Premier League footballers, like everyone else, need some time over the Christmas period to let their hair down.
Whilst most office Christmas parties entail a secret Santa and a few drinks, top-flight footballers can take the celebrations to the next level. A number of Premier League clubs have had a few run-ins, even with their own managers, over the years having gone slightly overboard toasting the festive period.
Whilst incidents have got more and more rare with the demands of footballers continuing to increase, there are still a few occasions where the pre-holiday celebrations have soured. Mirror Sport takes a look at the most infamous incidents over the past 30 years of the Premier League:
Tottenham Hotspur (2009)
Whilst most managers are all too happy to let their players celebrate a little over the festive period, former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp was not really in the Christmas spirit in 2009. He declared that he would not be allowing his squad to hold a party and was confident that his instructions would be followed.
Oh, Harry. 16 of his players then duly jumped on a private jet to Dublin, spearheaded by captain Robbie Keane, who had told their boss that they were only playing golf. Pictures of the players surfaced shortly after their boozy session in the Irish capital.
Fair to say Redknapp was not particularly happy with each player who attended being fined £20,000 each - the proceeds of which went to charity.
Leeds United (2001)
A wild-west themed fancy dress pub crawl and 10 solid hours of partying? Surely nothing can go wrong.
In fact, many things can as Leeds boss David O’Leary found out in 2001. He let his players out alongside a clutch of security guards to avoid them getting out of mischief.
Unfortunately, those measures did not appear to work as Robbie Fowler was involved in an alleged fracas with a photographer - a camera eventually getting smashed on the floor. The former Liverpool striker ended up in the police cells but was eventually released without a charge.
Manchester United (2007)
In an effort to avoid any dramas from Christmas parties, former Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson even went as far as to ban festive celebrations. The Red Devils’ outing in 2007 proved to be the last under the Scot.
A number of players were joined by a whole host of women at Great John Street hotel for a 15-hour drinking session with several big name stars described as being on "top form". Events of the party were uncovered by a Daily Mirror reporter present with plenty of eye-catching details from the party Fergie never wanted to happen.
West Ham (2001)
Whilst most of these incidents involve a number of members of a squad, you could say that former Hammers defender Hayden Foxe’s run-in was a solo venture. Having been partying in a VIP section of London club Sugar Reed, the Australian racked up a bar bill of nearly £2,000.
Fair to say that amount of booze caused him to get a bit confused. Foxe apparently mistook the bar for the toilet and promptly relieved himself.
West Ham (1998)
The second time that the Hammers feature on this list, the Londoners were involved in a much-bigger scrape than Foxe confusing a bar for a urinal. During a 70s-themed party in Essex, it all looked to be going to plan.
That was until closing time with a number of players moving over to a meat market. Trevor Sinclair was charged with causing criminal damage after a public fracas with a Mini driven by a 19-year-old beauty therapist. Meanwhile, Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock was also charged for affray under the Public Order Act.
Sinclair was fined £250 and ordered to pay £225 in compensation, while Ruddock was later cleared.
Liverpool (1998)
One of a number of incidents throughout the 90s, Liverpool hero and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher certainly got involved in the festivities during the Reds’ Christmas outing in 1998. The former defender got a little too adventurous once the whipped cream came out.
Dressed as the Hunchback of Notre Dame, he got busy with a can when mobbed by a collection of strippers. Michael Owen in the meantime remained far out of the way, whilst Paul Ince remained spinning records at the DJ booth.
Leicester City (2001)
With Leicester City on their way back into the Championship in 2001 following a six-year spell in the top-flight, it was hoped that a Christmas party would provide a welcome distraction for a number of Foxes’ stars. A somewhat misguided gift from midfielder Dennis Wise saw relations sour even more though.
The former Chelsea star gave Robbie Savage a teddy bear impaled on a sex toy and apparently said: “Take this, because you're the only p***k in a Leicester shirt at the moment."
Savage responded by smearing chocolate on the former Wimbledon star's face and mocking his relationship with old pal Dave Bassett. A bust-up then followed with Wise reportedly having poked fun at Savage’s girlfriend.
Manchester City (2004)
Joey Barton involved in a booze-filled Christmas party incident? Never.
During his time at Manchester City, the former midfielder was involved in an unfortunate incident where he stubbed a cigar out in the eye of youth player Jamie Tandy’s eye. Barton had been trying to make holes in other players’ fancy dress outfits.
When Tandy attempted to get revenge, Barton then retaliated, having attempted to put the cigar out on his neck, only for the then 18-year-old to turn around at the wrong time. Barton later wrote: "I was a bit p****d and he’d just tried to set me on fire. There was an ashtray on the table. Thankfully that was attached to the table. So I grabbed Danny Mills’ cigar that was in it the ashtray and went to stub it out on the back of his neck.
"But he clocked that something was going on, and turned around to see what was happening and I got him on the eyelid. It’s bad I know, I was drunk and angry after the f*****g idiot had set my shirt on fire."
Chelsea (1994)
The Blues’ first mistake in the mid-90s was probably to allow Vinnie Jones to organise their Christmas do. It is beggars’ belief now but the party apparently involved a lock-in at a West London pub with the main entertainment being dwarf-tossing.
Speaking about the incident, former Blue Tony Cascarino said: "The idea was to pick up a dwarf and hurl him as far as you could. I had a go, but I can't remember how I did. They were heavier than I expected."Newcastle (1998)
Secret Santa can of course be a feature of many a Christmas party but it’s likely that none have gone as badly as Newcastle's effort in the late-90s. Germany legend Dietmar Hamann was given a copy of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, whilst Temuri Ketsbaia was given a comb despite being bald.
Those gifts certainly set the tone. Duncan Ferguson was given a fake prison shirt in what was a crude joke at his time behind bars. Italian Alessandro Pistone was also given a sheep’s heart for his apparent lack of effort on the pitch.
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