Les Ferdinand
Encyclopedia
Leslie "Les" Ferdinand MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (born 8 December 1966 in Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

) is a former English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

. His playing career included spells at Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

, Besiktas J.K.
Besiktas J.K.
Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü , or simply Beşiktaş , is a Turkish sports club. The club's football team is one of the major teams in Turkey. The professional sports club, founded in 1903, is based in the Beşiktaş district in Istanbul, Turkey...

, Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

, Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

, West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

, during which period he earned a number of appearances for England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

. He became the first player to score for 6 different Premier League clubs.

He is the cousin of current Premier League players Rio
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand is an English footballer. He plays at centre back for Manchester United in the Premier League and for the England national football team...

 and Anton Ferdinand
Anton Ferdinand
Anton Julian Ferdinand is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers as a defender. He is the brother of Manchester United and England centre-back Rio Ferdinand and the cousin of former England striker Les Ferdinand and Southend United defender Kane Ferdinand. Like his brother, Anton...

 and his son Aaron currently plays for Harrow Borough
Harrow Borough F.C.
Harrow Borough Football Club is a semi-professional English association football club based in Harrow, in Greater London. The club are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division and play at Earlsmead Stadium....

 in the Isthmian League
Isthmian League
The Isthmian League is a regional football league covering London and South East England featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs. It is sponsored by Ryman, and therefore officially known as the Ryman League. It was founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area...

. He also has a daughter, Lauren. Popularly nicknamed Sir Les, he was made an MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

On 5 November 2008 Ferdinand joined fellow ex-Spur Tim Sherwood
Tim Sherwood
Timothy "Tim" Sherwood is an English former professional footballer who was captain of Blackburn Rovers' Premiership title-winning side...

 on the coaching staff of Tottenham Hotspur, utilising his experience to work with the strikers.

Ferdinand is the joint fifth highest scorer of all time in the Premier League with 149 goals.

Early career

Ferdinand started his career in non-league football, first at AEL (a KOPA Cypriot team in England) then to Southall
Southall F.C.
Southall F.C. is a semi-professional football club based in the Southall area of west London, in the London Borough of Ealing, England. Football has been played in Southall from at least 1871.-History:...

 then moving to Hayes
Hayes F.C.
Hayes F.C. was an English football club based in Hayes, in Greater London. The club started out as Botwell Mission in 1909 taking its present name in 1929. The team nickname, The Missioners was a salute to the history of the team. The club played in the Conference South for their last few seasons...

. He was spotted by Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

 and moved there for £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

30,000.

QPR

Ferdinand made his QPR debut on 20 April 1987, aged 20, as a substitute in the 4-0 league defeat by Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 at Highfield Road
Highfield Road
The Highfield Road Stadium was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City F.C. until the club moved to the new Ricoh Arena after the 2005-06 season...

 - the first of two league appearances that season
1986-87 in English football
The 1986–87 season was the 107th season of competitive football in England.- First Division :The First Division championship went to Everton in their final season under the management of Howard Kendall before his departure to Athletic Bilbao. His side overcame a spate of injuries to fight off...

. He played a further league game in 1987-88
1987-88 in English football
The 1987–88 season was the 120th season of competitive football in England.- First Division :Liverpool won the league title with a comfortable nine-point margin and just two defeats all season....

, and had a three-game loan spell at Third Division
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...

 Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

.

In 1988, he was loaned to Turkish side Beşiktaş
Besiktas J.K.
Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü , or simply Beşiktaş , is a Turkish sports club. The club's football team is one of the major teams in Turkey. The professional sports club, founded in 1903, is based in the Beşiktaş district in Istanbul, Turkey...

 for a season, and performed well with 14 goals in 24 games.

He was back in the QPR side for the 1989-90 season
1989-90 in English football
-European competitions:English clubs were still banned from competing in European competitions following the Heysel Stadium disaster.- First Division :...

, but managed just nine First Division appearances as well as his first two English league goals. He fared better in 1990-91
1990-91 in English football
The 1990–91 season was the 111th season of competitive football in England.- First Division :Arsenal won the league. Runners-up spot was achieved by Liverpool, who had led the table for much of the first half of the season but had been shell-shocked in February by the sudden resignation of manager...

