Christmas Eve football

burnleymik · Post by **burnleymik** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 1:42 pm

Seems they Premier League have announced the first Xmas Eve fixture for 27 years.

Not going down well with fans. The Chelsea Fans Trust released this:

: F9XXHoKXsAApnpe.jpg (81.44 KiB) Viewed 3709 times

Murger · Post by **Murger** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 1:55 pm

The powers that be really don’t give a toss. Who on earth thought Christmas Eve was a good idea?

GetIntoEm · Post by **GetIntoEm** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 2:36 pm

whats the issue with Xmas Eve?

ŽižkovClaret · Post by **ŽižkovClaret** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 2:55 pm

GetIntoEm wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 2:36 pm
whats the issue with Xmas Eve?

Its xmas eve.......

GetIntoEm · Post by **GetIntoEm** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:00 pm

ŽižkovClaret wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 2:55 pm
Its xmas eve.......

is that worse than a sunday afternoon? a saturday 8pm? boxing day? new years day?

it just seems like something else to moan about

Boss Hogg · Post by **Boss Hogg** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:04 pm

I wouldn’t be going to a match on Xmas Eve even if it was Burnley.

ŽižkovClaret · Post by **ŽižkovClaret** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:05 pm

GetIntoEm wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:00 pm
is that worse than a sunday afternoon? a saturday 8pm? boxing day? new years day?

it just seems like something else to moan about

Just a ballache to get back from, plus its all the staff of the clubs, coach drivers, not to mention anyone brave enough to try and use trains, etc that have to be there xmas eve etc.

Honestly its a p**s take.

Claretnick · Post by **Claretnick** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:05 pm

GetIntoEm wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:00 pm
is that worse than a sunday afternoon? a saturday 8pm? boxing day? new years day?

it just seems like something else to moan about

Public transport tends to shut down very early on Christmas eve. Is nothing sacred these days

Paul Waine · Post by **Paul Waine** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:15 pm

GetIntoEm wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 2:36 pm
whats the issue with Xmas Eve?

Train services, probably, stop running early.

Some football supporters will have family and friends to visit over Christmas or promised the time with their children (and grandchildren). It's even possible that some will be heading to midnight mass - which these days seems to be just as often early evening on Christmas eve.

I'm missing the Fulham game on Saturday 23rd. I've got tickets to take granddaughters to Kew Christmas lights -"It's not Christmas without Kew Christmas lights" the older one has told me. Even though Fulham and Kew Gardens are near each other, Christmas with family and granddaughters comes first for me.

UTC

Paul Waine · Post by **Paul Waine** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:21 pm

burnleymik wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 1:42 pm
Seems they Premier League have announced the first Xmas Eve fixture for 27 years.

Not going down well with fans. The Chelsea Fans Trust released this:

F9XXHoKXsAApnpe.jpg

I'm a friend of one of the CST Board. I guess moving the game will have put a big spanner in his plans for Christmas eve.

Not sure I agree that Wolves stadium staff having to work Christmas eve should be included in their list of issues. Some staff may be very pleased to have work on Christmas eve. Bar staff will be working in every pub in the land. More importantly, hospitals will still be open - even if it's only "christmas cover levels."

BurnleyFC · Post by **BurnleyFC** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:27 pm

Got to be honest - if we were playing on Christmas Eve, unless it was against ******* Rovers, I wouldn’t be going.

dsr · Post by **dsr** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:27 pm

My mother used to like Christmas Day football.

Apart from anything else, while all the other women in the family had to do the washing up, she got out of the house with her father, uncles, male cousins, and went to the match!

(Though it must have been an early lunch, with kickoff no later than 2 pm and possibly even earlier than that.)

Murger · Post by **Murger** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:32 pm

Boss Hogg wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:04 pm
I wouldn’t be going to a match on Xmas Eve even if it was Burnley.

