All of us who follow Italian football are well used to the fact that once Christmas comes, we need to do without our regular calcio fix. The break usually begins a few days before Christmas, sometimes even earlier, and January 6 is the date on which the games traditionally return.
The FIGC did experiment for a couple of seasons recently, in 2017/18 they returned on the earlier date of December 30. The following season they went a step further, taking example from English football, with teams playing three games in the week over Christmas, on December 22, 26 and 29. Of course, they then needed to take a three week break until January 20. Since then, normality has returned, and this season’s break will last from December 22 until January 6.
It’s been this way now since the early 1970s, while throughout the ’60s games were often played on both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, it all depended on which date the Sunday fell. But, once upon a time, on Christmases long, long ago, even in Italy, they used to play football on December 25. Yes, on Christmas Day, the top teams in Serie A would be out on the pitch, and fans would brave possible family friction, together with public transport problems, to get to the ground.
Do They Know It’s Christmas?
In 1927, Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, and so, the Divisione Nazionale as it was then known, would go ahead as normal that day. In the 1927/28 season, the league was divided into two groups of eleven teams, and the top four in each group would go on to contest the title in the final group. By Christmas, we were at round 13 in both groups, and just one game in each group was put back to the 26, on the clubs’ request, those were Napoli v Milan and Roma v Dominante. This left four games in each group to be played on December 25.
In Group A, the leaders Genoa were surprisingly held to a scoreless draw at home by Brescia. This allowed Alessandria to join them on 20 points at the top of the table, when they demolished Reggiana 11-0. Their home game, played at a muddy Campo degli Orti, saw Renato Cattaneo score five goals while Elvio Banchero bagged himself a hat-trick. Padova managed a 2-0 win at home to Lazio, where the first half ended scoreless mainly thanks to the away keeper, Ezio Sclavi. The home side finally made the breakthrough just over 20 minutes after the break, through Olindo Serdoz, and four minutes later Giovanni Vecchina doubled their lead.
The other game in this group saw Cremonese host Torino. After a poor start to the season, the visitors were now up in third place. They had recently been stripped of their league title from the previous season, because of a scandal which saw them accused of match fixing in the derby game with Juventus. Once the verdict was handed down in November, it seemed to spark new life into the team, and they went on a run of wins which brought them back into contention. When Torino and Cremonese met earlier in the season the game ended in a 2-2 draw, and in a hard fought but fair contest which brought applause from the Christmas crowd, the result was a repeat of October’s game, with Torino having to come from two goals down to salvage a point.
It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year
The fans who turned out to watch the Group B games that day were treated to a feast of goals, with 18 scored over the four matches. Inter gave their fans a happy Christmas, having failed to find a win in their previous four ties. Against a Verona side struggling near the bottom of the table, Inter fell behind in the 10th minute to a goal from Arnaldo Morandi. After that though, it was all Inter, and they were 2-1 up at the break with the goals coming from Fulvio Bernardini and Alessandro Savelli. They needed to wait until late in the second half to wrap up the game, with Giuseppe Meazza adding the third, and the final goal came right at the final whistle with Bernardini getting his second of the game. Leopoldo Conti had missed a penalty for the hosts just a couple of minutes before that last goal.
Casale had a 2-1 win over Modena, Bologna defeated Livorno 3-0, and, in the group’s other game, Juventus came out on top in a seven-goal thriller. Novara were the guests, and they held a 3-2 lead with twenty minutes left in the game, but the hosts bagged two more before the end, Federico Munerati scoring his second of the game to level the tie before Antonio Vojak grabbed the winner. The sides had been level in the table before the game, and while Juventus would advance to the final group, Novara would miss out.
The next Christmas Day game in Serie A didn’t arrive until 1949, although there had been quite a few occasions when Coppa Italia ties were played on December 25 in the late Thirties. For the 1949/50 season, many clubs opted not to play on Christmas Day, but two games were due to go ahead as scheduled, although just one of them would make it to the final whistle. Pro Patria hosted Sampdoria at 1pm, and the game kicked off under beautiful sunshine, but by the 21st minute of the second half, the fog was so dense that the referee was forced to suspend proceedings. The match stood at 1-1 at the time, and was replayed in full on January 5, and the teams again played out a 1-1 draw.