, managing 18 league games and scoring eight goals as QPR secured a familiar mid table finish. His 10 goals from 23 games in 1991-92
1991-92 in English football
- First Division :The last-ever league championship before the creation of the Premier League was won by Leeds United who overhauled Manchester United thanks to the efforts of, among others, Gordon Strachan, Lee Chapman, David Batty, Gary Speed and Gary McAllister...

 helped ensure QPR's status as founder members of the new FA Premier League
FA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...

 for the 1992-93 season
1992-93 in English football
The 1992–1993 season was the 113th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:This season saw the birth of the FA Premier League. This meant a break-up of the 104-year-old Football League that had operated until then with four divisions....

, and it was during this campaign that he established himself as a top striker, scoring 20 goals in 37 games as QPR finished fifth - the highest placed of all the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 sides.

His fine form continued into 1993-94
1993-94 in English football
The 1993-1994 season was the 114th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:From the start of this season, the FA Premier League would be sponsored by Carling Breweries - an association which would last for eight years...

, during which his 16 goals from 36 games helped QPR finish ninth. Despite mounting speculation of a move to either Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 or Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

, he signed a two-year contract with QPR that summer.

He enjoyed arguably his best season yet in 1994-95
1994-95 in English football
-Premiership:Blackburn Rovers ended their 81-year wait for the league title thanks to the strike partnership of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton which scored a total of more than 50 league goals. Manchester United would have made it three league titles in a row if they had been able to turn a 1-1 draw...

, as he was on target 24 times in the Premier League and speculation grew that he would soon be on his way to a bigger club.

In nearly a decade at Loftus Road
Loftus Road
Loftus Road is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, London. It is home to the English football team Queens Park Rangers of the Premier League and has a capacity of around 18,500. The four stands are called the Loftus Road End , Ellerslie Road Stand, South Africa Road Stand and the School End,...

, he played under four different managers - Jim Smith
Jim Smith (footballer)
James Michael "Jim" Smith is a retired English footballer and manager. As a player, he made 249 appearances in the Fourth Division of The Football League, representing Aldershot, Halifax Town, Lincoln City and Colchester United, and played for three-and-a-half years for Boston United of the...

, Trevor Francis
Trevor Francis
Trevor John Francis , is a former footballer who won the European Cup with Nottingham Forest and played for England 52 times. He was England's first £1 million player...

, Don Howe and Gerry Francis
Gerry Francis
Gerald Charles James Francis is an English former footballer and manager, now working as First Team coach at Stoke City.-Playing career:Francis made his debut for Queens Park Rangers v Liverpool in March 1969...

.

http://www.sportingheroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=39871

Newcastle United

Ferdinand was sold to Newcastle
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

 in 1995 for £6 million, with Hayes receiving £600,000 due to a sell-on clause agreed following his move to QPR (with the money received Hayes
Hayes F.C.
Hayes F.C. was an English football club based in Hayes, in Greater London. The club started out as Botwell Mission in 1909 taking its present name in 1929. The team nickname, The Missioners was a salute to the history of the team. The club played in the Conference South for their last few seasons...

 built a function suite and named it "The Ferdinand Suite" in his honour). It was a tidy profit for a player who had cost them a mere £5,000.

His arrival at the club came nearly three years after the Magpies had offered QPR £3.3million for him during their Division One promotion season - but the offer had been turned down.

The spell on Tyneside
Tyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...

 was arguably Ferdinand's most successful club tenure. He scored 29 goals in his first season with Newcastle, and significantly contributed to the side's getting within touching distance of the Premiership title in the 1995–96
1995-96 in English football
- Premiership :Newcastle United were 12 points clear at the top of Manchester United, but Alex Ferguson's relatively young and inexperienced side overhauled them during the second half of the season to win the title....

 season.

In both of his seasons on Tyneside
Tyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...

, Ferdinand collected runners-up medals in the Premier League. In the second season, they had contested a four-horse race with Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

, Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 and Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

 before Manchester United won the title. In the first season, however, Newcastle had led the league by 12 points at one stage, but were overhauled by United in the final three months of the season.

Ferdinand scored 50 goals in only 84 games at Newcastle, forming a successful partnership with Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...

