NO time of year creates memories more than Christmas; a special time for family and friends and a period to quietly reflect on those no longer with us.

This year will bring up my half century of Christmases – and for a good chunk of those, pre-Super League, the extent of the season’s comfort and joy would be defined by what happened at Central Park or Knowsley Road on Boxing Day rather than what an old man with a white beard and red-nosed reindeer had fetched down the chimney.

This year I will be working at the Widnes v Warrington game for two of our sister titles, but part of me will be a little envious that Saints are not in action.

Only part, mind, because although it satisfies a rugby fix after a break of barely six weeks – the friendly matches never have that same intensity, feeling and passion.

Saints and Wigan had a go at maintaining that Boxing Day tradition for a few years after Super League, but it was only a way of keeping an ember burning and seen as a means of getting money into the coffers in the bleak mid-winter.

The last time Saints played on Boxing Day was the clash against Leigh in 2004 – a game in which Paul Anderson made his debut in a team where he felt old enough to be the rest of the pack’s dad.

That game was played despite the thick snow which meant hazardous traffic conditions, meaning no taxi driver in Widnes seemed willing to drive.

I think I cursed all the way, trudging through the snow for the seven miles from Widnes, but at least Scott Moore’s drop goal gave it a thrilling finale.

It is unfortunate, because the Boxing Day fixture was a highlight of the league programme during the season, but nowadays I prefer Saints to forget about it and continue putting the final touches to their pre-season.

Thankfully, we have plenty of memories of Boxing Day clashes from the past and I’ll recall my favourite here.

For Saints fans, of that generation, wins over Wigan when they were virtually untouchable became the stuff of legend.

Although the 41-6 win from 1992 had everything; great tries, biff and a Saints win - top of my list will always be the 1987 Yuletide game. It was one that took place against a backdrop of the Adrian Shelford signing debacle, with Saints losing both the player and the legal battle.

To add more fat to the fire, Wigan came into the game as world champions and emblazoned that across the match programme in big letters.

Wigan led 22-6, with Shelford playing his role as villain by ploughing into Saints wing Kevin McCormack as he lay on the floor to crank it up further.

It looked a lost cause, but with two-try Phil Veivers in inspired form Saints rallied with 26 unanswered points to have the Wiganers scurrying for the exits with ten minutes to play.

In the Nelson later that night the DJ played Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven is a Place on Earth.

But those who were in the clubhouse end at Central Park that afternoon had already found it.