I’m with you. I don’t think the missus would appreciate me swanning off to the footy and leaving her to sort everything out. Plus we have a tradition on Christmas Eve that we all watch The Polar Express as a family. No way I’d miss that.

Casper2 · Post by **Casper2** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:40 pm

Are you devils advocate in disguise?

Burnley1989 · Post by **Burnley1989** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:17 pm

Murger wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 3:32 pm
I’m with you. I don’t think the missus would appreciate me swanning off to the footy and leaving her to sort everything out. Plus we have a tradition on Christmas Eve that we all watch The Polar Express as a family. No way I’d miss that.

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day are the two days of the year that’s dedicated to family life, Boxing Day is lads day

Sleeping Cat · Post by **Sleeping Cat** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:18 pm

Don't really see the problem tbh. Christmas Eve isn't a bank holiday with many people still working that day. Lot's of people go out that night (used to be a huge night out back in my day). Potential travel congestions, and there's usually a rail/air strike mooted around then, but that isn't Premier League's fault. It would free up the participating clubs Boxing day, so their fans don't have to travel on that day instead. I suspect some players might also prefer it, as they can relax and enjoy their Xmas day a bit more.

ClaretTricks · Post by **ClaretTricks** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:22 pm

Burnley1989 wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:17 pm
Christmas Eve & Christmas Day are the two days of the year that’s dedicated to family life, Boxing Day is lads day

could.not.agree.more

ClaretDiver · Post by **ClaretDiver** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:24 pm

I am working Christmas Eve and My missus is working nights on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day night…what’s wrong with staff working on Christmas Eve?

Burnley1989 · Post by **Burnley1989** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:28 pm

ClaretDiver wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:24 pm
I am working Christmas Eve and My missus is working nights on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day night…what’s wrong with staff working on Christmas Eve?

Depends if you’ve young uns mate

claret2018 · Post by **claret2018** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:36 pm

Hey you could just not go if you don’t fancy it

Walton · Post by **Walton** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:55 pm

I didn't know so many people got Christmas Eve off work every year.

jrgbfc · Post by **jrgbfc** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 5:07 pm

claret2018 wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:36 pm
Hey you could just not go if you don’t fancy it

That's the thing, the Chelsea fans have the chance to vote with their feet but they'll still sell out. Feel a bit sorry for the staff at Wolves who don't really have a choice but to work.

bfcjg · Post by **bfcjg** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 5:20 pm

Might be nice for the club employees including the players to have Christmas eve with their families. I certainly wouldn't travel to watch us Christmas eve and although old fashioned my family all attend Christmas eve Mass and if it meant missing that or Burnley I'd opt for mass, each to their own though.

wilks_bfc · Post by **wilks_bfc** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 5:32 pm

Would they have moved the the game if Christmas Eve wasn’t a Sunday?

boatshed bill · Post by **boatshed bill** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 5:43 pm

It's total madness.

ElectroClaret · Post by **ElectroClaret** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 6:29 pm

Not keen myself.
However, on the plus side, presumably it'll be televised, so it'll be a change from watching whichever version of A Christmas Carol is on this year, or some other ancient crappy film.

Gp8419 · Post by **Gp8419** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 7:09 pm

I know nba play on Xmas day we will go that way eventually more than likely.

dsr · Post by **dsr** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 10:48 pm

bfcjg wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 5:20 pm
Might be nice for the club employees including the players to have Christmas eve with their families. I certainly wouldn't travel to watch us Christmas eve and although old fashioned my family all attend Christmas eve Mass and if it meant missing that or Burnley I'd opt for mass, each to their own though.

I don't care overmuch (or at all) about the players. Anyone who gets a job paying millions a year must expect to go the extra mile to earn it once in a while. As for the rest of staff, perhaps they could be paid overtime rates.

Christmas Eve is not a holiday. As a rule, the majority of people are at work until at least dinnertime. (Many get the afternoon off.) Working Christmas Eve afternoon isn't an unprecedented burden that has never been faced.

