Ferdinand: Rio Gavin (Rio)

2000-2002 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Central Defender

Born: Peckham, London: 07-11-1978

Debut v Leicester City (a): 02-12-2000

6’2” 12st 1lb (2005)(1930)

#30 in 100 Greatest LUFC Players Ever

Ferdinand burst onto the Premiership scene with West Ham United under the guidance of Harry Redknapp before being snapped up by Leeds United for £18million. He signed for West Ham in November 1995 and had a loan spell of eleven games with Bournemouth from November 1996, before returning to establish himself with West Ham. He progressed through the England Youth and Under-Twenty-One teams to full England status before setting a record transfer for a defender when he joined Leeds in November 2000. He scored two League goals in one hundred and twenty-two starts and five games from the bench, together with nine F.A. Cup starts and twelve starts and one game from the bench in the League Cup and nine other games while at Upton Park. There could not have been a worse start for Leeds, who, in his debut game at Leicester City on 2nd December 2000, found themselves 0-3 in arrears in the first half hour, but he quickly fitted into the splendid Leeds team and became a star performer, England regular and Leeds captain. He was elected the Leeds “Player of the Year” in 2001-2002, his final season with Leeds. He was a major part in the Leeds march through Europe, in which they reached the Semi-Finals of the European Cup, leaving many more fancied teams in their wake. Ferdinand went to the 2002 World Cup and was a stand out performer for England and there was talk of his being “tapped up” by Manchester United. It proved to be well founded as, in July 2002, Ferdinand joined Leeds’ bitter rivals, on a five year deal, to become the most expensive British footballer in history, and the world's most expensive defender. The fee included a basic element in the high twenty millions, and some conditional elements, which allowed Leeds to tell their fans that they were selling him for over thirty million. Leeds later took a single payment in place of all the contingent elements when they were desperate for cash during their financial crisis. The final book value of Ferdinand's contract in Manchester United's accounts was £31.120 million. This included seven figure agents' fees; Leeds received less than thirty million. Cool under pressure and possessing skill, pace, aerial ability, organizational skills and an ability to read the game, Ferdinand had established himself as one of the world's top defenders. He was just the man to bolster Manchester United’s notoriously shaky defence. Ferdinand’s first season at Old Trafford was a mixed bag, with injury and loss of form affecting his performances on the pitch. He found his feet towards the end of the campaign, however, as United came back from the dead to overtake Arsenal and win the fifteenth League title in their history. In September 2003, just as Rio was filling the role of defensive leader that Ferguson had earmarked him for, disaster struck. The defender missed a routine drugs test and, despite appealing, was banned from football for eight months in January 2004. Rio limped out of his final pre-ban appearance for United against Wolves with the Reds ahead of Arsenal at the top of the Premiership. Without their defensive lynchpin they wilted under pressure and ended up finishing the season third. After returning from his suspension, Rio showed how critical he was to the Manchester defence as under his leadership they shipped only twenty-six goals in thirty-eight League games in the 2004/05 season. Ferdinand was tipped as Roy Keane's eventual successor as captain at Old Trafford, and with his calm influence and superb organisational skills it wasn't not hard to see why. Ferdinand earned his first full England cap as a substitute in a friendly against Cameroon in November 1997. He played for his country at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, and as of December 2011 he had eighty-one caps. On 25th March 2008 it was announced that Rio would Captain the England team. His record with Manchester United, to the end of the 2010-11 season was six goals in two hundred and thirty-eight League starts and two substitute appearances, twenty-five starts and one game from the bench in the F.A. Cup, twelve starts and one game from the bench in the League Cup, and one goal scored in seventy-three starts and one game from the bench in European and other games. He gained EPL Championship medals in 2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2010-11, Football League Cup winners' medals in 2005-06 and 2008-09, UEFA Champions Winners' medal in 2007-08 and FIFA Club World Cup winners' medal in 2008. He was elected to the EPL Team of the Year in 2001-02, when with Leeds and in 2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09, when with Manchester. At the end of December 2011 he had played eighty-one times for England and scored three goals. He was picked for the 2010 World Cup as captain but had to withdraw due to injury. He gained five caps for the England Under-Twenty-One team and seven for the Under-Eighteens. His cousin is former English international striker Les Ferdinand, while his brother Anton is currently a first choice centre back for Queens Park Rangers after being with West Ham United and Sunderland.