A host of Boxing Day delights, from a 1960s English goal rush to the greatest of horses
A look back at some special sporting moments from years gone by, including an 11-goal classic and the day Desert Orchid burst onto the scene
It’s Boxing Day, which means leftovers, hanging out with the people you actually like, and more sport than you can shake a stick at.
So, in honour of this day of recovery, we’ve put together some classic sporting moments, from a goalfest that has to be seen to be believed to the origins of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
Given there is a full slate of Premier League matches overnight, normal service will be resumed on Friday. Until then, here’s what happened while friends and relatives were sleeping eating over the past 60 years or so.
Raining goals in 60s Britain
The year is 1963, The Beatles are in their prime with I want To Hold Your Hand, the first of their three consecutive Christmas No 1s, Disney’s The Sword in the Stone, and The Pink Panther are on in the cinema, and England is hours away from witnessing one of the greatest weekends of football known to man.
There were 66 goals across 10 First Division matches that day, with 11 of them at Craven Cottage, where Fulham beat Ipswich 10-1. Fulham winger Graham Leggat scored the fastest hat-trick on record at the time, banging in his goals in just three minutes. A feat not bettered for more than 50 years, until Sadio Mane scored three in 2 minutes, 56 seconds for Southampton against Aston Villa in May 2015.
Blackburn Rovers managed to score eight, in an 8-2 thrashing of West Ham United, while Burnley beat Manchester United 6-1 at Turf Moor. Only two teams failed to score, Everton, who lost 2-0 at Leicester, and Bolton, beaten 3-0 at Sheffield Wednesday.
And in a sign that some things don’t change, Tottenham scored four times at West Bromwich Albion and still didn’t win, drawing 4-4 at The Hawthorns.
Five days of fun
A relatively new tradition, but one that now feels as much a part of the occasion as turkey sandwiches, the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne is a highlight on the sporting calendar, no matter which hemisphere you’re in.
