The final Christmas Day fixture in England – 60 years on

What happens now that the presents have been opened and the dinner has been prepared? Do you doze off in front of the TV? The dog should be walked? Or do you want to watch your team play on Christmas Day?

Before Blackpool and Rovers from Blackburn’ play of the final Football League game on December 25th, this would have been an option up to 60 years ago.

Christmas Day has been a significant date on the footballing calendar since the second league season of 1889-1890. One of the few public holidays that allowed teams to draw large crowds made running public transportation easier.

Swansea University professor Martin Johnes stated to BBC Sport that “Christmas football was originally rooted in a wider tradition of communal entertainments.”

“Getting out was frequently more important for the workers, who lived in cramped, overcrowded housing than the Victorian middle class, Christmas was a home festival.

People had the opportunity to socialize and enjoy their day off by playing football, pantomime, informal gatherings, community rituals, and traditions.

The reigning league champions Preston North End hosted Aston Villa in 1889, winning 3-2 thanks to a Nick Ross hat-trick, and the Lilywhites won the title.

As the league developed, Christmas Day football became more and more popular until 1957, the last time we saw a complete fixture list.

People were commenting on how Christmas was becoming more private than public by Professor Johnes during the interwar years.

Reduced transportation options, showings of movies, and other similar things made this clear. Football lasted longer because some men had to leave their homes for a short while.

“But by the 1950s, Christmas Day games appeared to be out of step with the wider festival, and men had higher expectations for men’s lives. Additionally, homes had become more comfortable with new housing stock, slum clearances, and more affordable fuel.

“The TV gave me more entertainment at home.” In the 1950s, football attendance was falling, and the idea of escaping for a few hours was no longer popular.

There was less need to pack the festive season with football as a result of the addition of floodlights by many Football League clubs.

The final games played on December 25 would be the ones played when Coventry defeated Wrexham 5-3 in Division Three in 1959, and Blackburn defeated Blackpool 1-0 at Ewood Park in Division One. Six years later, the two Lancashire sides would square off for the final Christmas Day game.

Transport was the real killer of Christmas Day football, according to Professor Johnes.

With Blackburn in 20th place and only outside the relegation zone on goal average, the two teams entered the game struggling at the wrong end of Division One, with Blackpool only one point and two places better off.

Prior to the trip to Bloomfield Road, Rovers had only won one of their previous eight league games while their record had improved to two wins from three.

Alan Ball, a former England World Cup winner, was a member of the Tangerines’ side while Mike England, a Wales international defender, made almost 400 appearances for Tottenham and served as head of his nation for eight years.

Neil Turner gave Blackpool the lead before half-time, but George Jones equalized for the 20-man 851 crowd.

Bobby Waddell and Ray Charnley both scored goals in the second period, with Ball adding a fourth.

The final goal in the Football League scored on Christmas Day was then scored, and England wrote himself into history by scoring Blackburn’s second of the afternoon.

Due to a frozen pitch, the two teams were once more scheduled to play the return game at Ewood Park on Boxing Day.

In the end, Blackpool managed to escape trouble and finish in 13th place, but Rovers’ disastrous run in the new year saw them lose only three of their final 20 games, sinking them to the bottom and relegation to the second tier.

Up until 1983 when Brentford attempted to play their Third Division match with Wimbledon at 11am, that game was the last we heard about football on Christmas Day in 1965.

Martin Lange, the chairman of Brentford at the time, said, “I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for the family to have a fresh-air Christmas morning.”