West Ham will not play on Boxing day at home for the fourth year running, the away fixture against Southampton has been moved to 27th December this year for TV.
The Hammers last played their last Boxing day fixture at home when they lost 3-1 to Arsenal at the Boleyn Ground in 2013. In 2014 they lost 2-0 away to Chelsea during the festive period while in 2015 it was a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa away. In 2016 it was a 450-mile round trip to visit Swansea away in which the Irons came away the 4-1 winners and last year it a 3-3 draw away to Bournemouth.
Westfield shopping centre in Stratford have their biggest shopping day on boxing day with up to 200,000 visitors expected through its doors as the sales open. However, West Ham continues to deny they have requested to play away from home with Karren Brady calling the suggestion a myth earlier this year.
Last year West Ham said contrary to reports, West Ham United have not requested that the Club’s Boxing Day Premier League fixture be played away from London Stadium.
A West Ham United spokesperson said: “There is categorically no agreement in place that means West Ham United have to play Boxing Day fixtures away from home. It is not uncommon for emergency services or other stakeholders to make requests to the Premier League to avoid certain fixture dates. However, these requests will not always be granted by the Premier League and we fully expect to play at London Stadium on Boxing Day in future seasons.”