. He was and indeed is still very highly thought of by Newcastle United and received a standing ovation when he came on as a substitute at Alan Shearer's testimonial and subsequently scored.

Tottenham Hotspur

In 1997 Ferdinand was bought by Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

, the club he supported as a boy, again for £6 million. Injuries heavily disrupted his first season at the club, but towards the end of the campaign he formed a good partnership with Jürgen Klinsmann
Jürgen Klinsmann
Jürgen Klinsmann is a German football manager and former player who is currently the coach of the United States Men's National Team. As a player, Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe and was part of the West German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the German one that...

, and the pair's goals saved Spurs from relegation from the Premiership. Ferdinand helped Spurs win the League Cup in 1999, defeating Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

 1–0 in the final at Wembley, but injuries restricted him to just 12 goals in his first three seasons at the club.

He scored 10 goals in the 2000–01
2000-01 in English football
The 2000–01 season was the 121st season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Manchester United secured their 3rd Premiership title in succession and their 7th title in just nine seasons...

 season and 15 in 2001–02
2001-02 in English football
The 2001-02 season was the 122nd season of competitive football in England.-Arsenal cruise to title glory:In what had earlier been one of the most closely fought Premiership title races for years, Arsenal won the championship by seven points. Their crown was won in the penultimate game of the...

. He played in a second League Cup final for the club, against Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

, but was thwarted by three saves by Rovers' goalkeeper Brad Friedel
Brad Friedel
Bradley Howard Friedel is an American soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League....

 as Spurs lost 2–1. Ferdinand scored the 10,000th goal in Premiership history on 15 December 2001 for Spurs against Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

.

Later career

In January 2003, he moved to West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

, and scored his first goal for the club against former club Tottenham, but was unable to prevent the club's relegation from the Premier League and opted to remain in the top flight by signing for newly promoted Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

 on a free transfer. While at Leicester Ferdinand scored 14 Premiership goals, despite being 37 years old. After the Foxes were relegated at the end of that season, he rejected a new contract and joined Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

.

Ferdinand memorably scored for Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

 against rivals Manchester United in the last minute, which looked to have given the Wanderers the win, but a goal from David Bellion
David Bellion
David Bellion is a French footballer who currently plays for FC Girondins de Bordeaux. He is of Senegalese origin.-Cannes:...

 even deeper in injury time gave United a point. He found opportunities from the start limited, but proved useful for all his experience when coming off the substitutes` bench, and scored against former club Tottenham in the Carling Cup, with what proved to be a mere consolation goal in a 4-3 thriller which Bolton lost. He left them on 2 January 2005. Four days later, he signed with Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

. His contract at the club lasted until the end of the 2004–05
2004-05 in English football
The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*2004–05 was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League...

 season. He scored one league goal in his time at Reading, in a 2-1 loss to Coventry
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

.

Ferdinand committed to non-contract terms with Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

 during the 2005–06
2005-06 in English football
The 2005–06 season was the 126th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*The rebuilt Wembley Stadium was due to open in time for the FA Cup final in May. However, in August 2005, The Football Association reserved the Millennium Stadium as a backup, as there was some doubt whether...

, but did not play a competitive game for the club and left after their promotion to the Premier League via the Football League Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

 playoffs. He retired from football a few months short of his 40th birthday.

International career

Ferdinand made his England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 debut in February 1993 against San Marino
San Marino national football team
The San Marino national football team is the national football team of San Marino, controlled by the San Marino Football Federation...

, scoring the final goal, a scissor kick
Scissor kick
Scissor kick may refer to:* Scissor kick , a move in martial arts and wrestling* Bicycle kick, a move in football* A leg movement used in swimming, such as in the sidestroke* A vulgar term for Tribadism...

, in a 6–0 victory at Wembley.

For England, Ferdinand was capped 17 times, scoring five goals. He was part of the Euro 96
1996 UEFA European Football Championship
The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by England, who won the right to host the tournament ahead of bids from Austria, Portugal and the Netherlands. It was the tenth European Football Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first to use the...

 and 1998 FIFA World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...

 squads. Despite his successful season with Newcastle he did not play a game in 1996, and an injury meant he did not play a match in 1998.

