The Football Match Behind Wham!'s Last Christmas and Football Traditions at Christmas
The Guardian's Knowledge feature investigates the specific football match Wham! were watching when George Michael wrote the iconic song Last Christmas. Andrew Ridgeley recalled that it happened during the winter of 1984, while The Big Match was on television.
The precise match identified as the inspiration was the live Sunday 12 February 1984 Division One game broadcast on ITV, where Luton Town lost 0-5 to Manchester United. Kickoff was at 2:35 pm, making it the only live Sunday game that February. Manchester United scorers in the match were Bryan Robson, Frank Stapleton, and Norman Whiteside. Ridgeley later highlighted this moment as the spark for the song.
Notably, Last Christmas did not reach the Christmas No. 1 spot until 2023, having originally been blocked at No. 1 by Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas in 1984.
The article also presents insight into the correlation between domestic league form at Christmas and European success. It notes that about 30 out of 70 European Cup/Champions League winners were top of their domestic league at Christmas, indicating a mixed relationship. A detailed year-by-year list showcases which European champions led their league at Christmas, featuring powerhouses such as Real Madrid, Liverpool, Barcelona, and Paris Saint-Germain spanning seasons from 1956-57 to 2024-25.
Historical traditions of football on Christmas Day in Britain are summarized as well. The last Scottish top-flight fixtures held on Christmas Day were in 1976, with the last full Christmas Day schedule in 1971. England's last Christmas Day games took place earlier, in 1959.
Adding a lighter anecdote, the piece recalls Newcastle United players in 1998 exchanging humorous gifts among teammates, such as a sheep's heart to Pistone, a hairbrush to Ketsbaia, and a prison shirt to Duncan Ferguson.
Finally, The Knowledge acknowledges the ongoing Christmas break in football and notes that play will resume on 7 January, encouraging readers to continue submitting questions and answers.
