Five Brilliant Boxing Day Memories

On one of the best days in the English football season, its time to take a walk down memory lane to recall some of the great historical moments on Boxing Day in England.

1. Sheffield Wednesday 4 Sheffield United 0, 1979 In may have lacked some of the glamour, but the now termed Boxing Day Massacre between the fierce Sheffield rivals will forever live long in the memory. Attracting a record Third Division crowd of 49,309, the Blades were sitting pretty at the top of the league, with Jack Charltons Owls in fifth. But the home side were inspired by Terry Curran, who had dropped down two divisions to play for his boyhood heroes, and dished out a proper festive walloping. After the win Wednesday embarked on a 16-game unbeaten run that would sweep them to promotion as Uniteds challenge wilted and they finished 12th. To make matters worse for the Brammall Lane club, they had a long wait to exact revenge. The next derby didnt take place until 1991.

2. Oldham 3 Manchester United 6, 1991 Oldham came into the match riding a wave of unparalleled success in the clubs history having reached the final of the League Cup and semis of the FA Cup and had finally made it to the top flight during 1991. But the first Christmas after ripping up their famous plastic pitch saw the Latics torn to shreds by Sir Alex Fergusons then budding team of future stars. Oldham were repeatedly prised open by Manchester Uniteds flying winger Andrei Kanchelskis and a young sub called Ryan Giggs, while Brain McClair scored twice as well as Oldham old boy Denis Irwin.

3. Coventry 3 Manchester United 2, 1997 Manchester United were flying at Christmas in 1997, a 2-0 win over Everton on Boxing Day making it six league victories in a row for Sir Alex Fergusons men. But two days later they faced a tricky trip to Coventry , who we! re formi dable at home that season, losing only twice. The Sky Blues took an early lead but strikes from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham put United in the driving seat. But then came the dramatic late twist as former United player Dion Dublin levelled the scores before a sensational solo goal from Darren Huckerby who beat several United defenders before slotting past the goalkeeper sealed a tremendous turnaround.

4. Chelsea 4 Aston Villa 4, 2007 Chelsea and Aston Villa served up a pulsating 4-4 draw which included practically everything during its 90 minutes. Shaun Maloney had stunned Stamford Bridge by scoring twice for the visitors before Villa defender Zat Knight was dismissed after conceding a penalty, which Andriy Shevchenko converted. The Ukrainian levelled at 2-2 shortly after the break and Avram Grants side then took the lead through Alex. Villa refused to quit however, Martin Laursen equalising before Ricardo Carvalho was sent off to make it ten-a-side. Michael Ballack scored a free-kick with two minutes remaining to seemingly seal the victory. But Chelsea were reduced to nine men when Ashley Cole handballed on the goalline, Gareth Barry smashing in the eighth goal of the game from the penalty spot to earn his team a point.

5. Manchester City 5 Hull 1, 2008 Phil Brown altered his epitaph forever on Boxing Day 2008 as he treated his Hull City side like schoolkids by dishing out his halftime team talk on the pitch at the City on Manchester Stadium. The Tigers, who had started the season like a house on fire that year in the Premier League, had suffered their worst forty-five minute spell of the season conceding four against the Citizens, and the perma-tanned Brown opted that humiliation was the kick in the backside which was needed to turn his teams fortunes around. His team drew the second half 1-1, losing 5-1, but subsequently began a dreadful run of form, winning just one more league game that year.

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