Footballers 'prefer Range Rovers'

RANGE ROVERS are a clear favourite among Premiership footballers, according to a firm specialising in high-value car finance.

Oracle Finance has revealed that 28 Range Rovers and 24 Range Rover Sports on its books feature a footballer as the registered keeper, making the British band's motors by far the most popular.

The second most popular individual model is the Bentley Continental GT, with 26 ongoing purchases funded by Oracle, but that only totals half the combined number of Range Rovers in the survey.

Many extremely well-paid footballers use finance firms to buy their cars because it's a tax-efficient way to do it, as opposed to simply cutting a slice off their bulging weekly pay packet and handing it to a dealer.

SUVs are clearly popular with Premiership stars, too, making up five of the top 10 cars in the list. Sports cars are also popular, with Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Maserati all featuring.

Oracle Finance managing director Peter Brook said: “We looked back at our records over the last five years to come up with this list and weren’t surprised the Range Rover was top.

“We can’t reveal which footballers use our services because of client confidentiality, but we work with some of the biggest names in the footballing world and have helped hundreds of players, managers and agents fund their dream cars over the years.”

“What’s clear from our list is that SUVs are very popular. Our football clients like their cars to be luxurious with high-up driving positions, which is why they prefer 4x4s to out-and-out supercars.

“Few cars offer all that like a full-fat Range Rover.”

The list of top 10 footballers' favourites looks like this:

1: Range Rover (28)

2: Bentley Continental GT (26)

3: Range Rover Sport (24)

4: Audi Q7 (21)

5: BMW X5 (18)

6: Porsche Cayenne (16)

7: Lamborghini Gallardo (13)

8: Ferrari 458 (8)

9: Maserati Gran Turismo (4)

10: Aston Martin DB9 (3)

By Press Association reporter