There may not be a festival in football in the English Premier League (EPL) this season, but there will be no shortage of festive spirit.

Here is a brief history of perhaps the most anticipated and hallowed date in the sports calendar.

Origins of Boxing Day

There are several legends and myths surrounding the origin of Boxing Day.

A popular belief is that the church in Victorian England collected money from churchgoers in the form of a collection throughout the year, opened it at Christmas, and then gave it to the poor in “boxes” the next day.

Another story tells of how servants who worked for the upper class at Christmas returned home to their families the next day. In particular, their masters sent them home with gift boxes. According to historian Neil Armstrong, Boxing Day dates back to the 17th century, when employers tipped their employees with coins in a “box.”

December 26th became a day of celebration in 1871 when it was declared a public holiday in England. A more organized sports calendar also emerged at this time. “For the working class, whose homes were often uncomfortable, overcrowded and unattractive, a rare day off from work was a reason to take to the streets rather than relax at home,” wrote Martin Johnes Christmas and the British: A Modern History (2016).

In this context, Boxing Day acquired great importance in the sporting calendar, initially with football, the sport of the working class.

Boxing Day in football

The first recorded Boxing Day match between Sheffield FC and Hallam FC took place in 1860. When the Football League was founded in 1888 – which became the First Division in 1892 with the addition of a Second Division and the Premier League in 1992 – the practice continued and was made official.

Until the 1950s, games were scheduled on both 25th and 26th December, with the Football Association and clubs keen to squeeze in as many games as possible during the bank holiday week in order to make a profit. The Christmas Day games were eventually scrapped, and the players insisted on spending Christmas with their families – the last Christmas Day game was in 1965.

But the Boxing Day games endured, largely thanks to the blockbuster series of games on that day in 1963, when an incredible 66 goals were scored in ten games. In the Premier League era, Boxing Day games were aggressively marketed – so much so that when planning the 2022 World Cup, the FA insisted there was no overlap with Boxing Day. In fact, the EPL is known to have bypassed the randomly determined fixture schedule so that high-profile derby games could take place on Boxing Day.

While other European football associations, such as the one in Italy, have tried to emulate the English model, Boxing Day games have failed to catch on elsewhere.

Boxing Day in cricket

With few exceptions, from 1865 until the 1970s, the annual Shield match between Victoria and New South Wales, Australia’s two cricketing powerhouses, began on Boxing Day at the MCG. At the level of test matches, however, the ritual is more recent.

It was only when Kerry Packer’s Channel Nine acquired the rights to broadcast cricket matches in Australia in 1979 that the Boxing Day Test at the MCG was permanently added to the sport’s schedule. Before 1980, only four Boxing Day Tests were held in Australia, and at different locations too – the first Test to start on Boxing Day at the MCG was in 1968/69.

But the Test between Australia and the West Indies had a then record attendance (85,596 people) and Packer wasted no time in making the most of it. “As a sports administrator, if you’re attracting a crowd, it’s just a waste not to hold an event that day,” he famously said. The enterprising Packer may have taken his cue from the significance of Thanksgiving Day (in November) in American football.

The Boxing Day Test at the MCG has been a fixture on the cricket calendar since 1995 – the infamous Test in which Muttiah Muralitharan was “called out” by umpire Darrell Hair for an illegal bowling action. But in the 15 years before that, scheduling was more flexible. The 1994 Ashes Test, in which Shane Warne scored his famous hat-trick, actually began on Christmas Eve. In fact, MCG hosted a Boxing Day ODI in 1989.

During this time there were several attempts by other Australian state authorities to remove the Boxing Day game from the MCG. Eventually, Victoria’s cricket association registered the name and all associated intellectual property.

Although Boxing Day is a British tradition, there is no scheduled cricket event in England on this day as the dark, damp and cold English winter makes it almost impossible to play the sport.