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- Is there a winter break in the Premier League for the 2025/26 season?
- When did the Premier League take a winter break?
- What leagues take a 2025/26 winter break?
The Premier League has become synonymous with winter football, as the league has utilised the festive season to promote the product to a wider audience.
With most European leagues pausing for the holidays and into January for players to enjoy some much-needed rest, the English top flight becomes featured across the continent for fans who are seeking out sport.
The league's famous Boxing Day fixture list (largely scrapped for the 2025/26 season, to much fist-shaking) is something fans around the world look forward to, having wrapped up their Christmas celebrations and looking to rest up in front of the TV for a full day's slate of action. However, the Premier League does have a brief history testing out a winter break.
The Sporting News explains the league's plans for 2025/26 compared to other major European leagues, and what things looked like across the English top flight this time of year in the recent past.
MORE: Updated list of Premier League top goal scorers for 2025/26 season
Is there a winter break in the Premier League?
As was the case last campaign, there will be no winter break in Premier League action for the 2025/26 season.
There is a short pause from January 8 to January 17, but that is not a break for clubs, as there are FA Cup third-round matches in between those league matchdays.
Premier League winter fixtures
Fri, Dec. 26
- Manchester United vs. Newcastle United
Sat, Dec. 27
- Nottingham Forest vs. Manchester City
- West Ham vs. Fulham
- Brentford vs. Bournemouth
- Liverpool vs. Wolves
- Arsenal vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
- Burnley vs. Everton
- Chelsea vs. Aston Villa
Sun, Dec. 28
- Sunderland vs. Leeds United
- Crystal Palace vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Tue, Dec. 30
- Burnley vs. Newcastle United
- Chelsea vs. Bournemouth
- Nottingham Forest vs. Everton
- West Ham vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
- Arsenal vs. Aston Villa
- Manchester United vs. Wolves
Thu, Jan. 1
- Crystal Palace vs. Fulham
- Liverpool vs. Leeds United
- Sunderland vs. Manchester City
- Brentford vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Sat, Jan. 3
- Aston Villa vs. Nottingham Forest
- Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Burnley
- Wolves vs. West Ham
- Bournemouth vs. Arsenal
Sun, Jan. 4
- Leeds United vs. Manchester United
- Fulham vs. Liverpool
- Tottenham Hotspur vs. Sunderland
- Everton vs. Brentford
- Newcastle United vs. Crystal Palace
- Manchester City vs. Chelsea
When did the Premier League first have a winter break?
The Premier League has only paused for a winter break three times in its history — twice by choice, and once by necessity.
They first tried it in the 2019/20 season, when all but four Premier League teams were given two weeks off, while a select few were forced to play FA Cup replays over that span.
That schedule was set to be repeated but was ultimately scrapped as the coronavirus pandemic meant the 2020/21 season started late and had to finish in time for the rescheduled Euro 2020 in summer 2021, leaving no time for a mid-season pause.
The next time was in late 2022, when the FIFA World Cup was staged across November and December in Qatar. The 2021/22 Premier League season had to be condensed to allow an early start to 2022/23, when the schedule then paused for six and a half weeks so the World Cup could take place.
The Premier League kept the winter pause for the 2023/24 season as well, but expansion of UEFA's European calendar, along with English football's commitment to its traditional Christmas schedule , means it may now be a mere blip in the league's past rather than anything more long-term.
What European leagues have a winter break?
The Premier League is not the only league to play through the winter without pausing.
Serie A, the Italian top flight, also does not take a winter break, playing straight through the holiday season and continuing all the way through January unabated.
The other three major European leagues — Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, and French Ligue 1 — all pause for two weeks to give players time off and allow clubs to breathe and concentrate on the transfer window.
The Bundesliga paused after fixtures on Sunday, December 21 and does not resume until matches on the weekend of January 9, a 19-day stoppage.
Last season, La Liga mirrored the lengthy Bundesliga break, but this season they have opted for a shorter pause. Their last match took place on Monday, December 22 and will return with one match on Friday, January 2, making for just an 11-day rest.
Ligue 1 took their break earlier than anyone else in December, with their last match played on Sunday, December 14. They will return on January 2, like La Liga, giving them an 18-day stoppage.
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