In times of financial hardship, footballers continue to keep the automotive industry afloat

Stephen Ireland may look like a prize muppet in his pink-wheeled 4×4, but he’s actually a trailblazer of Premier League automotive fashion. According to Nuts Magazine’s “Premiership Stars and their Cars 2009″ survey, the Range Rover Sport is the most popular of car among football’s elite. Drivers of the squirrel-squashing Chelsea tractor include John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Peter Crouch, Joey Barton and Xabi Alonso.

Here’s the top ten most popular cars in training ground car parks:

1 Range Rover Sport (£63,895)
2 BMW X5 (£53,465)
3 Porsche Cayenne (£76,760)
4 Aston Martin DB9 (£111,526)
5 Bentley Continental GT (£137,500)
6 Audi Q7 (£51,095)
7 Ferrari F430 (£135,685)
8 Mercedes SL65 AMG £151,101)
9 Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 (£151,101)
10 Cadillac Escalade (£50,100)

As you can see, the big trend is to have a huge gas-guzzling 4×4 - the type that will break down in the middle of the Tyne bridge.

Unsurprisingly, this beauty of a motor didn’t make the list.

Premier League giants score at Donington

Motorsport’s new football-sponsored Superleague Formula kicked off at the weekend, with a couple of very wet races at Donington.

Davide Rigon won the first ever SF race, leading from start to finish for Chinese club Beijing Guoan. Duncan Tappy, who only found out he was driving on Wednesday, came in third for Tottenham Hotspur. However, the star of the race was Adrian Valles (pictured), racing in Liverpool’s colours. After suffering electrical problems in practice, which forced him to start from the back of the grid, Valles powered through the puddles to finish fifth.

The second race was won by Borja Garcia for Sevilla. Valles improved on his first-race finish with a solid third place (achieved despite starting 12th on the grid); Spurs’ Tappy showed he will be a force in the series in finishing fifth. The results mean Liverpool and Spurs lie joint second in the table, behind Beijing Guoan.

More pics from the weekend below:

Man Utd star treats himself to affordable run-around

Cristiano Ronaldo has celebrated his decision not to go to Real Madrid after all - not yet, anyway, but you watch him leave next year - by splashing out £340,000 (or three weeks’ wages to him) on a Rolls Royce Phantom convertible. The Phantom will replace the Portuguese star’s £140,000 Bentley Continental, which now looks cheap and tatty by comparision.

Btw: credit for this amazing piece of Photoshoppery goes to our spherical object-worshipping chums at The Spoiler. Although we doubt very much that Ron would choose it in blue.

Birmingham City midfielder gifts Mercedes to teenage trainee

In a remarkable display of generosity (for a footballer, anyway), Birmingham City midfielder Olivier Kapo gave his £30,000 Mercedes to the teenager who had looked after his boots throughout the 2007/08 Premier League season. The lucky lad in question is James McPike (pictured above), a 17-year-old on City’s books who has just signed a pro contract for the relegated club – yeah, we know the headline is slightly out of date, but “Championship star” is something of an oxymoron.