Football with an extra helping of football, please

Religious holidays and bank holidays have long been a time to pile on the football and there was a time when the top teams played nearly every day at Christmas.

In the Victorian era, “football was played on Christmas day because it was a day off and there was a tradition of public working-class events,” says history professor Martin Johnes. “It was also at times played on Boxing day meaning two games in two days.” For many working people this could be the only chance of the year to catch a game.

In his book Christmas and the British, Prof Johnes explains that bank holiday legislation played an important role: “The 1871 Bank Holidays Act gave Boxing day this designation in England and Wales. It had not done the same for Christmas day or Good Friday because they were established days of rest and worship,”