Today is Christmas Day, a time to spend with the family, sitting at home, drinking, and being merry.
Not so long ago, it was also football day. It seems hard to comprehend now, but Christmas Day football used to be a thing in the UK. It started as part of the football calendar back in the opening Football League season and continued through until the mid-sixties.
Life in Victorian England was very different from life now. Christmas was one of the few holidays afforded to the working class, and football was a working-class pursuit. When there was a public holiday, getting out of the house was a preference. Homes were often crowded and uncomfortable, and a day off was not seen as a green light to crack open the brandy. Instead, public events were popular, affording people a chance to get out and let their hair down.
Lincoln’s first Christmas football came on Boxing Day 1884, as Horncastle eliminated us from the Lincolnshire Senior Cup. It was our first away day, and for those who know Horncastle, the game was played on the Wong.
Our first Christmas Day game came in 1888, at home against Northwich Victoria. Predictably, we lost 2-1, and there are few records around how many people attended. As founder members of Division Two, we did get Christmas football – we were at home on Christmas Eve against Ardwick (won 2-1) and again on Boxing Day against Crewe Alexandra (1-1). The following year we were blessed with two home ties again, beating Crewe 6-1 on Christmas Day, but losing 3-2 to Middlesbrough on Boxing Day.
In 1907, we saw the first instance of what became a Christmas tradition – playing the same team home and away within 24 hours. We visited Hull City on Christmas Day, losing 5-3, then hosted them on Boxing Day, losing 1-0. In 1912, it was Bradford Park Avenue, and in 1914, the once-great Preston North End. In the years that followed. Nottingham Forest, Rochdale, Halifax and Walsall made up our Christmas doubleheader.
Were the games popular? Absolutely. In 1925, it was Wrexham home and away, and the Christmas Day fixture attracted 7110 to the Bank. The games before (Halifax) and after (Coventry) were 4444 and 4823 respectively. Christmas Day was often a bumper crowd. The following season, attendance in general dropped below the 3500 mark, but our Boxing Day visit from Rochdale attracted 7812.
Often, these games threw up some crazy results. In 1928, we played Hartlepool home and away over Christmas. We lost 3-2 there on Christmas Day, but on Boxing Day, in front of 9668 supporters (4100 more than the previous home fixture) we won 7-1. On Christmas Day 1933, we won 1-0 against Port Vale in front of 11,000 supporters, our only five-figure home attendance of the season. A day later, we lost 1-0 to the same opposition.
Players were not bound to play for their clubs on Christmas Day; it was possible to abstain on religious grounds. Players also liked to drink back then, and there have been stories of certain players being too drunk to play – indeed, Ted Crawford was once such player who turned up blind drunk and collapsed inebriated on the pitch during a fixture in 1931. “Crawford was unable to see straight and ended up collapsing on the pitch in a sozzled heap,” a report confirmed. “Clapton (now Leyton) Orient lost 2-1 but sobered up sufficiently to win the Boxing Day return 1-0.”
It’s generally agreed that Christmas Day football peaked after the war. Our first Christmas game back in 1946 saw us lose 5-2 to Tranmere, but on Boxing Day, we beat the same opposition 2-1 with 11,600 fans at the Bank, again the biggest attendance of the season. However, attendances began to level out – in 1948, 18418 watched us draw with Chesterfield, but just a few months later, 23,146 attended a game against Grimsby Town.
Society was changing – railway lines were slowly being taken up, and bus drivers and train drivers were getting Christmas off. The post-war boom also ensured people’s houses were nicer, and staying at home wasn’t such a chore. Attendances, still strong as we were in Division Two, began to level out a little, with just 8079 watching us beat Sheffield United on Boxing Day 1956, 24 hours after we’d lost there on Christmas Day. Two weeks later, we attracted 13,214 for a game against Forest, and our average attendance for the season was 11,180.
Our final Christmas Day game was a home fixture played in 1957. The visitors were Fulham, and it was during our great escape season. We lost 1-0 on Christmas Day and 4-1 on Boxing Day. The following season, supporters still got the doubleheader, away on Boxing Day against Sheffield Wednesday (lost 7-0) and at home the day after (lost 1-0).
Football at Christmas did continue in some form in the UK, with the last game played on the big day coming in 1965, between Blackpool and Blackburn. Finally, a tradition that had lived for eighty years died as families began to come together in relative comfort, surrounded by more material possessions in the post-war boom.
There was an effort to revive the tradition in 1983, with Brentford hoping to play their game against Wimbledon on December 25th. “We hope to revive the old tradition of the husband going to football on Christmas Day while the wives cook the turkey,” said Brentford official Eric White. Even in 1983, that rather sexist troupe was called out, and the game shifted to the day before.
Today, the only Imps’ fix Yule(!) get is opening the album or the new shirt and perhaps reading this. Still, there’s always tomorrow, our first Boxing Day clash with Bolton since 1904. On that occasion, we lost 2-0.
I hope that’s not a sign.
Happy Christmas.
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