Arsenal fixture changes mean no Boxing Day football for 4th year

For the fourth year in a row, Arsenal supporters will have no match to watch on Boxing Day after the Premier League confirmed the club’s festive fixture changes.

Arsenal had been due to face Crystal Palace on Boxing Day, but that game has been moved to Sunday, December 27, with a 7pm kick-off.

It means another Boxing Day without Arsenal football and continues a run that now stretches back to 2022, which seems incredibly unfair.

Last season, Arsenal’s game against Brighton was moved to December 27th. The year before, they also faced Ipswich Town on the 27th, while the previous season their match against West Ham United was shifted to December 28th.

You have to go back four years for the last time Arsenal actually played on Boxing Day. That came in 2022, when they beat West Ham 3-1, and even then supporters had to wait until 8pm for kick-off.

Boxing Day football remains one of the great traditions of the English game, but for Arsenal supporters it has effectively disappeared from the calendar ever since they started challenging for the title.

Once again, the fixture list has been arranged around television requirements rather than the people actually attending and watching the matches.

For Arsenal fans, four successive years without a Boxing Day match feels particularly cruel.

There are also further changes to the festive schedule.

Arsenal’s game against Fulham will remain on December 30, with kick-off brought forward from 8pm to 7.30pm.

There will also be no Arsenal match on New Year’s Day. Their game against Ipswich remains scheduled for Saturday January 2 at 3pm, which also means it will not be televised live in the UK.

The following fixture against Brentford has also been altered. That game will now take place on January 6 at 7.30pm rather than 8pm.