Dear EFL, please can Plymouth Argyle have a Boxing Day home game this year?

Plymouth Argyle's fixture list for the 2024/25 Championship campaign under new head coach Wayne Rooney will be revealed at 9am next Wednesday (June 26).

The Green Army will be keen to find out the first game of the season, which will take place on the weekend of August 9-11, and who it is against. Will it be at Home Park, or somewhere else around the country?

When will Argyle have to make the longest journey of the campaign, the 808-mile round trip to Sunderland's Stadium of Light? What about Steven Schumacher's first return to Home Park with Stoke City? And then there are the two meetings with League One champions Portsmouth, which have always been eagerly anticipated encounters in the past.

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They are just a few. There will be lots to look out for when the fixture list is confirmed. For me, though, one of the dates I will be most interested in is Thursday, December 26. That is because Argyle have played away games on Boxing Day for seven consecutive years, and for nine of the past 11 seasons.

The last time the Pilgrims played at Home Park on a December 26 was in 2016 when a Derek Adams managed side drew 3-3 in a thriller with Gareth Ainsworth's Wycombe Wanderers in League Two, after holding a 3-1 lead at one stage in the second half.

To be fair, Argyle have a very good recent record on Boxing Day. They have won four and drawn two out of their seven successive away matches on that date.

Three of the victories came against Cheltenham Town, in 2019 (1-0), in 2021 (2-0) and in 2022 (1-0). The only defeat was when they lost to AFC Wimbledon 2-1 in 2018.

Last season the Pilgrims had to travel into South Wales to play Cardiff City on December 26 and Morgan Whittaker grabbed a second half equaliser for them in a 2-2 draw after he had opened the scoring early on against the Bluebirds.

But the fact that Argyle have a good record on Boxing Days is not really the point. A full contingent of the Green Army have not been able to see their side play a December 26 game at Home Park for so long.

The Pilgrims have taken good numbers of fans with them to Cardiff, Cheltenham, Charlton Athletic (in 2020), AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons (in 2017) but that has only made up a fraction of the fanbase.

It would make a welcome, refreshing change for everyone connected with Argyle to enjoy a full Christmas Day at home with their families and friends before a game at Home Park on Boxing Day. That seems only fair. EFL, it is over to you.

ARGYLE ON BOXING DAY SINCE 2014

2023: Cardiff City (A) Drew 2-2 (Morgan Whittaker 2)

2022: Cheltenham Town (A) Won 1-0 (Morgan Whittaker)

2021: Cheltenham Town (A) Won 2-0 (Panutche Camara, Jordon Garrick)

2020: Charlton Athletic (A) Drew 2-2 (Luke Jephcott 2)

2019: Cheltenham Town (A) Won 1-0 (Zak Rudden)

2018: AFC Wimbledon (A) Lost 2-1 (David Fox)

2017: MK Dons (A) Won 1-0 (Gary Sawyer)

2016: Wycombe Wanderers (H) Drew 3-3 (Jordan Slew, Jake Jervis, Yann Songo'o)

2015: Yeovil Town (H) Won 1-0 (Ryan Brunt)

2014: Newport County (A) Lost 2-0