Career statistics

|-
|1986-87
The Football League 1986-87
-Overview:The 1986–1987 season was the 87th completed season of the The Football League.-Innovations for this season:Playoffs to determine promotion places were introduced in 1987 so that more clubs remained eligible for promotion closer to the end of the season, and at the same time to aid in the...

||rowspan="2"|Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

||rowspan="2"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

||2||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1987-88
The Football League 1987-88
The 1987–1988 season was the 88th completed season of the The Football League.-First Division:Liverpool won the league title with a comfortable nine-point margin and just two defeats all season...

||17||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1987-88
The Football League 1987-88
The 1987–1988 season was the 88th completed season of the The Football League.-First Division:Liverpool won the league title with a comfortable nine-point margin and just two defeats all season...

||Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

||Third Division
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...

||3||0||||||||||||||||

|-
|1988-89
Turkish First Football League 1988-89
-Overview:It was contested by 20 teams, and Fenerbahçe S.K. won the championship. Samsunspor were involved in a tragic bus accident during the season . Many of the team's players and coaches were killed , for this reason, they were unable to play their last 18 matches . All these matches were...

||Beşiktaş
Besiktas J.K.
Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü , or simply Beşiktaş , is a Turkish sports club. The club's football team is one of the major teams in Turkey. The professional sports club, founded in 1903, is based in the Beşiktaş district in Istanbul, Turkey...

||Süper Lig||24||14||||||||||||||||

|-
|1989-90
The Football League 1989-90
The 1989–1990 season was the 90th completed season of The Football League.- First Division :Liverpool overhauled a greatly improved Aston Villa side to win their 18th league championship trophy and their fifth major trophy in as many seasons under Kenny Dalglish’s management. To date, this remains...

||rowspan="6"|Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

||rowspan="3"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

||9||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1990-91
The Football League 1990-91
The 1990–1991 season was the 91st completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Arsenal took their second league title in three seasons despite a season during which it often looked as though the good points would be outnumbered by the bad points...

||18||8||||||||||||||||
|-
|1991-92
The Football League 1991-92
The 1991–1992 season was the 92nd completed season of The Football League.- First Division :The last-ever league championship before the creation of the Premier League was won by Leeds United who overhauled Manchester United thanks to the efforts of players like Gordon Strachan, Lee Chapman, David...

||23||10||||||||||||||||
|-
|1992-93
FA Premier League 1992-93
The 1992–93 FA Premier League was the first season of the Premier League, the top division of English football. The league was made up of the 22 clubs that broke away from The Football League at the end of the 1991–92 season. The new league was backed up by a five-year, £305 million deal with...

||rowspan="3"|Premier League||37||20||||2||||2||||||||24
|-
|1993-94
FA Premier League 1993-94
-New league sponsors:From the start of the 1993-94 season, the FA Premier League was sponsored by Carling Breweries.-Promoted teams:Newcastle United and West Ham were promoted to the Premier League from the First Division as champions and runners-up respectively. The last promotion place was won by...

||36||16||||0||||2||||||||18
|-
|1994-95
FA Premier League 1994-95
-Promoted teams:Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest were promoted from the Football League First Division as winners and runners-up respectively. Leicester City won the 1993-94 playoff.-Controversial incidents:...

||37||24||||1||||1||||||||26
|-
|1995-96
FA Premier League 1995-96
-Promoted teams:Due to the decision to reduce the number of clubs in the Premier League from 22 to 20, only two clubs were promoted this season: Middlesbrough as Football League First Division champions, and Bolton Wanderers who won the 1994-95 playoff.-Transfers:...

||rowspan="2"|Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

||rowspan="2"|Premier League||37||25||2||1||5||3||colspan="2"|–||44||29
|-
|1996-97
FA Premier League 1996-97
The 1996–97 FA Premier League season was the fifth season of the competition, since its formation in 1992. The majority of the season was contested by the reigning champions, Manchester United, along with Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool...

||31||16||3||1||1||0||4||4||40||21
|-
|1997-98
FA Premier League 1997-98
The FA Premier League 1997-98 season saw Arsenal lift their first league title since 1991, and also become only the second team to win the 'double' of the FA Cup and league title twice...

||rowspan="6"|Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

||rowspan="6"|Premier League||21||5||2||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||24||5
|-
|1998-99
FA Premier League 1998-99
The 1998–99 FA Premier League season was the seventh season of the Premier League, the top division of English football, since its establishment in 1992. The season will always be remembered as the one in which Manchester United won a unique treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the European Cup...

