempton Park Boxing Day meeting which features the King George VI Chase, one of the most prestigious jump races of the year.
The first meeting took place in 1937, when Southern Hero won the inaugural race. However the race was contested in February. After the war, in 1947, the race returned, but was moved to its Boxing Day date in the fixture calendar.
The race has been won by so many famous thoroughbreds including Arkle, Wayward Lad, Desert Orchid, Kauto Star, Long Run, Silviniaco Conte, Thistlecrack and Clan des Obeaux. Hewick was the winner back in 2023.
In Australia in 1908, Jack Johnson became the first black heavyweight world champion when he blew away Canadian opponent Tommy Burns. It seems appropriate we finish this list of Boxing Day sporting history with arguably the event that is most linked to the day itself!
So looking forward to this year, what are the big events that are going to be available for sports fans to enjoy on Boxing Day in 2024?
The action gets underway at Kempton Park on Boxing Day with the King George VI meeting. A total of six races will be contested on the day, with the famous King George VI Chase being the fourth race of the afternoon.
The full list of races for 2024 is as follows:
There are a number of big runners in the King George VI this year including last years winner Hewick (17.00), Envoi Allen (10.00) and Corbetts Cross (8.00). However, the three favourites at present are Fact To File (4.00), Grey Dawning (4.50) and Spillanes Tower (5.00).
Premier League Matchday 18 will take place across Boxing Day, with two fixtures played on the 27th December. The games to look forward to on the 26th and 27th are as follows:
There are a number of notable games to look forward to, especially on Boxing Day itself with Man City v Everton, Newcastle v Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest v Tottenham and Chelsea v Fulham all catching the eye.
All games on Boxing Day in the Premier League will be shown live on Amazon Prime.
Additionally, there is a full set of fixtures in the Football League Championship, League One and League Two on Boxing Day and these can be followed live on the Sky Sports + service.
While this game kicks off in the early hours of the 27th December in the UK, it takes place on Boxing Day in the United States and it is an important one for the Seattle Seahawks in particular.
The Seahawks are in a real battle with the Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers to win the NFC West and with just a couple of games separating all four teams, a win here in Chicago could be huge.
However, the Bears are not yet out of playoff contention and they will be hoping they can end a run of poor performances against the visiting Seahawks.
There is also a Boxing Day test in the Ashes series that takes place every four years when the series is contested in Australia. The next Boxing Day test will be played on 26th December 2025.
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