Christmas, Baby Please Come Home
Inter had a short trip to Como for their Christmas Day meeting, and the squad made the journey on Christmas Eve. Even players who were suspended or injured went along, and they would all be free to join up with their families after the game. Como were appearing in Serie A for the first time ever that season, and had made an excellent start, just a point behind Inter who sat third in the table. While many of the fans who travelled that day were leaving behind their families on Christmas Day, a certain Mr. Pinuccia was called upon to make a hasty retreat to Milan when the stadium speaker announced that his wife had just given birth to a baby girl.
Before the game started, the two captains exchanged flowers and bottles of bubbly, and the 24,000 spectators were expecting a close contest between the two sides, but by the interval Inter were already 3-1 up. The game finished 5-1 for the visitors, with István Nyers scoring a hat-trick.
Christmas Time Is Here
In 1955, Christmas Day again fell on a Sunday, and Serie A went ahead as normal. Round 12 of the campaign was spread over three days from the 24, with half of the games taking place on December 25. Fiorentina were leading the race for the title, five points ahead of a group of five clubs, and they would play a home tie against struggling Triestina. They made harder work of the game than was expected, and a Julinho first half goal was the only difference between the sides. Fiorentina would go on to win their first ever Scudetto that season.
Torino and Roma were two of the sides sitting five points behind the Viola, and it was Torino who came out on top in their clash in Turin. The Christmas crowd had barely time to take their seats when the visitors were already in front, Dino da Costa scoring after just 20 seconds of play. It wasn’t until the second half when the hosts took control, and with a Quinto Bertoloni goal five minutes from time they claimed a 2-1 win.
Inter slipped further behind the leaders after their loss away to Genoa. With over an hour played, the visitors were 3-1 up and looking comfortable, before a penalty reopened the game. Attilio Frizzi put away the spot kick and then levelled the match, and with three minutes left to play, Riccardo Carapellese grabbed the winner. That loss cost Inter manager Aldo Campatelli his job, with Giuseppe Meazza taking over. In the days other games, Padova beat Bologna 3-1, while Napoli had a 2-1 win at SPAL.
Last Christmas
The last Christmas that Serie A took place on December 25 was in 1960, with eight of the nine games taking place on Christmas Day. Only Lazio and Catania escaped that year, as they played out a 2-2 draw on Christmas Eve. Most games kicked off at 14:30 or 14:45, only Napoli v Atalanta at midday allowing the fans get home earlier to celebrate. The Corriere della Sera newspaper criticised the decision to play on the 25, predicting low crowds on a day when people preferred to celebrate the festivities with their family. They claimed it would have been easy, and more practical, to have played all the games on Monday 26, when the stadiums probably would have been filled, on a day when people would be happy to get out of the house. In those days, you could even buy your newspaper on Christmas Day, and also the day after with all the match reports.
League leaders Roma couldn’t find a way past Lecco, and that scoreless draw allowed Inter to join them at the top. SPAL were the visitors to the San Siro, where two goals from Mario Corso helped Inter to a 4-1 win, having gone in a goal down at the break. The early game between Napoli and Atalanta ended scoreless as did the tie between Bari and Milan. Juventus moved closer to the top, thanks to a 3-2 win over Sampdoria. The home side went in 3-0 up at the break, thanks to goals from John Charles, Omar Sivori and a Bruno Mora penalty, all in the space of three minutes. Sampdoria made them sweat for the win with Sergio Brighenti scoring a brace in the second half, but they held on for an important two points. Juventus were now three points behind the leaders, but they went on to retain their crown that season.
Blue Christmas
In the other games that day, Padova had a 1-0 win over bottom club Udinese, Bologna defeated Torino 3-1, while Fiorentina went down to their first home defeat of the season. 11,000 fans made it to the Stadio Comunale, despite the lack of public transport on Christmas Day, but they were to be disappointed as they lost 1-0 to Lanerossi Vicenza. The home crowd had not tasted a league defeat in Florence since April 1959.
That 1960/61 season was the end of football on Christmas Day in Serie A. Nowadays the games before Christmas usually fall on December 22 or 23, and it’s been a long time since we’ve had games on Christmas Eve. Not since 1972 have teams lined out on December 24, which is why all of us calcio fans have had to endure, or enjoy, depending on your outlook, football free festivities.
Have yourselves a merry little (calcio free) Christmas!