The Leeds United alumni is a who's who of footballing greats.

Whether you're talking about the days of Don Revie and Billy Bremner, Nigel Martyn and David Batty or Rio Ferdinand, Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka, there's been some big names playing at Elland Road over the years.

That's why James Milner's choice of childhood hero is something of a surprise.

Milner is renowned as one of the best professionals in the Premier League at the moment, and it's no surprise that he's gone on to play clubs such as Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Manchester City and now Liverpool.

But if you think it is one of the big names mentioned who is the hero of Milner, you'd be wrong.

The midfielder made the revelation in his book 'Ask a Footballer' and the name will no doubt be a surprise to most.

Writing in his book, as quoted by Leeds Live, Milner said: "The first one, you probably wouldn’t guess. It was Tony Dorigo.

"I told Andy Robertson that recently – and Robbo hadn’t heard of him. Mind you, Robbo won’t have heard of anyone unless they played for Celtic.

"But yes, Tony Dorigo. I’m starting to wonder whether I had some deep-rooted desire to be a makeshift left-back, but on reflection I think it was just because he was fast and he was a good player.

"I had Tony Yeboah after that. He was a real hero of mine. He scored a few worldies – the volley against Liverpool at Elland Road, that thunderbolt away to Wimbledon.

"I had a Lee Bowyer shirt at one point too. Alan Smith was one of my favourites, a local lad who had done what all of us in the academy wanted to do.

"I really liked Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, but I never had his shirt. You had to pay by the letter in those days, so maybe that’s why my dad, a proper Yorkshire fella, steered me away from it."

The verdict

The fact that Tony Dorigo was the childhood idol of James Milner is a bit left-field, but not entirely surprising given he won the title with the Whites.

The Liverpool man has never been a flashy player, but instead has made his name by being a model professional who is reliable and will work harder than almost everyone else on the pitch.

While other players are perhaps more technically gifted, it's Milner who is still playing at the very highest level with European Champions Liverpool.

Dorigo was another player who was never the star attraction, and so perhaps Milner's admiration for the Australian-born, English player makes a lot more sense than we first realise.