Boxing Day Football

 

Boxing Day Football

Boxing Day always used to be a special date in the football calendar. Stuffed with Christmas excess it was a chance for fans to get some fresh air and meet up with mates to cheer on their team. For players I guess it wasn’t always so great, having to be careful what they consumed the previous day and then prepare for what was traditionally a morning or early afternoon kick off.

It was always pretty obvious if some players had been less committed to their dietary restrictions than others as they struggled to move around the pitch and there was also the case on one Bromley player in particular who would always seen to time his fifth booking of the season or a red card to coincide with being banned for the Christmas fixtures.    

There were also some freak results at these matches, Bromley beating Thurrock 8-1 in 2007 one notable score, made even stranger by the 2-1 loss for The Ravens in the reverse fixture five days later on New Years Day.  

With public transport either non existent or greatly reduced, you were reliant on lifts for away games or walking to home matches. I can remember my friends Nige & Martin walking over from New Eltham to call for me on the way to a Bromley Boxing Day home fixture against old rivals Dulwich Hamlet back in 1996. Nige had a box full of sausage rolls to share out made by his Mum. They were delicious and when we asked what the secret ingredient was, the answer was ‘Lard’. I was glad of the walk after that to try and work it off!     

The game kicked off at 11am and it was very cold, as the match went on the pitch at the benches end began to freeze. You could see the white frost forming on the grass during the second half, creeping up to the six yard box and then the penalty spot. The game probably wouldn’t have started if it had kicked off later in the day, but the Ref stuck with it and I’d imagine the Dulwich Keeper must have picked up some bruises diving on the rock hard surface. The match ended in 0-0, watched by what was a good crowd back then of 600.  

We walked back home on frozen feet, chatting all the way, ready for the Boxing Day buffet waiting for us at home.

Crowds for Non League games were always bigger than usual, the games were often against local rivals to minimize the travelling and it was sometimes the one game a season fans of  Premier League clubs might fancy watching some local football. 

For myself family commitments and the like have made Boxing Day football a little more tricky to attend these days, but I will always remember that special buzz around the place at the games the day after Christmas.      

Col.