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|1999-00||9||2||0||0||0||0||0||0||9||2
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|2000-01
FA Premier League 2000-01
The FA Premier League 2000-01 season was the third season running which ended with Manchester United as champions and Arsenal as runners-up. Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager to win three successive English league titles, although three teams had achieved that feat in the past - but with...

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|2001-02
FA Premier League 2001-02
The 2001–02 FA Premier League season was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor, Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the previous sponsor, Carling...

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|2002-03
FA Premier League 2002-03
The 2002–03 FA Premier League was the eleventh season of the Premier League, the top division in English football. The first matches were played on 17 August 2002 and the last were played on 11 May 2003...

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|2002-03
FA Premier League 2002-03
The 2002–03 FA Premier League was the eleventh season of the Premier League, the top division in English football. The first matches were played on 17 August 2002 and the last were played on 11 May 2003...

||West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

||Premier League||14||2||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||14||2
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|2003-04
FA Premier League 2003-04
The 2003–04 FA Premier League season was the twelfth season of the Premier League. In the end, Arsenal went through the season without a single defeat – only the second ever team to do so and were crowned champions once more, at the expense of Chelsea, who had spent heavily throughout the...

||Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

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|2004-05
FA Premier League 2004-05
The 2004–05 season of the FA Premier League began on 14 August 2004 and ended on 15 May 2005. Arsenal were the defending champions after going unbeaten the previous season....

||Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

||Premier League||12||1||2||0||2||1||colspan="2"|–||16||2
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|2004-05
The Football League 2004-05
The 2004–2005 season was the 105th completed season of The Football League.-Overview:This season the league was contested through three divisions. 2004–05 was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football...

||Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

||Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

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|2005-06
The Football League 2005-06
The 2005–2006 season was the 106th completed season of The Football League.-Overview:In this season of Football League, Reading was the only club in England to get more than 100 points and they also have won the League Championship...

||Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

||Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

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Post-playing career and personal interests

Ferdinand was a pundit for BBC Sport
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC. It became a fully dedicated division of the BBC in 2000. It incorporates programmes such as Match of the Day, Grandstand , Test Match Special, Ski Sunday, Rugby Special and coverage of Formula One motor racing, MotoGP and the Wimbledon Tennis...

. Beginning with the 2007–08
2007-08 in English football
The 2007–08 season was the 128th season of competitive football in England.-European competitions:In October 2007 Arsenal equalled the UEFA Champions League record victory with a 7–0 win over Slavia Prague at the Emirates Stadium. The record was broken the following month when Liverpool...

 season, he is a pundit on Setanta's Premiership coverage. In November 2008 he was offered a coaching role at one of his former clubs, Tottenham Hotspur. He still works for the BBC part time, on the weekend program Final Score.

He played and scored in a Soccer Aid
Soccer Aid
-Event schedule:*22 May 2006 – Start of the television coverage, presented by Ant and Dec. Rest of the World defeats England in a penalty shoot-out*23 May 2006 – Practice match: England 1–0 England Legends...

 match at Old Trafford
Old Trafford
Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...

. He has also been involved in various fundraising events for Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK is a cancer research and awareness charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Its aim is to reduce the number of deaths from cancer. As the world's largest independent cancer...

 in honour of his mother Adrienne, who died of breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

 on 12 February 1990. In July 2007 he visited a number of Sport Relief
Sport Relief
Sport Relief is a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, which brings together the worlds of sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries...

 funded projects in Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

.

With fellow former footballers John Barnes
John Barnes (footballer)
John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE is an English football manager and former player.During his playing career, Barnes had successful periods at Watford and Liverpool in the 1980s and 1990s, winning the First Division twice, the FA Cup twice, and playing for England 79 times...

 and Luther Blissett
Luther Blissett
Luther Loide Blissett is a former professional footballer and manager, who is currently a first-team coach at Hemel Hempstead Town. Blissett played as a striker, and is best known for his time at Watford, whom he helped win promotion from the Fourth Division to the First Division...

