17 March 2007

Premier League footballers booked in for reading

Ever wondered what books footballers turn to in their spare time? David James, Ledley King and Jens Lehmann are among twenty Premiership players who have revealed their favourite books as part of an initiative called Premier League Reading Stars.

Premier League Reading Stars - now in its fifth season - is aimed at encouraging people of all ages to read more books and visit their local libraries. Each club has nominated a star player as Reading Champion and they have selected their favourite children or adult's book to create a list that will be used to inspire families across the country to read.

Players have selected a wide range of titles, including children's classics like Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (the choice of West Ham keeper Robert Green); sports books like cricket legend Shane Warne's autobiography (fellow Australian, Everton midfielder Tim Cahill's pick) and award-winning novels like 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini (Arsenal's Jens Lehmann).

Arjan De Zeeuw, Wigan Athletic's Captain and Reading Star, summed up what reading means to him - and why he chose children's book 'The Gruffalo' by Julia Donaldson:

"As a father of four young girls I spend an enormous amount of time reading kids' books and this is one of my favourites.

'It's so important to get kids to enjoy reading from an early age and I've found this book is perfect at grabbing their attention and even more importantly, keeping their attention. Hopefully we can inspire more children to read and they will go away and enjoy reading on their own and with their families."

The scheme has been developed as part of a partnership between the National Literacy Trust, Arts Council England, Football Foundation and the Premier League, and will be supported by a series of family reading groups at libraries across the country.

All clubs have adopted at least one library, who receive free copies of all the player recommended titles. All participants have the chance to meet an author, and take part in a series of football based literacy games throughout the initiative.

Sir Dave Richards, Chairman of the Premier League and the Football Foundation, said:

"With Premier League Reading Stars, we hope to be able to use footballers' favourite book choices as a way of inspiring families to read together. It gives players the opportunity to act as positive role models and shows that by using the power of football we can successfully change people's attitudes to reading."

Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, said:

"Parental involvement in reading has more of an influence on children's achievement than many other factors - including how rich or well educated their parents are. Football has the power to capture the imagination of parents and children alike, so it's fantastic to see such great support for reading from players and clubs.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. A full list of quotes and pictures of all the Premier League Reading Champions is available on request from Tim Vine (contact below).

2. Premier League Reading Stars will be run at 57 libraries across the country, with each Premier League club adopting at least one library. 1,120 children and parents took part in the scheme in 2006 - 95% of children in 2006 said it made them want to read more.

3. The Football Foundation is dedicated to revitalising the grass roots of the game, constructing modern football facilities, developing football as a force for social cohesion and as a vehicle for education in communities throughout the country. Funded by the Premier League, the FA and the Government, the Football Foundation is the nation's largest sports charity, having already funded projects worth over £475 million. www.footballfoundation.org.uk

4. The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity dedicated to building a nation in which everyone enjoys the skills, self-esteem and pleasures that literacy can bring. It is the only organisation concerned with raising literacy standards for all age groups throughout the UK. www.literacytrust.org.uk.

5. Reading The Game (RTG) is an initiative of the National Literacy Trust which works with professional football to promote literacy and uses the motivational power of football to encourage reading for all ages. Reading The Game (RTG) is largely funded by the Football Foundation. RTG works in partnership with the Premier League, the PFA, the FA, the Football League, Football in the Community, and the DfES initiative Playing for Success. www.readingthegame.org.uk

6. The Premier League is involved in many projects that use the power of football to raise educational standards, tackle social exclusion and promote community involvement. As well as being one of the main funding partners of the Football Foundation, the Premier League supports a number of other programmes including Playing for Success and The Prince's Trust Football Initiative www.premierleague.com.

For more information please contact:

Tim Vine, at the Premier League, on 020 7864 9179 or 07899 901947
Rory Carroll, at the Football Foundation, on 0845 345 4555 ext 4280
Katy Mahood, at the National Literacy Trust, on 020 7820 6253