Monday cannon fodder

Happy Boxing Day! What is Boxing Day? Is it something to do with Mike Tyson? Is it a day when you box up all your unwanted Christmas gifts to take them back to the store or to Goodwill? Don’t be a churl - your family spent a lot of money on that gift, you monster. Enjoy it.

No. It’s a day observed by Commonwealth nations in which, historically, the working- and servant-classes were given the day off to visit their families, and were given boxes (see?) of gifts and such to take with them. “Boxing Day” now may not exist in that form (any super-rich TSF’ers, feel free to correct me), but in the US, at least, when Christmas falls on a weekend, Boxing Day is when most businesses and organizations give their staff the day off.

So anyway. On to the links!

Wayne Rooney could become the world’s highest-paid footballer, if he wanted to move to China to do it.

I don’t like it, but most fans do: a history of the “Festive period” in English soccer, and discussion from managers and players about why most people inside the game don’t like it (SPOILER ALERT: It takes a huge physical toll).

Here’s an excerpt from a book about David Moyes’ tenure as Manchester United manager in which his last day on the job is discussed.

FC Union Berlin’s Christmas tradition started as a fan break-in, but this year after the attacks on Berlin’s Christmas market, it was a necessary and amazing part of the healing process.

Bored? Like quizzes? Here’s one!