Invariably the mention of Boxing Day brings Blades fans of a certain vintage out in a cold sweat. The Boxing Day Massacre, a promotion tussle in the old third division that saw a crowd of nearly 50,000, is perhaps the most famous game involving both Sheffield clubs. Grainy videos and anniversary dinners delight those of a blue-and-white persuasion but barely produce a shrug from me – I was, after all, only a year old at the time.
For me personally, Boxing Day invokes mostly happy memories. Christmas time always meant time off school in my formative years and now time off work. It was time spent with the family. A time of rest and recuperation mixed in with celebration, drink and rich food. Boxing Day was always a big part of it, and to this day, it still is. This is simply down to the fact it meant I was going to the Football.
My Dad had three brothers, and for years it was a Christmas tradition that we would go to the Boxing Day game as a family. This was stranger than you might think. My Dad and I were regulars at the Lane, but my uncles and cousin, not so much.
However, on this date, for this fixture, no matter which division, or what the form guide looked like, it was almost compulsory that we all had to attend. We would go to the games at home but also travel for many of the Boxing Day away games over the late ’80s/early ’90s.
I have vivid memories of my first Boxing Day fixture. It was at the Lane, and United faced Hull City in 1986. I recall my Uncle Don coming round to collect me and my Dad. Before we left, I played against him on my new Steve Davis Pot Black snooker table – my big Christmas gift – and then off we went.
I stood on the Kop white wall in the corner as a Peter Beagrie-inspired United ran riot. Wafts of cigar smoke (why did people only smoke cigars at Christmas?) danced across the terraces as Christmas songs emanated from the tannoy. It was a magical time of year in a special place. This routine continued for years to come. The snooker table would be replaced with computer games, and the next time my uncle collected us, I’d have to finish a game on Sensible Soccer before we scooped up the Thorntons Special Toffees that we would share at the match to follow.
Subsequent years saw a different Uncle take it in turns to drive and we went to places like Maine Road, Valley Parade and the Britannia Stadium (as it was then called) with mixed results. We’d often arrive really early, park up and sit and eat cold turkey sandwiches, accompanied by coffee in flasks to wash it down – although I swear there was stronger stuff in the drinks that the adults consumed.
As I’ve grown older and eventually had a child of my own, the tradition has continued. Other than a few years in which I spent the holiday period in the States, I have continued to be a regular Boxing Day attender, home and away.
We often walk down to the Lane due to there being no public transport. Inevitably our route goes via the pub and we try and shake off a Christmas hangover. New hats and scarves are sometimes worn or, for my son, the new Blades shirt he got for Christmas. We stuff a selection of Quality Street or Celebrations into plastic freezer bags and hope for a United win.
In recent times we have seen some cracking wins and games on this date. I will share my favourites later on, but I did start analysing certain aspects of this famous ‘fixture.’ How successful have we been on Boxing Day? And, are we ‘always’ at home?
Boxing Day-ta
Sheffield United have played 105 games on Boxing Day in our 133-year history. In my head, it seemed like United always had the home Boxing Day fixture, whilst Wednesday had to travel away. And it certainly seemed like the fixture computer has been friendly to us in this regard in recent years. Indeed, the game against Coventry will make the 6th consecutive Boxing Day fixture at the Lane, with last season’s away game at Preston postponed. In my forty-five years, it has been a fairly even split, but the all-time record shows that the Blades have played 58 out of 105 games at home, 55 per cent of the possible fixtures played.
The notion that there are always big crowds holds true. A total of 21,636,244 fans have watched us in these games, with an average of 25,070 for the home games. The biggest crowd away was 55,207 at Arsenal on 1931-32 for a 2-0 defeat. Post-war, the game at Hillsborough in 1979 attracted the largest attendance, with a remarkable 49,309 at that fateful clash.
At the Lane, the largest gate was 45,000, achieved twice for games against Aston Villa in 1913-14 and 1921-22; both were defeats, incidentally! Since the Second World War, the 42,752 attendance achieved against Manchester United in 1966-67, is the highest. The Blades sent the punters home happy with a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Alan Birchenall and Mick Jones.
It also seems certain sides are matched up with us on this date. A quick scan of the all-time fixtures (shown below) proves certain clubs are more often chosen to face us in this fixture. In recent years, for instance, Birmingham, Coventry and Notts County have been regulars.
All time, we have faced Wednesday the most, with seven games (many before WWI). Next up might be a surprise, but Manchester United have played us on six occasions. Regular opposition includes Leicester (4), Manchester City (4) and as detailed above, Birmingham City (4), Notts County (4) and after this year’s fixture, Coventry (4). Teams we have faced on three occasions include Aston Villa, Liverpool and Newcastle.
