Christmas family commitments are just as stressful for footballers as the hectic fixture list.

The Christmas period is a major event in the football calendar, with families getting together to enjoy Boxing Day games. But football was never part of our family Christmas. The closest I got to football on Boxing Day was taking the plastic baubles off our tree, lobbing them against the wall and saving them from hitting the sofa. Tap tap tap. It infuriated my mum so much she went out and bought glass ones to stop me. To this day I swear all that bauble practice helped my goalkeeping skills. picked by roony 3 years ago