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EPL Christmas won't be the same in the Premier League this year Simon Stacpoole/Getty Images Welcome to Row Z,  The Athletic’s weekly column that shines a light on the bonkers side of the game. From clubs to managers, players to organisations, we’ll bring you the absurdities, the greed, the contradictions, the preposterousness and the oddities of the sport we all love… Boxing Day football, the salvation of millions of football fans. Advertisement The kids are doing your head in, your uncle had a few too many on Christmas Day and made an inappropriate remark about the TV weather presenter that no one can forget, and that whistling noise Nana makes when breathing through her nose is driving everyone mad. Still, there are wall-to-wall games on telly on Boxing Day. Time to zone out and enjoy the footy. Or, if you’re UEFA and/or a television broadcaster, you want to cancel everyone’s fun this year. Nice one, Aleksander Ceferin, you just ruined Christmas. Instead we’re going to have to watch Call the Midwife and East Enders, although there is a comedy on at 8pm when Manchester United play at home (that joke would have worked a lot better a few weeks ago, but still). Yep, just one Premier League match on Boxing Day this year. Why? Because UEFA did what no one was asking for and expanded the Champions League and Europa League group stages to eight matches, making it much easier for all the big clubs to qualify and also making the domestic schedule even tighter (hence why Arsenal are playing Crystal Palace on December 23 in the Carabao Cup, even though both teams are in league action on December 21). Nice one. The Premier League’s deal with broadcasters dictates it has to provide 33 weekends of fixtures this season and only five midweek rounds, meaning shifting all the matches to Friday on Boxing Day this year isn’t an option. Plus, the deal only contains provisions for a Friday 8pm broadcasting slot. Why this can’t be changed for a one-off on Boxing Day is unknown. The last time Boxing Day fell on a Friday, in 2014, there were 10 Premier League matches. There was also another round of matches on December 28, another on New Year’s Day and then the FA Cup weekend of January 3 and 4, so some played four games in just nine days. Advertisement This year, games fall (mostly) on December 27, then there’s a split for matches played either on Tuesday, December 30 or New Year’s Day (on a Thursday), then games on January 3 and 4, with a midweek round mostly being played on January 7, which is four games in 12 days for most. In terms of how many days, it’s a much more sensible spread, and yet common sense does not prevail when it comes to Boxing Day, one of English football’s best and longest-standing traditions. As always, the organisers and broadcasters come first, not supporters. Still, as well as Manchester United versus Newcastle United, there are 36 other matches being played on Boxing Day, with a potential attendance of 656, 000 people. It’s called the EFL, you may have heard of it. Wolverhampton Wanderers, a timeline… Wolves fans seem happy with how it’s all going… Preference order Carrick Rodgers Edwards Muscat Solskjaer Mc Carthy Pulis My Nan My cat Folding the club and starting again O’Neil — James (@_jwynny) November 2, 2025 Thomas Frank trying to get the attention of his Tottenham Hotspur players after a match… Steve Mc Claren calling for the Boro job like… pic. twitter. com/Vq Ea2Qwt2z — 10 – The Ultimate Sports App (@10appofficial) March 16, 2017 Remember the bloke who said he wouldn’t cut his hair until Manchester United had won five games in a row? Well, yes, you probably do, because he’s pretty famous now, doing betting adverts and all sorts. And, of course, the streak continues, with United’s draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday resetting the number back to zero after what had been a three-game winning run. The poor chap’s hair has now been officially declared an unruly hedge and it’ll soon be viewable from outer space. He will probably be well aware that the last time United won five games in a row in all competitions was coming up to two years ago now, in a five-match run that included victories over teams like Newport County, Luton Town and Wolves in January/February 2024. Advertisement In just the Premier League, which is relevant as it’s the only thing United play in these days, you have to go back further to summer 2023, with five wins straddling two seasons. Hmm. It’s going to be at least another month until The United Strand, aka human oak tree Frank Ilett, can get the shears out, or, let’s face it, probably another year at least, by which time his mane will resemble that of a woolly mammoth rolling out of bed in the morning. Anyway, we can’t tell if X user Liam Canning here is being serious, but given the way of the world in 2025, we can’t rule it out… If the hair guy supports Manchester United (no idea if he does) then he should probably just drop the gimmick now. It’s tiresome and puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on it for no reason at all. 3 wins and a draw is major, major progress. Into next week. — Liam Canning (@Liam Paul Canning) November 1, 2025 Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Tim Spiers is a football journalist for The Athletic, based in London. He joined in 2019 having previously worked at the Express & Star in Wolverhampton. Follow Tim on Twitter @Tim Spiers