The Mail on Sunday published the following article, written by David Thomas, on 29 Dec 2002:

The Swing Bridge which Dyer managed to hit

Today is Kieron Dyer's birthday. And the Newcastle and England midfielder may want to buy himself an expensive present. For last week he crashed his £103,000 Ferrari Modena 360 – registration number 1 KCD – into Tyneside's Swing Bridge.

The bridge and Dyer were fine. The car was a write-off.

Now Dyer, 24, should go for something more practical, like a nice solid Volvo. But he won't. For Dyer is a top Premiership footballer. And a sexy, powerful Ferrari is a vital part of the lifestyle.

Of the 4,000 Ferraris built every year, several hundred end up in Britain. And it is believed that at least 30 of the sleek Italian supercars are parked every morning at the Premiership's training grounds.

For mere mortals, there are downsides to Ferrari ownership. Prices range from £103,275 for a basic F360 Modena to £170,358 for a top-of-the-range F456 – before extras. Plus, insurance premiums are sky high.

But what do these twentysomething footballers care? Their wages are higher.

The Ferrari trend began at Manchester United after Teddy Sheringham bought a £105,000 F355 Spider.

Victoria Beckham bought a customised silver F550 Maranello – rumoured to have cost up to £220,000 – for husband David, who later bought a £112,195 black F360 Spider. He was joined by teammates Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Ryan Giggs (Maranellos) and Paul Scholes (Spider). Soon even workaday players were shopping at the sign of the Prancing Horse. And with every one of Sir Alex Ferguson's superstar signings the tally mounted. French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez bought a Modena, while £30million defender Rio Ferdinand went for a Spider (his cousin Les Ferdinand, at Spurs, also drives a Ferrari). Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron has three Maranellos – in blue, black and yellow.

The bug has spread throughout the Premiership, with at least £5million worth of Ferraris bought by professional footballers.

Perhaps this explains why the dealers look on local clubs as goldmines.

'At Sunderland we got Ferrari salesmen dropping by the ground,' writes former striker Niall Quinn in his recent autobiography. 'If you're due a decent signing-on or transfer fee, they'll take you to lunch, talk to you about the ultimate thrill, the status symbol, the personal registration they'll throw in.

'And hey presto! A kid who had nothing a month ago is spinning into the ground in a sports car that's too small for all his gear.' But Ferraris can have surprisingly damaging effects. Aston Villa defender Alan Wright had to sell his because: 'The accelerator's position meant my right leg was bent slightly and my knee was giving me grief.' As football enters a period of financial retrenchment, the cars may become more of a rarity. There have also been suggestions that the marque may be less desirable. In the current series of BBC2's Top Gear, presenter Jeremy Clarkson has dared to place Ferraris into a 'Not Cool' pile.

Whether this is related to their lucrative association with footballers is a matter for debate.

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