The only ones deserving of some sympathy are the fans, especially the travelling ones, the ones who always go by public transport. A fairly low number, I would have thought. Perhaps the club could run some buses to get them there.

CrosspoolClarets · Post by **CrosspoolClarets** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 11:02 pm

Obviously some people work on xmas eve and that is normal but for casual football workers it isn’t normal and for Wolves staff like stewards this will have been at very short notice and as such is unfair. As it is for fans.

People who have paid for season tickets with kids have to get organised, they can’t be getting back home as 12am. They may crash into Santa on the driveway. So really it is inexcusable despite 50% of fans not having a problem.

KlyBfc · Post by **KlyBfc** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 11:04 pm

As a young single lad it wouldnt have phased me too much and I’d have gone, though I’d have had to adapt the usual pub crawl we did. Now with my own family there is no way on earth I’d go to a Burnley game on Christmas Eve as spending time with my girls and seeing their excitement far out ways watching a game of football.

dsr · Post by **dsr** » Thu Oct 26, 2023 11:12 pm

CrosspoolClarets wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 11:02 pm
Obviously some people work on xmas eve and that is normal but for casual football workers it isn’t normal and for Wolves staff like stewards this will have been at very short notice and as such is unfair. As it is for fans.

People who have paid for season tickets with kids have to get organised, they can’t be getting back home as 12am. They may crash into Santa on the driveway. So really it is inexcusable despite 50% of fans not having a problem.

I agree it's a blow for season ticket holders with small children who live north of Inverness. (Not sure there are huge numbers of them.)

you do know the kickoff is 1 pm?

elwaclaret · Post by **elwaclaret** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 12:46 am

Gp8419 wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 7:09 pm
I know nba play on Xmas day we will go that way eventually more than likely.

Used to be a regular fixture, Christmas Day; started fading out in the 1950’s.

Vegas Claret · Post by **Vegas Claret** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 1:50 am

no way on this earth I would go to a game on Christmas Eve if I was with my family

Nori1958 · Post by **Nori1958** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 6:32 am

Burnley1989 wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:28 pm
Depends if you’ve young uns mate

I had to work Christmas eve when I had young uns

ClaretDiver · Post by **ClaretDiver** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 6:43 am

Burnley1989 wrote: ↑
Thu Oct 26, 2023 4:28 pm
Depends if you’ve young uns mate

The wife had to regularly work Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day when the 3 kids were growing up! Gotta suck it up and get on with it if you work on certain industries….

Burnley1989 · Post by **Burnley1989** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 7:24 am

Nori1958 wrote: ↑
Fri Oct 27, 2023 6:32 am
I had to work Christmas eve when I had young uns

I couldn’t care less Nori, just because you did, doesn’t make it right. There’s good reason the majority of fans disagree and good reason they’ve avoided playing games on Xmas eve for so many years.
I can’t for the life of me understand why folk are defending it just because some other walks of life work xmas Eve.

Burnley1989 · Post by **Burnley1989** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 7:28 am

ClaretDiver wrote: ↑
Fri Oct 27, 2023 6:43 am
The wife had to regularly work Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day when the 3 kids were growing up! Gotta suck it up and get on with it if you work on certain industries….

The majority of the women in my family are critical care nurses, so I get that, but we are talking about a decision made purely for money, nobody really wants the game played on that day but the TV company.

claretonthecoast1882 · Post by **claretonthecoast1882** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 7:44 am

Find it hard to believe anyone who goes to matches thinks this is anything but poor

Nori1958 · Post by **Nori1958** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 7:58 am

claretonthecoast1882 wrote: ↑
Fri Oct 27, 2023 7:44 am
Find it hard to believe anyone who goes to matches thinks this is anything but poor

People could say that about any fixture over Christmas, some families have a gathering on boxing day, or new years day, yet we accept football on those days without any outrage, Christmas eve should be no different, the only day that should be football free is Christmas day.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 7:58 am

Scandalous decision to play a game on Christmas Eve

dsr · Post by **dsr** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 8:15 am

I'd have thought for some people Christmas Eve would be better than the day before. You can run around making final preparations on Saturday and then relax on Sunday with the football. For some, that will be better than the alternative of watching football on Saturday and having to run round making final arrangements on Sunday morning, because the shops will surely be closing at lunchtime.