In terms of success, we have won 48 of the 105 games (46%) and lost 37 (35%) of these 105 games. We have drawn the remaining 20 games (19%). So, as I thought, Boxing Day is a relatively successful fixture for us, although we tend to go in spurts – we had a run of six wins around the millennium followed up by six without a win. We had a hat trick of victories under Chris Wilder as we moved up the leagues with some cracking atmospheres at the Lane before Covid – we have not had crowds for this fixture since Watford in the 2019-20 season.
Our biggest Boxing Day win was in 1902, a 7-1 success against Bolton Wanderers. Since WWII, our biggest wins have been a 3-0 success over Rotherham in the 1983-84 season, a 4-1 win at Notts County in 1988-89 (a fixture in which Brian Deane got sent off for striking Nicky Law and Martin Pike scored two!) and quite recently, a 3-0 victory over Sunderland in 2017-18. In terms of big defeats, the Boxing Day Massacre was only equalled at Luton in 1955-56.
The leading scorer for the Blades in this fixture is not even close! Harry Johnson, the Blades’ all-time leading scorer with 201 goals, managed to net 13 Boxing Day goals. This is some way ahead of Jock Dodds with 6 and Alan Woodward with 5. Fred Tunstall, Harry Priest, Mick Jones, Jimmy Dunne and Billy Sharp have all scored 3 goals on this date.
My most memorable
Whilst the Wednesday game stands out as the most iconic fixture for all the wrong reasons, there have been other notable games on this date. Bad memories are conjured up from a shocking defeat combined with travel/weather difficulties at Port Vale in the 2014-15 season.
I also remember us getting hammered at home in bright sunshine by Coventry under Dave Bassett in 1991-92. I vaguely recall Jimmy Bullard scoring in the last minute to win a game for Hull after we had fought back from two goals down. But to focus on the positives, here are my three most memorable Boxing Day fixtures:
3) Away – Bradford City. 1996-97. 2-1 (Hodgson, Scott)
I had gone away to university and felt a bit detached from things as I was no longer a season ticket holder. But when arrived I home for Christmas, my Dad told me were going, once again with my uncles and my cousin. It was very cold, but a very welcome feeling to be renewing our tradition.
Howard Kendall was the manager. Bradford played in an awful claret and amber kit (not proper stripes), and we did the same in yellow and purple. The Blades fans occupied both tiers behind the goal and half of the new side-stand with a huge following. The game was not a classic but I recall us booting an ageing Chris Waddle and Doug Hodgson scoring in a 2-1 win that sent us to the top of the league. You might remember what Hodgson said he’d do if he ever scored for United?! Fortunately, he did not keep true to his word.
2) Home – Derby County. 2018-19. 3-1 (Sharp, McGoldrick, Clarke)
A recent fixture from the memory bank but a great day. The Lane was packed, and Derby had sold out their allocation, doing well under Lampard with promising loan players like Mason Mount and Harry Wilson. United led at half time through Sharp, who continued to haunt the Rams. The referee made an inexplicable decision not to award United a penalty, and that cost us. County levelled with a howitzer of a free kick from Wilson, leading to a semi-brawl in the goalmouth. The atmosphere was electric as the Blades turned it round, kicking towards the Kop. A sublime lob from McGoldrick and a header from Clarke saw United pull away and seal the much-deserved win, and the belief that this could be a promotion side started to really take hold.
1) Home - Leeds United. 1989-90. 2-2 (Agana, Rostron)
Yes, I know this was only a draw, but this match had everything you could want in a Boxing Day fixture. A rival coming to town. Teams occupying first and second in the race for promotion. Our whole family went, and we had to park a long way from the ground, such were the numbers attending.
The opposition were big-spending and full of ex-Wednesday players, so United were underdogs, but a capacity crowd saw a pulsating game. Mel Sterland scored a remarkable free kick from almost 40 yards before running to the Kop, but United battled back and led after goals from Wilf Rostron and Tony Agana. Carl Shutt restored parity, and both teams went for the winner in a game that went back and forth. It finished 2-2, but the equilibrium in the fixture was clear, and so it proved as both sides went on to claim promotion at the end of the campaign.
The Table
“It was a magical time of year in a special place.” You said it, David – it always is! And yes the Quality Street are compulsory!
I note what you say about playing quite a few teams several times – I always assumed this was because of there being no public transport on Boxing Day, so we always played teams not too far – geographically – away.
What a pity Billy Sharp didn’t get that goal past the post today – his 250th on Boxing Day would have been tremendous.
Thanks for the memories.
Sue.