Boxing Day, the first day after Christmas, is a holiday celebrated in Great Britain and in most areas of the world settled by the English (except for the USA). Its name comes from the 19th-century English tradition of giving boxes of food or money to service people and servants on the day after Christmas.
It is generally considered a day for visiting with family or taking advantage of after-Christmas sales, but over the years Boxing Day has become synonymous with a full slate of soccer matches.
It's a sporting tradition akin to the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving or the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. Just as Americans gather for holiday football, the English celebrate Christmas with soccer on Boxing Day.
All 20 teams in the Barclay Premiership play on Boxing Day:
Saturday, 26 December 2009
Birmingham City v Chelsea, 12:45
Burnley v Bolton, 14:00
Fulham v Tottenham, 13:00
Liverpool v Wolverhampton, 17:30
Manchester City v Stoke, 15:00
Sunderland v Everton, 15:00
West Ham v Portsmouth, 13:00
Wigan v Blackburn, 15:00
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Arsenal v Aston Villa, 13:30
Hull City v Manchester Utd, 16:00