, he has founded Team48 Motorsport, a team aiming to promote young racing drivers of African-Caribbean background. For 2008, they enter the British Touring Car Championship
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...

, running Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...

s for white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

 Jamaican Matthew Gore and 18-year-old black Briton Darelle Wilson.

Ferdinand is a qualified helicopter pilot and owns at least one helicopter, which he regularly uses.

Ferdinand has for many years been thought to have been connected (along with Dennis Wise
Dennis Wise
Dennis Frank Wise is an English former football manager and player, and former Executive Director at Newcastle United....

) with the vandalism of the Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...

garden in 1984; however, he has always rejected these claims. Although at one point he claimed to have "helped a few lads over the wall", he later claimed to have been joking.

Ferdinand was also a resident pundit at Setanta Sports
Setanta Sports
Setanta Sports is an international sports broadcaster based in Dublin, Ireland. Setanta Sports was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events...

 with ex-England International teammate, Steve McManaman
Steve McManaman
Steven McManaman is a retired English footballer who played as a midfielder, winger and playmaker. Having spent his playing career at two of European football's most successful clubs of the 20th century, Liverpool and Real Madrid, as well as a spell at Manchester City, McManaman is the most...

.

Ferdinand has appeared on the popular BBC2 programme Top Gear
Top Gear (current format)
Top Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style...

, posting a lap-time of 1:47.4 in the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" feature.

Club

Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü
  • Süper Lig
    • Runner-up: 1988-89
  • Turkish Cup
    • Winner: 1989
  • Turkish Super Cup
    Turkish Super Cup
    The TFF Süper Kupa, as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known as the Cumhurbaşkanlığı Kupası from 1966 to 1998. No competition was held between 1999 and...

    • Winner: 1989
  • TSYD Cup
    TSYD Cup
    The TSYD Cup is a defunct football competition in Turkey. The tournament started in 1963. It was played throughout 6 regions of Turkey: Adana, Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Konya, and Trabzon. The competition's major leg which was played between the Big Three of Turkey; Fenerbahçe SK, Galatasaray SK,...

    • Winner: 1989


Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

  • FA Premier League
    FA Premier League
    The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...

    • Runner-up: 1995-96, 1996-97
  • FA Charity Shield
    • Runner-up: 1996
      1996 FA Charity Shield
      The 1996 FA Charity Shield was the 74th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions...



Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

  • League Cup
    Football League Cup
    The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

    • Winner: 1999
      1999 Football League Cup Final
      The 1999 Worthington Cup Final was played between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City, at Wembley on Sunday 21 March 1999. Tottenham won the game, and their third League Cup, with an injury-time diving header from Allan Nielsen...

    • Runner-up: 2002
      2002 Football League Cup Final
      The 2002 Worthington Cup Final was played between Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on Sunday, 24 February 2002. Blackburn won the match 2–1....



Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

  • Premier League Asia Trophy
    Premier League Asia Trophy
    The Premier League Asia Trophy is a friendly four-team pre-season football tournament held in Asia every two years. The competition is contested by three Premier League football clubs and the home team...

    • Winner: 2005
      FA Premier League Asia Trophy 2005
      The FA Premier League Asia Cup 2005 was the second edition of the Premier League Asia Trophy, a four-team football tournament held every two years. The second edition was competed by Thailand national football team, Bolton Wanderers, Everton and Manchester City at the 49,749-capacity Rajamangala...


Individual

  • PFA Players' Player of the Year
    PFA Players' Player of the Year
    The Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in English football...

    : 1996
  • PFA Team of the Year
    PFA Team of the Year
    The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the top four tiers of English football; the Premier League, the Championship, League One and League Two, whom are seen to be deserving of being named in a "Team of the Year".The award...

    : 1996
  • Scorer of the 10,000th Premier League goal - Premier League 10 Seasons Awards
    Premier League 10 Seasons Awards
    The Premier League 10 Seasons Awards were a set of English football awards which marked the first 10 years of competition in the Premier League, the top-level domestic league competition of professional football in England...

     (1992/3 - 2001/2)

External links

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