In the pub last night, I was explaining how my anticipation was building towards returning home, spending time with family and friends, and singing songs at the top of my voice. It was assumed I was talking about Christmas generally – but of course my focus was on a return to B6 on Boxing Day.
Football and Christmas collide with great abandon on one of the most anticipated days on the football calendar. There are myriad reasons for this, as neatly summarised by football writer Daniel Grey:
“Good Christmas? We ask one another. If we’re honest we admit we spent much of it relieved there was a match to escape to the next day. Nothing gets an overly inquisitive auntie or an uncle with unpalatable political views off your back like a Boxing Day fixture”
– Daniel Grey
And to top it all, this Boxing Day the Premier League returns after an extended World Cup break, just to really ratchet up the expectancy. For all the excitement and anticipation of the Boxing Day fixture, the reality for Villa is that their recent record on this hallowed day is – to say the least – mixed.
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My first Boxing Day footballing memory is more of a Christmas horror show. It’s December 1992 and Ron Atkinson’s side headed to Highfield Road, Coventry looking to close the gap on Premier League leaders Norwich City. Although Coventry had started the season relatively well – they were eighth – it was seen as an opportunity for Villa to head towards 1993 in good shape. Unfortunately, Micky Quinn had other ideas, the barrel chested Scouser notching two goals in a 3-0 Coventry win. He also set up Robert Rosario for the third Coventry goal – Rosario squeezing the ball through Nigel Spink’s legs to ruin my Christmas. Of course, Villa’s title challenge fell away and that was that – in hindsight the Boxing Day defeat was the sort of result that would undermine that challenge as Atkinson failed to garner the consistency necessary to push eventual Champions Manchester United.
For all that pain surely, I had some positive Boxing Day recall that could offer an opposite perspective? It says much that it was 13 years later for that Highfield Horror show to be eclipsed as Villa thrashed Everton 4-0 at Villa Park in 2005. If you’re wondering how I have managed to jump so far forward – this was Villa’s first boxing day win for six years. A Milan Baros brace, accompanied by a Juan Pablo Angel special and Mark Delaney’s first Villa goal for six years was joyously greeted by a Villa Park crowd full of festive cheer. Baros later admitted that he had deliberately handled the ball in the build up to his first goal, which seemed to be the type of Christmas luck Villa had been missing for a while.
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Glossing over a defeat to Spurs in 2006, 2007 presented us with a real Christmas cracker at Stamford Bridge as Villa drew 4-4 with a title chasing side. Much to everyone’s shock Shaun Maloney had put Villa 2-0 up as half time neared only for Zat Knight to be sent off, with Shevchenko scoring the resulting penalty to reduce arrears. Chelsea initially took advantage of the extra man to go 3-2 up before Martin Laursen powered home an equaliser. We weren’t done – two Chelsea players were dismissed and Ballack scored a wonderful free kick, before a nerveless Gareth Barry dispatched a 90-minute penalty to level the scores at 4-4. Channelling Daniel Grey again, football just feels right at this time of year.
2008 wasn’t too shabby either with two players at the centre of the 2007 craziness – Barry and Knight – scoring in a 2-2 draw with Arsenal. This was the last moment of Boxing Day hope for a while a series of dispiriting losses to the likes of Swansea and Crystal Palace leading towards the dire relegation season in 2015-16.
Life in the Championship potentially offered a glimmer of hope as Villa faced up to a decade of Boxing Day losses going back to that Everton trouncing detailed above. The fixture list served up Burton Albion for December 2016, although Villa made hard work of a 2-1 win with Ross McCormack scoring an undeserved winner. Steve Bruce was on top festive form as he reminded Villa fans that “we were fortunate to win, I don’t think anyone who watched the match will think differently”. It was probably too much to expect that Villa might put together back-to-back Boxing Day wins, and so it unfolded with a loss to a Dean Smith managed Brentford in 2017. Back to back wins were secured in 2018 and 2019 almost entirely down to Connor Hourihane – the Irishman scoring in two 1-0 wins against Swansea and Norwich. The Swansea win was also notable for Orjan Nyland saving a last minute Wilfried Bony penalty.
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Boxing Day 2020 brought Villa fans some Christmas cheer at a difficult time for many. The 3-0 Villa win against Crystal Palace at a locked down and empty Villa Park was a sparkling example of some of the football played in that strangest of seasons. It was also some sort of Christmas miracle as Tyrone Mings lost his head with Zaha, got sent off and yet still Villa dominated. Anwar El Ghazi’s third for Villa, curled first time off the post was a good a Christmas goal as you will see – although not for the last time we were all left wondering how Ollie Watkins had not scored a goal.
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So, in recent times decidedly mixed. Which is kind of representative of Villa’s general recent history. Villa’s overall Boxing Day record – in a complete history sense – is one of the better ones in the Premier League. They have played 102 times on (or around) the 26th of December winning 46 of them, losing 21 and drawing 34. That’s an average points per game of around 1.5.
All I want for Christmas… is win number 47 at Villa Park on Monday.
Merry Christmas and UTV.
UTHOR | IVAN MCDOUALL
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