The 5-Minute Interview: Sir Bobby Charlton, Former footballer

'I may have cursed sometimes but I knew when I'd gone too far'

Sir Bobby Charlton, 69, has launched 'The Manchester United Opus', the 'ultimate tribute' to the football team. All 10,000 copies are signed by Sir Bobby and the Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. They are available at www.krakenopus.com.

I wish people would take more notice of...

Good manners. Pleases and thank yous. They are things that sometimes young people forget or don't notice.

The ideal night out is ...

Somewhere with really good food and a nice glass of wine.

I'm not a politician but...

Who would be? It's a very thankless job.

A common misperception of me is...

I may have cursed sometimes - more than I should when I used to play - but I always knew when I'd gone too far. I don't swear, but I used to fall foul occasionally. I used to get a bit impatient with the referee sometimes.

You know me as a footballer, but in a truer life I'd have been...

Probably in the Merchant Navy because I like to travel.

In moments of weakness I...

Get impatient with people who are not good timekeepers.

I'm good at...

Football.

But I'm very bad at...

Traffic jams.

The best age to be is...

In your teens. It's when my children were happiest.

In a nutshell, my philosophy is this:

Hard work. You don't get anything unless you work hard.

Elisa Bray