Your indispensable Christmas football TV guide: don't miss a kick over the festive period!
There's so much football on the box over the next fortnight that you'll need some serious planning to make sure you see it all. Luckily the Daily Mirror's Alan McKinlay has all the details...
Ah, the collision of the festive and football seasons – the best mixture of ingredients since Kellogs put sugar on Rice Krispies and called them Ricicles.
The Italians may take Christmas off in Serie A (and Rafa Benitez will be getting get a few extra days in the New Year as well), but we are made of sterner stuff.
And while you're waiting for all the live games, those cheeky chaps from Gillette Soccer Saturday kick off the Christmas festivities on Christmas Eve with their Soccer Special (Sky Sports 1, Fri Dec 24, 8pm) .
Eight of the regulars are paired into four teams to manage under-14 teams in a knockout competition.
Host Jeff Stelling makes his Saturday role as referee official this time as he tries to keep control of the mayhem.
The management teams are: Iain Dowie/Allan McInally, Paul Jewell/Kris Kamara, Matt Le Tissier/Paul Merson, Charlie Nicholas/Phil Thompson. The Le Tiss/Merse team will certainly be worth watching.
If you haven’t had your fill of football-based banter by 10pm, stay tuned for the Take it Like a Fan Christmas Special (Sky Sports 1, Fri Dec 24, 10pm) , when Fenners and Charlotte Jackson put the cream of Sky Sports talent to the test.
If, like me, you’re an admirer of Owen Coyle’s managerial skills but were always curious about his ability to find Treble 20 at will, then the Soccer AM Christmas Special (Sky Sports 1, Sat Dec 25, 10am) is worth having on in the background while you unwrap your presents on Christmas morning.
After the japery, though, it’s time to get serious, and it doesn’t get more serious than Avram Grant’s facial expression, which can be seen in all it’s HD glory when Fulham take on West Ham (Sky Sports 1, Sun Dec 26, 11.30am) in the first of the festive season’s live games.
As Manchester City are not featured in the holiday season’s live games, it will probably be down to Aston Villa v Tottenham (Sky Sports 1, Sun Dec 26, 5.30pm) to provide the greatest number of snoods and gloves this Christmas. Spurs may not have a realistic chance of winning the Premier League, despite what Harry says, but they are the entertainment champions-elect.
The Christmas Match of the Day (BBC1, Sun Dec 26, 10.15pm) is a must, although these days you’ll probably have to wait until the Football League Show (BBC1, Sun Dec 26, 11.45pm) to be rewarded with the heart-warming and once-familiar sight at this time of year of an orange football or two.
Arsenal and Chelsea (Sky Sports 1, Mon Dec 27, 7pm) battle it out the day after in arguably the pick of the Christmas fixtures, but who would have thought a month ago that this would be a clash between two of the most dispirited teams in the league?
December 28 offers up a triple bill of live football, kicking off with suddenly-shaky QPR’s trip to Coventry (Sky Sports 1, Tues Dec 28, 12.00pm) . Whether they win or not will determine whether the magnificent Neil Warnock comes over as Scrooge or Santa in the post-game interview.
West Ham v Everton (Sky Sports 1, Tues Dec 28, 5.30pm) is the teatime offering. This is the third game of the three Avram Grant was allegedly told he had to find a win amongst – and is arguably the toughest.
The 8.00pm kick-off for Birmingham v Manchester United (Sky Sports 1, Tues Dec 28, 7.30pm) ensures two things at St Andrews - a great atmosphere and an even-redder-than-usual nose in the bitter cold for Fergie as he battles his one-time Aberdonian pupil Alex McLeish.
And given the cold weather, is it too much to hope that Roy Hodgson goes in for another spot of face-rubbing when Liverpool take on Wolves (Sky Sports 1, Weds Dec 29, 7.30pm) at Anfield? You could certainly forgive him a bit of head-scratching at Fernando Torres’ transformation into a very ordinary-looking player Later that night, Match of the Day (BBC1, Weds Dec 29, 10.35pm) wraps up the action of the past two days.
It seems a forlorn hope that post-Hogmanay Edinburgh will be in any fit state to stage the city’s derby between Hearts and Hibernian (ESPN, Sat Jan 1, 12.00pm) . Because of the weather, of course, what did you think I meant?
Sky counters with another trip to the West Midlands for Manchester United, who face West Bromwich Albion (Sky Sports 1, Sat Jan 1, 12.30pm).
Festive is perhaps not the description most Birmingham fans would attribute to this time of year as the Blues follow up the visit of Manchester United by hosting Arsenal (ESPN, Sat Jan 1, 4.45pm) .
Hardcore armchair addicts - or just those who can’t get off the sofa – are rewarded with Watford v Portsmouth (Sky Sports 1, Sat Jan 1, 5.15pm) , and there’s always the double helping of live La Liga action (Sky Sports 3, Sat Jan 1, 7-11pm) if you have to watch all day to win a bet.
Match of the Day (BBC 1, Sat Jan 1, 10.30pm) and the Football League Show (BBC 1, Sat Jan 1, 11.50pm) provide the highlights of all the New Year’s Day action in England on terrestrial telly.
Rangers v Celtic (Sky Sports 4, Sun Jan 2, 12.00pm) is a must-see because the atmosphere is sensational, goals are guaranteed, and the sheer physicality of the game means that no one ever complains that “you just can’t tackle any more” afterwards.
Watch the first half at least and then turn over to Chelsea v Aston Villa (Sky Sports 1, Sun Jan 2, 1.00pm) and I guarantee it will seem tame by comparison.
The final British live game of the holiday season is Wigan v Newcastle (Sky Sports 1, Sun Jan 2, 3.30pm) , but you can get your double helping of La Liga ((Sky Sports 2, Sun Jan 2, 6-10pm) before Match of the Day 2 (BBC2, Sun Jan 2, 10pm) wraps things up with the day’s highlights.
*All live games also available in HD.
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