Twitter is a great place for football fans to connect with the teams and players they care about. And to make that even easier during the Premier League season, we launched a page where you can find the clubs' official accounts. We also created a Twitter list that includes more than 150 verified players from all 20 teams.



And in case you were wondering who the most-followed Premier League players on Twitter are, we did a little number-crunching to identify the top five:

1. Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney)
2. Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5)
3. Sergio Aguero (@aguerosergiokun)
4. Robin van Persie (@Persie_Official)
5. Michael Owen (@themichaelowen) 

While the players' top five is Manchester-dominated, the most-followed clubs list has a little more variety:

1. Arsenal (@Arsenal)
2. Chelsea (@chelseafc)
3. Liverpool (@LFC)
4. Manchester City (@MCFC)
5. Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial)

So if you want to get closer to the action during this Premier League season, be sure to follow your favourite teams and players. And don't forget about the Premier League's own account, @PremierLeague, as well as the official broadcasters, @SkySports, @ESPNUK, @BBCSport and @Talksport.

-- Lewis Wiltshire, @LewisWiltshire

In sport, we see conversations happening on Twitter around big games and tournaments.

The next major global event on the sporting calendar is the ICC World Twenty20 (WT20) cricket, which takes place in Sri Lanka from the 18th September to 7th October.

To mark this, Twitter has launched a dedicated page for the tournament at twitter.com/#WT20, which brings together the best and most relevant Tweets from players, teams, commentators, broadcasters and journalists.

Fans can see Tweets that include top commentary, the best expertise, and the passion that the cricketing world feels for this most exciting and dynamic form of the game.

The global conversation on Twitter will also be reflected on the official ICC World Twenty20 website, which just launched. Check out this page on their new site.

Fans watching on TV won’t be able to miss Twitter with plenty of on-screen integration and the hashtag #WT20 painted on the outfield at all matches. Those lucky enough to be in Sri Lanka for the tournament will see Tweets and hashtags inside and around the stadia hosting games.

So make sure that wherever Twitter activity features, your Tweet is part of the conversation, or just sit back and watch the games while also checking out Twitter to find out what your favourite players and journalists are saying.

Enjoy the cricket and may the best team win!

-- Lewis Wiltshire, @LewisWiltshire

With tickets selling out at the box office and the Games in full flow, we took a look at how Twitter is being used during the 2012 Paralympics.

The top five most followed GB Paralympic athletes of the Games (in order) so far are:

- Ellie Symonds (@EllieSimmonds1)
- Jonnie Peacock (@JonniePeacock)
- David Weir (@davidweir2012)
- Sarah Storey (@MrsSarahStorey)
- Will Bayley (@WillBayleytt)

Of these, the GB Paralympic athlete who has seen the biggest increase in followers since the Games began is sprinter Jonnie Peacock (@JonniePeacock), whose follower numbers have gone up more than 500%.

There have been more than 180,000 mentions of these athletes on Twitter since the Paralympics began, and the peak in conversation about them came on Thursday 6 September as Jonnie Peacock won gold in the T44 100m sprint final.

Here’s a great photo of the moment he won gold:

Pic: the moment Jonnie Peacock knew he'd won men's 100m - T44 #Athletics gold #Paralympics twitter.com/London2012/sta…

— London 2012 (@London2012) September 6, 2012

After his victory Jonnie took to Twitter and retweeted this great picture:

Jonnie Peacock and his mum twitter.com/BBCRadio2/stat… - Best mum hug ever.

— Grace Dent (@gracedent) September 7, 2012

He also shared this great snap of a well-deserved McDonald's!

Ohhhhh yeahhh!!!!! Been waiting for this!!! twitter.com/JonniePeacock/…

— Jonnie Peacock (@JonniePeacock) September 6, 2012

Admiration for Paralympic athletes from their Olympic counterparts have flooded Twitter, including this message from 100m Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt (@usainbolt):

Paralympics Games is where you find true champions.. All magnificent athletes.. Talk about that 5000m just now.. Incredible

— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) September 2, 2012

Diver Tom Daley (@TomDaley1994) also shared his support:

It is just so amazing how inspiring all of the Paralympians are, competing with such grit and determination...heroes, all of you!

— Tom Daley (@TomDaley1994) September 2, 2012

With the final events and the Closing Ceremony taking place this weekend, make sure you stay tuned to Twitter for a unique perspective of these extraordinary events.

-- Lewis Wiltshire, @LewisWiltshire

As Parliament returned from the summer recess, the Prime Minister carried out the Coalition’s first major cabinet reshuffle today.

And there was only one place to keep on top of the news: Twitter. We've pulled together some facts about what’s been happening on Twitter over the last 24 hours:

- We have seen more than 65,000 mentions of the term ‘reshuffle’ and the hashtag #reshuffle

- The hashtag #reshuffle was the number one trending topic in the UK today

- The peak in Tweets about the reshuffle occurred at around 10am as Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) was announced as the new Secretary of State for Health

- 362 of the UK’s 650 MPs are on Twitter - you can check them out on this list

- The most talked about politicians in the reshuffle were (in order of mentions):
1. Jeremy Hunt
2. Ken Clark
3. Baroness Warsi
4. Andrew Lansley
5. Maria Miller

For journalists and political enthusiasts alike, Twitter has been the place to be to keep abreast of developments, giving followers first-hand access to news and views from the political elite in their own words.

This morning Baroness Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) confirmed her departure from the role of Conservative party co-chairman in a tweet from the official @ToryChairman account:

It's been a privilege and an honour to serve my party as co-chairman , signing off @torychairman , signing on @sayeedawarsi

— Tory Chairman (@ToryChairman) September 4, 2012

Former Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan also took to Twitter to confirm her departure from the front bench from the @Welsh_secretary account:

@sayeedawarsi signing off @welsh_secretary too but I agree great privilege to serve in cabinet but can serve party from back benches too :)

— Cheryl Gillan (@Welsh_Secretary) September 4, 2012

Amid a steady stream of rumour and speculation, the Prime Minister’s official Twitter feed @Number10Gov became the authoritative source of information. Cameron and his team used the channel as the first place to publish official updates, including:

PM appoints Jeremy Hunt as Secretary of State for Health. #reshuffle

— UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) September 4, 2012

PM appoints Kenneth Clarke as Minister without Portfolio (attending Cabinet). #reshuffle

— UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) September 4, 2012

PM appoints Chris Grayling as Secretary of State for Justice. #reshuffle

— UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) September 4, 2012

BBC sports presenter @GaryLineker was gripped, likening the reshuffle to last week’s football transfer deadline:

Can't take your eyes of this cabinet reshuffle for a second. It's like wild version of transfer deadline day.

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) September 4, 2012

As we enter a new session of Parliament, Twitter will continue to be the go-to destination for anyone interested in politics, bringing constituents and commentators closer to the action than ever before.

-- Twitter UK, @TwitterUK