Former Southampton captain Claus Lundekvam has revealed that he and a number of other Premier League footballers used to place illegal bets on their matches.

However, the 39-year-old, who made 357 league appearances for the Saints between 1996 and 2008, has insisted that he was never involved in the fixing of a match result.

He is quoted in The Sun as saying: "It's not something I'm proud of. For a while we did this almost every week. We made a fair bit of money. We could make deals with the opposing captain about, for example, betting on the first throw, the first corner, who started with the ball, a yellow card or a penalty.

"Those were the sorts of thing we had influence over. The results were never on the agenda. That is something I would never have done. We were professional competitors. Even though what we did, of course, was illegal, it was just a fun thing.

"I know it happened at other clubs as well. We footballers live in a bubble. It was part of the lifestyle and the excitement. Whatever we could bet on, we bet on."

Lundekvam was capped 40 times at senior international level by Norway.