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Revealed: Football?s Worst Drivers

Rio Ferdinand has the worst driving record. Ferdinand has been banned four times for speeding and drink driving, but he?s not the only footballer putting in a poor performance on the road, according to research by Virgin Money.

The five worst footballing drivers (according to number of offences and fines):

Rio Ferdinand (Manchester Utd) Banned four times for speeding and drink driving and fined ?1,500

Kieron Dyer (Newcastle United) Banned for six months and fined ?1000 after his fourth speeding offence in two years

Jermaine Pennant (Birmingham City) Two drink driving offences, banned for 16 months, jailed for three months

Frank Sinclair (Burnley) Speeding and drink driving, banned for three years, ?2,000 fine

Lee Bowyer (Newcastle United) Caught speeding three times and banned from driving for six months

Source: Virgin Money

Despite not ranking in the top five, David Beckham still takes the title for best excuse to get off the hook. His speeding ban, for driving 76mph in a 50mph zone, was overturned after his brief argued he was being chased by the paparazzi.

Other excuses for poor driving include:

Jermaine Pennant?s (Birmingham City) reason for driving whilst banned was that his aunt misread the letter from the DVLA which banned him.

Liam Lawrence?s (Sunderland) excuse for speeding was that he was scared about being late for training.

Diomansy Kamara (West Brom) pleaded that he was unaware of UK speeding laws when he was caught doing 110mph on the M27 whilst playing for Portsmouth.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson declared that he had severe diarrhoea and needed to reach a toilet when he was caught illegally driving on the hard shoulder when avoiding a traffic jam.

?We should all be driving safely but it?s not just footballers who pick up points and speeding fines. However, not telling your insurer about your driving indiscretions in the hope of saving a few pounds on your premium could invalidate your insurance altogether,? said Jason Wyer-Smith, Virgin Money.