Edwin Cecil Russell Christmas (13 January 1886 – 7 October 1916)[1] was an English amateur footballer who played twice for Southampton in 1912.
In 1910 he left football to devote himself full-time to his family hotel business, but was persuaded to return to The Dell by reserve team manager George Carter the following year.
In March 1912, following the dismissal of first choice centre forward Henry Hamilton for a serious breach of club discipline, Christmas was drafted into the first team.
During the First World War he enlisted in the 1/28th (County of London) Battalion (Artists Rifles), London Regiment in June 1915, before being commissioned as second lieutenant in the 18th (Service) Battalion (Arts & Crafts) King's Royal Rifle Corps in March 1916,[4][5] effective from December 1915.
[6] He died in France on 7 October 1916, aged 30, of wounds received in action in an attempt to secure the road between Le Sars and Flers during the Battle of the Somme,[4] and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial,[7][8] and on the Southampton Cenotaph.