I can see it has disadvantages and perhaps it would be better not happening, but I don't see it as earth-shakingly awful. Christmas Eve morning at least, for me and I believe for many, is a normal working day.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 8:37 am

dsr wrote: ↑
Fri Oct 27, 2023 8:15 am
I'd have thought for some people Christmas Eve would be better than the day before. You can run around making final preparations on Saturday and then relax on Sunday with the football. For some, that will be better than the alternative of watching football on Saturday and having to run round making final arrangements on Sunday morning, because the shops will surely be closing at lunchtime.

I can see it has disadvantages and perhaps it would be better not happening, but I don't see it as earth-shakingly awful. Christmas Eve morning at least, for me and I believe for many, is a normal working day.

Are you serious? There is a reason why Turf Moor hasn't hosted a game on this date since World War II, it's a non-football date. What about considering supporters who have long distances to travel for a game, how does it affect them?

To schedule a game on Christmas Eve is an appalling decision.

PremierLeagueClass · Post by **PremierLeagueClass** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 8:42 am

Whilst I appreciate many still have to work on Christmas Eve (I myself have when I was younger). If not at work, it’s a family day for me. Had it been the Burnley game that was moved I wouldn’t have gone for that reason alone.

Funkydrummer · Post by **Funkydrummer** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 8:58 am

Appalling way to treat fans. It just confirms what little consideration
we are afforded and the contempt in which we are held.

Is nothing sacred anymore in their murky little world of avarice ?

Football, for me, is losing it's appeal at a great rate of knots.

Sleeping Cat · Post by **Sleeping Cat** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 9:07 am

1pm on Christmas Eve or 3pm on Boxing day, I don't see the difference.

daveisaclaret · Post by **daveisaclaret** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 9:16 am

Sleeping Cat wrote: ↑
Fri Oct 27, 2023 9:07 am
1pm on Christmas Eve or 3pm on Boxing day, I don't see the difference.

You must struggle to keep appointments.

PremierLeagueClass · Post by **PremierLeagueClass** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 9:16 am

Sleeping Cat wrote: ↑
Fri Oct 27, 2023 9:07 am
1pm on Christmas Eve or 3pm on Boxing day, I don't see the difference.

That’s fair enough, everyone has their own feelings on the subject. Surely you can acknowledge though that many feel differently, and that’s why it’s a poor decision.

Sproggy · Post by **Sproggy** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 9:27 am

It's a decision that some don't like but that doesn't meant it's poor. Let's see how many turn up for the game.

It sounds great to me. With a 1pm kick off, even the Chelsea fans will be home in good time for anything that's planned for the evening.

Nori1958 · Post by **Nori1958** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 9:27 am

ClaretTony wrote: ↑
Fri Oct 27, 2023 8:37 am
Are you serious? There is a reason why Turf Moor hasn't hosted a game on this date since World War II, it's a non-football date. What about considering supporters who have long distances to travel for a game, how does it affect them?

To schedule a game on Christmas Eve is an appalling decision.

What about boxing day?

No transport....more of a family day than Christmas eve...

Sleeping Cat · Post by **Sleeping Cat** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 9:27 am

PremierLeagueClass wrote: ↑
Fri Oct 27, 2023 9:16 am
That’s fair enough, everyone has their own feelings on the subject. Surely you can acknowledge though that many feel differently, and that’s why it’s a poor decision.

Of course, some clearly feel different and it is interesting how those who do feel different don't mind going to football the day after Xmas, but not the day before.