Darren Currie will never be as famous as former team-mate David Beckham.

While Beckham turned himself into a household name, Currie struggled for years in the lower divisions after they played together as kids for Middlesex.

There is, however, one way in which Albion's flamboyant midfielder leaves the England captain and Real Madrid star trailing. Currie is claiming the title of the country's most tattooed footballer.

Beckham's heavily tattooed torso and limbs include a guardian angel overlooking the names of his sons, Brooklyn and Romeo, plus wife Victoria's name in Hindi, but Currie is the real king of body-art.

"I've got 12," he revealed. "I've got them on my ribs, my back, both arms, my leg - they are everywhere, even on my groin!"

Currie's craze began after he left West Ham for Shrewsbury. "One of the lads wanted to get a tattoo," he said. "I went along and ended up getting roped in with him.

"I had a little Chinese symbol, which I later got ridiculed for because it was so small. I had that changed into something bigger and then it just became a bug.

"I keep looking for more space on my body now. I cannot stay away from them. They are very addictive.

"I've got a big cross on my back with my brother's name in the middle of it, which is important to me, but I like them all.

"It's obviously quite popular now with everyone. When you are on holiday lads are walking along smothered in tattoos. Certainly in our changing room there are a few tattoos knocking about."

Currie's well-tattooed colleagues include captain Danny Cullip and Leon Knight.

The rebellious striker is trying to catch Currie up. Knight added to his collection in the summer with a large tattoo on the left side of his stomach of Che Guevara, the revolutionary icon from Argentina shot dead by Bolivian soldiers in 1967.

"I have been reading his books since I was about 14," said Knight. "I admire the way he went out of his way about things. I will be getting a few more tattoos of other special people."

Another of Knight's tattoos, on the inside of his left arm, declares 'Only God Can Judge Me'.

He said: "If only He can judge me then I am free to do what I want to do. No-one else can judge me, not players, fans or managers. That is the way I think and I think I play better that way."