The complex operation behind festive football reporting

It’s all hands on deck for around 35 simultaneous kick-offs at a time when writers and editors are dotted up and down the country

For many, Boxing Day is simply another day of merriment or much-needed rest. For others, it’s the first day out of the house and straight into the lawless jungle that is the high streets when Boxing Day sales commence.

For those with interests in the sporting realm, however, it usually means only one thing – football.

Football on Boxing Day has been a tradition since the 1888-1889 season, making it exactly 130 years old as Fulham kicked off the day’s earliest fixture.

While much of football tradition is disappearing in an age where the power lies with television companies and sponsors that fund the game rather than the fans who attend it, Boxing Day’s fixture list in 2018 was as packed a slate as you’ll see. Every team in the Championship, League’s One and Two were playing. Eighteen of the 20 Premier League sides were also in action, meaning 45 professional fixtures in England alone as well as many non-league and a raft of games north of the border in Scotland.

These games usually present their own logistical challenges with the train system often unreliable if not out of action entirely on 26 December. It also presents its own staffing issues for us trying to cover sport, with many people travelling home to see their families on Christmas or abroad.

With games now being spread over the whole weekend rather than just at 3pm on a Saturday, a sports department usually has its personnel fairly evenly distributed across Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. With Boxing Day, it’s all hands on deck for around 35 simultaneous kick-offs at a time when writers and editors are dotted up and down the country.

Then there are the other sports to consider.

The King George VI Chase at Kempton Park is one of the crown jewels in the winter’s racing calendar. Often there is rugby – though this year only in Wales – while the Boxing Day Test match is a strong tradition in both South Africa, where they are playing Pakistan as you read this, and Australia.

Last year, of course, Australia were hosting England en route to an Ashes thumping. This year they are hosting India in what is a thrilling meeting of two of cricket’s superpowers.

Even with the controversy surrounding the Australian team throughout 2018, the Boxing Day Test remains a summer tradition to savour in the same way that mid-winter football is up and down Britain.

The precise reason sport became such a popular pastime on the feast of St Stephen is because it is something that can be done with family and friends, fostering a community spirit.

With that in mind, I hope all subscribers and readers of The Independent have a wonderful festive period with their families and loved ones – whether they are watching from the terraces or the sofa, or perhaps not even at all.

Yours,

Ed Malyon

Sports editor