In English football the tradition of playing professional matches over the Christmas period has existed since the 1800s.

Initially matches were played both on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. For example, Derby County had home fixtures against Liverpool on the 25th and Glossop on the 26th in 1899. They won both!

The tradition of two matches continued until the 1950s and the second was often the reverse of the first, so Chelsea v Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Christmas Day would be followed by Fulham v Chelsea at Craven Cottage on Boxing Day.

As the Christmas fixtures were usually “local derbies” they would often attract the biggest crowds of the season. Some people would watch their only match of the season at Christmas.

We stopped having professional matches on Christmas Day in the late ‘50s. The last complete League programme was played in 1957 and the last fixture of all was Blackburn Rovers v Blackpool in Division One in 1959.

Rovers won 1-0 at Ewood Park, with Blackpool triumphing by the same score at Bloomfield Road in the Boxing Day return.

Christmas Day matches continued at “amateur” level for about five more years. Hayes would meet local rivals Southall in the old Athenian League, for example.

Why did we stop? People directly involved in the matches – players, coaches, administrators, referees etc – wanted to spend the day with their families. There were public transport issues too.

Playing top-level fixtures on consecutive days was tough for players. It would be unthinkable now.

The magic of Christmas football: West Ham lost 8-2 at home to Blackburn in Division One on Boxing Day in 1963 and then won 3-1 at Ewood Park two days later.