Howard Webb reveals players asked to be booked to have Christmas off

In the Premier League once a player has received five bookings he is automatically issued with a one-match ban.

The Christmas period is notoriously hectic in the Premier League with players often forced not to celebrate Christmas fully because of a Boxing Day game the day after.

But Webb revealed on BT Sport on Tuesday evening that sometimes players would ask to receive the fifth yellow that would mean they miss the Boxing Day game and therefore have a proper Christmas Day.

Presenter James Richardson put the following question to Howard "Have you ever had a player ask you to yellow card them?" in the video you can see below.

To which Howard responded "A couple of times around about Christmas time in the Premier League players will want the time off and they'll say 'Look a yellow card might suit my purpose'. It's not what fans want to hear is it really?

"As long as they don't do something stupid, maybe a small holding offence or kicking the ball away, they might get what they want, but it's not cricket is it?"

Of course Howard wouldn't name any of the players he was talking about, but fans might now be keeping a closer eye on how many bookings players are getting in the run-up to Christmas.