Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham and Gareth Bale: How did footballers spend their New Year's Eve?

We've trawled through Instagram accounts so you don't have to

(Instagram/Cristiano Ronaldo)

While most of us were celebrating the start of 2016 with a drink in our hand or by embarrassing ourselves on the dance floor, New Year's Eve is a little bit different for the average football.

Especially in the UK, where the busy Christmas period, with games on 2 January, mean most footballers can't have anything more than the odd beer (if one is allowed at all).

Players in most European leagues are currently on their winter breaks and can afford to be a little bit more outgoing.

We've trawled through dozens of social media accounts to show you what the football world was up to on Thursday night, as merriment and fireworks went off around the world.

Not many of the players gave much away. But it was clear that plenty had their glad rags on and were heading out for a good time, whereas others (we're looking at you Romelu Lukaku) appeared to be at home and ready for an early night.

Scroll through our gallery to see how some high-profile players rang in the New Year:

Happy New Year!