Soccer bosses reveal book tastes

What is Sir Alex Ferguson's favourite book?

The diverse reading tastes of some of football's biggest managerial names have been revealed.

The National Football Museum in Preston invited some of the game's stars to nominate their favourite books.

The literary picks included Animal Farm by George Orwell, Maya Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab and The Bible.

Among those surveyed were Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Chelsea's Jose Mourinho and Tottenham's Martin Jol.

Following National Storytelling Week and in the lead up to World Book Day, the museum contacted the game's leading figures about their literary loves.

The results are revealed in an exhibition of the books along with the letters of reply from those questioned.

Patriotic choice

There were few surprises among the selections.

The ever patriotic Sir Alex chose Treasure Island by his fellow Scot, Robert Louis Stevenson, while men's men Paul Jewell (Wigan) and Sam Allardyce (Bolton) opted for Bravo Two Zero and The Soul of a Butterfly by Mohammed Ali respectively.

More surprising choices came from Chelsea's Jose Mourinho who selected The Bible, Spurs boss Martin Jol who picked Ernest Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea - and Burnley's Steve Cotterill who chose Beyond Winning (Human Kinetics) by Gary M Walton.

Other cerebral choices included George Orwell's Animal Farm - selected by Everton's David Moyes - and I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou which was the favourite of England' women's manager Hope Powell.

Museum spokesman, Mark Bushell said: "We are delighted that so many of the leading names in English football have responded to our request for information regarding their favourite authors and books.

"It's fascinating to see who has inspired them through their writing. We hope that visitors to the museum will be similarly inspired to pick up some of the titles that are mentioned within the exhibition."

The full list is:

Martin Jol (Spurs) Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway

Paul Simpson (Carlisle United) Billy - Pamela Stephenson

Hope Powell (England) I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing - Maya Angelou

Steve Cotterill (Burnley) Beyond Winning (Human Kenetics) - Gary M Walton

David O'Leary (Aston Villa) Kane and Abel - Jeffery Archer

Graham Souness Fourth Protocol - Frederick Forsyth

Steve Bruce (Birmingham City) Frank Sinatra 'Biography' - Martin Smith

Sam Allardyce (Bolton Wanderers) The Soul of a Butterfly - Mohammed Ali

Jose Mourinho (Chelsea) The Bible

Billy Davies (Preston) Sacred Hoops - Phil Jackson

David Moyes (Everton) Animal Farm - George Orwell

Alan Curbishley (Charlton) Bobalong the Brownie Man - Agnes Grozier Herbertson

Mick McCarthy Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) Treasure island - Robert Louis Stevenson

Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling

Paul Jewell (Wigan) Bravo Two Zero - Andy McNab