Jurgen Klopp was very outspoken on the fact that the fixture list scheduled his Liverpool team to play two games in 48 hours, over the festive period.
Given the cancellation of the Boxing Day fixture against Leeds United, we now have a bit of respite before facing Leicester City away on the 28th of December.
However, this wasn’t always the way and Christmas Day fixtures used to be a key part of the football calendar and they were quickly followed by a Boxing Day match-up, just 24 hours later.
The last time the most festive of fixtures was played was in 1957 where a Second Division Liverpool team that was captained by Billy Liddell, fell to a 3-1 away defeat at 11 am in Grimsby.
It was the same opponents the very next day and thankfully Phil Taylor’s side didn’t give another three points away, winning the return game 3-2 at Anfield in front of 48,000 supporters.
That year ended a tradition where you would play on both Christmas and Boxing Day, against the same team home and away.
Our last ever Christmas Day fixture on home soil was a year earlier as 22,000 people watched Alan A’Court score the only goal of a 1-0 victory over Leyton Orient.
Times change and so do the needs of players (and TV companies), which causes bigger alterations in the ‘traditional’ football calendar.
It looks like the push to change the 28th of December fixture, and the second leg of League Cup semi-finals, are high on our manager’s list of desired reformation.
Whether a modern day fan could survive the pressure of facing Manchester United on Christmas Day, like we did in 1906 and 1948 (both ending as 0-0 draws), is another question but there would be no better feeling than a 5-0 Old Trafford victory on the same day Santa drops off all your presents.
Tradition doesn’t need to be something that is set in stone and we may see a change to the festive fixtures in the near future, it would be shame to lose it all together and so maybe keeping Boxing Day but freeing up the days around it would be better for the players and for the fans.
If you’re feeling down on Christmas Day around 11 am, just remember you could be watching us be beaten by Grimsby instead – that might cheer you up!
Fouls, indirect free-kicks and match-fixing: Liverpool vs. Inter Milan 1965