The day known as Boxing Day (26 December), originated in the United Kingdom and is celebrated in a number of countries.
In some European countries, such as Romania, Hungary, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia, 26 December is celebrated as a Second Christmas Day. In the United Kingdom, it is traditional for all top-tier football leagues in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland – the Premier League, the Scottish Premiership, and the NIFL Premiership – and the lower ones, as well as the rugby leagues, to hold a full programme of football matches on Boxing Day
In Britain, it was a custom for tradesmen to collect “Christmas boxes” of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for their good service rendered throughout the year. This custom is linked to an even older British tradition where the servants of the wealthy were allowed the day after Christmas off, to visit their families, since they would have to serve their masters on Christmas Day. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts, bonuses, and sometimes leftover food.
Boxing Day is also one of the main days in the hunting calendar for hunts in the UK and US, with most hunts holding meets, often in town or village centres.
In South Africa, the day has been seen as a day of goodwill, where people will give back to society. Service providers who normally had little interaction with those they served used to knock on their doors asking for a “Christmas box”, that is, a small cash donation. In some African Commonwealth nations, particularly Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania, professional boxing contests are held on Boxing Day. This practice has also been followed for decades in Guyana and Italy.
The European tradition in the late Roman/ early Christian era was to place metal boxes outside churches to collect special offerings tied to the Feast of Saint Stephen, which in the Western church falls on the same day as Boxing Day. This money was generally distributed to the poor and needy.
