For many of us Christmas Day is filled with presents, turkey and a lot of booze - but it’s a completely different prospect for a footballer.
Despite some serious whining from a number of Grinch-like Premier League managers, Boxing Day fixtures remain a staple over the festive period.
With one of the marquee days of the footballing calendar falling the day after December 25th, it means players have to prepare in the same way they would before any game.
Many footballers do get to enjoy some parts of a 'normal' Christmas Day, but some have to stick to certain rules and get on the pitch before enjoying the festive fun.
Whether your team is playing home or away has a drastic impact on how the day pans out, as well as how accommodating your manager wants to be.
From what players eat to whether they indulge in a Christmas drink, here is a look at how they spend the day.
Christmas Dinner
Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter here .
Christmas Day wouldn’t be the same without an epic roast dinner, but can footballers have their fill of pigs in blankets?
Speaking to The Sun in 2019, former Arsenal striker Ian Wright revealed that it’s difficult to moderate how much you eat.
“You can eat anything you want really – Arsene Wenger was a little bit less keen on it, but he always wanted us to eat together,” he explained.
Wrighty also noted that they would have turkey when they got t the team hotel but would have to fill up on “bucketloads of broccoli”.
Boozy beverages
Many of us enjoy a festive tipple in the big day, but a hangover might not be ideal when you’re playing 90 minutes the following day.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher once revealed that a lot of his family could never get their heads around the fact that he could not have a boozy beverage.
“They’d be like have a drink! And we’d be like ‘got a game’ but it didn’t bother me too much,” he said.
“One drink or something isn’t going to do absolutely anything but I’d never drink at Christmas.
“I don’t understand having one or two – go out and have a good drink or what is the point? I’ve never drank in the house, ever.”
Former Newcastle United keeper Shay Given told the Irish Independent in 2017 that he would just stick to water and have smaller plates than everyone else.
“They’d be cracking open a few drinks whereas I’d be on the water,” he said.
Festive training
It’s business as squall for most squads as training goes ahead on Christmas Day.
Usually most managers are quite accommodating and let the boys play in the morning before heading off to see their families.
Speaking on talkSPORT last Christmas Eve, Neil Warnock revealed that he always gave his players Christmas Day off.
“If you look back at my record it weren’t bad really overall,” he said. “You’re going to get criticised if you lose.
“But you’ve got lads travelling two hours in and back just to do a warm up. We did everything the day before and I trusted them.”
In 2020, Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster filmed his experience on Christmas Day - waking up at 6am to go to training and making his kids wait until he came back to open their presents.
Training started at 9am and the Cycling GK got on his bike in a Christmas jumper before heading back to enjoy a roast dinner with his loved ones.
Wrighty explained that usually you adjust the time of Christmas dinner and present to make sure you don’t miss out - making sure the family comes over early if you have to leave for an away trip that night.
Wright said: “It’s weird [training over Christmas]. When you drive on Christmas morning there’s no-one there – it’s beautiful. Everyone’s really nice, people wave to you in the cars because it’s Christmas morning… even Spurs fans!
“But when you get to training it’s all the same – all the guys have just left their families and it’s just one of those things that you get used to as the years go by.”
While Carragher has stated that he always trained on Christmas Day and just “got used to it”.
“If it is a home game, it was almost a case of getting in as early as you can, 9-10 and then get back home,” he explained.
“The away one, you’d be in a hotel on Christmas night, you’d train later in the day. Normally the fixtures mean you wouldn’t be too far away.”
Leaving family
However, teams that have an away fixture on Boxing Day have have far less time to spend with their families.
There’s the potential that teams could be playing miles away from their homes so need to travel during the evening and spend Christmas night in a hotel.
Shay Given has said that players will always check to see if they are home or away on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
“There was a period where Newcastle had about seven or eight consecutive away games on Boxing Day. It felt like we’d been totally jinxed,” he said.
Wright has previously said that it is gut wrenching leaving your family on Christmas Day, particularly when you have young kids.
But he admitted Boxing Day football has a special magic because of “celebratory atmosphere” with bigger crowds and families watching together.
Do you have a story to share? Email we bfeatures@trinitymirror.com
