Wayne Rooney is top tweeter in football

Darren Bent made headlines back the summer when the England striker attacked Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy via Twitter, accusing the White Hart Lane chief of disrupting his proposed transfer to Sunderland.

But he's not the last footballer to fall foul of the social networking site. In July, Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching was fined by the MLS after he complained about a referee on Twitter following a controversial goal against his side.

"Ref in seattle just cheated the dynamo. What a joke. Not even close. Ref is a cheat," said the US international, although he later apologised for his remarks.

Meanwhile, Bent and his former Tottenham team-mates had their Twitter accounts closed down.

So, in Darren's honour, MirrorFootball presents the definitive list of football's top 10 Tweeters.

Warning: some of these may not actually be the genuine article. But then that's all part of the fun, right?

1) Wayne Rooney
twitter.com/RealWayneRooney
22,190 followers
The Manchester United superstar likes nothing better than to spend his time updating his fans on Colleen's pregnancy and bantering with Peter Andre, if his Twitter feed is to be believed.
Sample tweet: "Turkey I like Turkey really nice with stuffing apple sauce & roasted potatoes >>>> haha can't believe I've scored 101 goals for Utd"

2) Danny Dichio
twitter.com/DannyDichio
3,235 followers
The former QPR, Sunderland and West Brom striker, now at Toronto FC, has been Tweeting since August 2008, and actually announced his retirement on Twitter earlier this week.
Sample tweet: "Grew tomatoes in my garden for the 1st time ever! Now their ripe, I'm gonna make 'Dichio Tomato Sauce' with Moma's secret ingredient..am ..."

3) Jozy Altidore
twitter.com/JozyAltidore17
18,247 followers
The American wonderkid and Hull City striking sensation is a big Twitter fan, although he follows just a handful of fellow Tweeters himself. Naturally, being a footballer, they include LouisVuitton_US.
Sample tweet: "Chillin by the pool in T&T having a fruit smoothie. The pool has a beautiful view *wink* *wink* lol j.k what's up wit everyone today?"

4) Juan Pablo Angel
twitter.com/JUANPABLOANGEL
409 followers
The Colombian forward, once of Aston Villa, spends his time Tweeting when not playing for his present club, New York Red Bulls.
Sample tweet: "I AM IN THE POOL WITH THE KIDS"

5) Paul Dalglish
twitter.com/pauldalglish
1,338 followers
The one-time Norwich striker, son of Kenny and now coach at Houston Dynamo's academy is an enthusiastic Tweeter, whose devotion to the phenomenon even extends to subscribing to Vernon Kay's Twitter feed.
Sample tweet: "Is letting sneeky trumps out in an elevator, funny or disgusting?? For some reason the wife doesn't find it funny when she does it!!"

6) Brad Guzan
twitter.com/bguzan
2,874 followers
The Aston Villa second-string goalkeeper's tweets possess a distinctly minimalist charm all of their own.
Sample tweet: "sleep"

7) Rohan Ricketts
twitter.com/rohanricketts
1,429 followers
The former Spurs and Wolves winger, now with Toronto FC, takes time out of his training schedule to share his unique brand of wisdom via Twitter.
Sample tweet: "On the Eurostar on route to London via Paris.. The whole carriage is speaking french.."

8) Maurice Edu
twitter.com/MauriceEdu
6,072 followers
The Rangers striker is another enthusiastic Twitter fan who uses the site to discuss Entourage and keep up with Tinchy Stryder.
Sample tweet: "Todays date is 9/9/09...crazy right"

9) Craig Bellamy
twitter.com/craigbellamy
243 followers
Disappointingly, it seems Bellers bailed out of Twitter after publishing just three tweets earlier this year. Funny, he doesn't normally pass up an excuse to, ahem, express his opinions
Sample tweet: "Fed up with knees."

10) Rio Ferdinand
twitter.com/redrio
7,332 followers
The United defender is football's most enthusiastic Tweeter (if it really is him), dispensing his thoughts in the style of a 15-year-old kid texting at a bus stop (it must be him, then).
Sample tweet: "im sure the gaffa will put tht 80 million 2 good use and build on the team...wer just gonna keep gettin stronger :D!!"