Kyle Walker finally reveals the real reason why footballers speak behind their hands on the pitch

Manchester City captain Kyle Walker has finally revealed the real reason why footballers talk into their hands while on the pitch during televised matches.

Throughout the years, every football fan will have seen players communicating with each other - and wonder exactly what they are saying as their mouths are obscured.

Most, if not all, will have wondered why they do it, given that those conversations surely can't be that important in the grand scheme of things.

It turns out that, after all the years of questions, there is actually a genuine reason why footballers do it - and it makes perfect sense.

Speaking on his new podcast 'You'll Never Beat Kyle Walker', which is co-hosted by former Love Island star and TV presenter Chris Hughes, Walker opened up on exactly why footballers took with their hands over their mouths.

He explained: "It's so the cameras can't see! You might be swearing, or having a little bit of banter.

"You might have seen them [the other player] on a night out the week before, and you're just having a bit of banter, but it is what it is.

"In the world we live in now, everything... you've got lip-readers now. What is this world coming to?"

Earlier this year, lip-readers 'decoded' a furious exchange between Walker and Brentford forward Neal Maupay during a Premier League match at the Brentford Community Stadium, which City won 3-1.

Lip-reader Jeremy Freeman told the Daily Mail that Walker threatened to knock the Frenchman out after he shouted something in his direction, before telling the referee: "Ref, he spoke about my kids, he spoke about my kids. Not once, but twice."

Maupay then replied: "I didn't, it's OK ... That's a lie, that's not fair, I promise you."

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However, there is said to be another reason why footballers place their hands over their mouths while talking.

Renowned PR consultant Phil Hall, who has worked with Premier League players and clubs in the past, explained in 2023: "A player once told me, one of the main reasons they do it is sometimes you are doing it when you are close to somebody, it amplifies your voice so they can hear you.

"There is a lot of noise around them in a stadium and on the pitch, they need to amplify the voice.

In a loud ground, when you speak normally the sound is being spread out. If you put your hand over your mouth and point it to the person you are talking to, it is much clearer.

"In the NFL, there is a whole pattern of tactics and play calls that can be read by a lip reader. But in football, the game is just not that structured where it [hearing what an opponent is saying about tactics] could potentially make a difference."