Ben Foster blown away after learning how Premier League clubs actually appeal red cards

Ben Foster was left blown away after learning the detail that goes into appealing red cards in the Premier League.

Red cards are a talking point each and every weekend in the Premier League, whether they are handed out or not, the the rules surrounding violent conduct causing serious controversy this season in particular.

Fans were left slightly bewildered to see Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes get away with pushing his head into Erling Haaland at The Etihad last week, while Lisandro Martinez was shown his marching orders for an accidental hair grab.

Martinez hasn't been the only player shown red for such an incident, with Everton's Michael Keane also sent off for violent conduct after VAR determined he grabbed the hair of Wolves striker Tolu Arokodar.

Michael Keane's red card challenge vs Wolves (credit: getty)

The incident wasn't spotted by the referee or even really appealed by Wolves, however, VAR intervention forced the referee to the monitor, where there is almost only one result.

The crazy detail involved in appealing Premier League red cards

Controversial red cards almost always lead to an appeal from the club involved, and speaking on a recent episode of Foster's Fozcast, the Everton defender revealed how much detail really goes into this process.

“It's not dangerous, it's not trying to be violent, right?” Foster asked Keane when recalling the sending off.

Keane explained: “When we appealed, the club appealed, they put together, like, there must have been 10 clips of me winning headers against strikers.

“And I'm jumping like this with my, my arm basically in that position on his back as I'm heading it, and I've done the exact same.

“His hair basically fell into my hand and, yeah, I've squeezed it at that perfect time. I understand it can look like I have pulled his hair, but it's just the exact same movement and his hair's just fallen into my arm,” he added.

This process has not been well documented in the media, and was news to even Foster, despite playing over 500 matches as a professional.

“I didn't know this then – when clubs appeal a red card, for example, they put a little dossier, a little collection of clips together to back up your point?” Foster asked.

Keane responded: “Yeah, identical jumps where I just put my arms around someone's back and won a header, and obviously this one was a little bit different, and they still weren't having it.”

The 33-year-old was forced to miss three matches for the incident, with the PGMOL upholding the ban as violent conduct.