BET £10, GET £20 AND 25 FREE SPINS ON FISHIN FRENZY
New Players Only. Free bet – one-time stake of £20, min odds 1.5, stake not returned. 1x wager the winnings from the Free Bet / 50x wager any winnings from the free spins within 7 days. Contribution varies per game. Available on selected games only. Wager from real balance first. Wager calculated on bonus bets only. Max conversion: £200 from Free Bet or from Free Spins: £20. Free bets and Bonuses are valid for 7 days. Limited to 1 sport & 5 casino brand/s within the network. Withdrawal requests void all active/pending bonuses. Excluded Skrill and Neteller deposits. Full Terms apply
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… for football fans, that is. Forget leftover turkey, Christmas crackers and family board games. Boxing Day football is where the real festive fun is at. From historic thrashings to nail-biting comebacks, the Boxing Day Premier League tradition has gifted us some of the wildest moments ever seen in English football history.
And while this year’s Boxing Day schedule is a little quieter – with only Manchester United hosting Newcastle at 8pm – there’s still plenty to celebrate. After all, no club boasts a better Boxing Day record than United, who’ve made the day their own over the decades. They’ve earned that respected fixture, for sure.
So before you check the Boxing Day football TV listings and your Premier League winner odds, let’s unwrap some of the greatest Boxing Day matches ever played.
Okay, in no particular order…
We start with the stuff of legends. The Boxing Day football scores of 1963 were wild all around, but this was something else. Fulham absolutely demolished Ipswich in what remains one of the highest-scoring fixtures in English football history. Graham Leggatt bagged a sub-four-minute hat-trick, five Fulham players found the back of the net, and Ipswich could only watch the relentless attack. If you ever needed proof that Boxing Day fixtures bring chaos, this is it.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s final Boxing Day Premier League match as manager, and he went out with a bang. Newcastle took an early lead, just four minutes into the game, but it only took 20 minutes for the Red Devils’ Jonny Evans to equalise. Even faster, just four minutes later, Evans pelted the ball… into his own net. Patrice Evra restored the balance, and in true United fashion, Javier Hernández snatched a late winner to seal the deal. The atmosphere at Old Trafford was electric – a perfect example of why United dominate the Boxing Day football results stats.
Eight goals, two red cards, and a 90th-minute penalty to level it. This Stamford Bridge fixture was Boxing Day mayhem at its best. Villa’s Shaun Maloney opened the scoring early and doubled it before Chelsea found their rhythm. But Chelsea fought back, hard, with goals from Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack. It seemed to be over, but Ashley Cole’s stoppage-time handball on the line granted Gareth Barry the chance to make it 4-4. Both teams traded blows in a game that could’ve ended 8–8. Iconic festive football.
Boxing Day football doesn’t do favourites, and Arsenal learned that the hard way. Fresh off a title challenge declaration, Arsène Wenger’s side walked confidently into Highfield Road only to get completely blindsided by Coventry. Gary McAllistair took only 6 minutes to score first for the Sky Blues, and Mustapha Hadji followed suit just before half time. Though Freddie Ljungberg pulled one back for Arsenal in the 67th minute, teenage Robbie Keane grabbed Coventry’s third just four minutes later. Davor Šuker’s late goal gave Arsenal hope, but Coventry weren’t having it. The Sky Blues held their nerve to seal one of their most iconic wins and left the Gunners nursing a proper festive hangover. We wouldn’t have bet on this one.
Boxing Day is United’s day, and they proved it again here. David Moyes had a little extra to prove, with it being his first return to Old Trafford since his sacking as Manchester United manager in 2014, but Mourinho wasn’t going to give his boys the chance. Zlatan Ibrahimović was at his swaggering best, assisting Daley Blind with the opener. Sunderland threatened at times, but they couldn’t see it through as Paul Pogba dominated the midfield and set Ibrahimović up for his own goal. Then, Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored that outrageous scorpion kick. You couldn’t script it.
Anfield at Christmas hits different, and Liverpool made sure everyone felt it during this Boxing Day Premier League clash. Philippe Coutinho, captain for the day, set the tone with a top-corner strike after six minutes, and the Kop never stopped singing. Roberto Firmino was ruthless, scoring twice, including a stunning volley from Coutinho’s free-kick. But the Reds didn’t stop there. Trent Alexander-Arnold fired in his first for the club, Firmino struck again, and Oxlade-Chamberlain added his first home goal in Liverpool colours. Swansea barely knew what hit them, and by the final whistle, Anfield had been treated to a five-goal festive masterclass. Pure Boxing Day magic.
Thierry Henry. Dennis Bergkamp. Freddie Ljungberg. This was vintage Arsenal at full throttle. They wanted the title, and they were ready to fight for it. It was a slow start, with the first half only seeing Henry score once. But as the second half kicked off, Leicester didn’t stand a chance and the Gunners delivered a six-goal masterclass in festive footballing joy. Patrick Vieira doubled the Gunners’ advantage before Ade Akinbiyi pulled one back for the visiting Foxes. Henry struck twice more, Ljungberg added his own goal, and captain Tony Adams sealed the six-goal masterclass in the dying minutes. Festive football doesn’t get much better than this.
Boxing Day 2003, and Chelsea were expecting a stroll at The Valley. They’d been spending millions under Abramovich, but Charlton had other ideas. Hermann Hreidarsson set the tone with a goal inside the first minute, and though John Terry equalised immediately, Matt Holland gave the Addicks the lead by halftime. Just ten minutes into the second half, Jonatan Johansson and Jason Euell sprinted into a 4-1 lead. Eidur Gudjohnsen would score a second goal for Chelsea later in the second half, but it was not enough. Charlton Athletic outworked, outscored, and outshone their London rivals in an iconic Boxing Day upset.
Boxing Day 2008, and Manchester City were barely recognisable compared to the powerhouse we know today. This was the year that everything changed. Sitting in the relegation zone – yes, that Manchester City – this game meant everything to the Citizens. Stephen Ireland ran the show, setting up Felipe Caicedo for two early goals before teeing up Robinho for the third. Shaun Wright-Phillips added another assist for Robinho to make it 4–0 by halftime. Hull’s Phil Brown tried to rally his side with a three-minute on-pitch dressing down, but City were unstoppable. Just months after Sheikh Mansour’s takeover, the club was starting to feel the change, and the spark was clear for all to see. Boxing Day at its finest.
And for our final pick, a controversial draw at Dean Court. When West Ham met Newcastle, they shared a relatively tame first half. James Collins gave West Ham the early lead, only for Dan Gosling to level before the half-hour mark. Nathan Ake put Bournemouth ahead just after the restart, and it looked like 2–1 would hold… until the final ten minutes exploded. Marko Arnautovic scored twice for the Hammers, only for Bournemouth to snatch an injury-time equaliser. VAR would’ve had a meltdown. Classic Boxing Day football drama.
No side embraces Boxing Day football matches quite like Manchester United. Across decades of dominance, they’ve made December 26 their unofficial holiday, serving up comebacks, classics, and big wins in front of festive crowds.
So it’s fitting that this year’s Boxing Day Premier League fixture belongs solely to them: Manchester United vs Newcastle, live at 8pm. Two giants, one spotlight, and a nation half-asleep on Quality Street.
Will United extend their legendary record? Or will Newcastle crash the Christmas party? You can bet on football with us and find out.
When the final whistle blows, keep the good times rolling. Check out our sports betting section for the latest Premier League winner odds, or switch gears and spin through our festive online slots lineup.
After all, Boxing Day might be for football… but there’s always room for a little casino magic too.
View All
