Name:
Rio Gavin FERDINAND
Shirt Number: 6
Position: Defender
Date of Birth: November 7, 1978
Birthplace: Peckham, London, England
Transfer Fee: £29.1 million
Rio Ferdinand's journey to Old Trafford started
in November 1978 when he was born as the first child of parents
Julian and Janice in Peckham, South East London.
As a youngster, Rio first seemed destined for
great things when he played as a centre-forward for his local
junior team Bloomfields. According to his personal website, Rio
regularly scored 30 goals per season! He then switched to another
junior team, Eltham Town, at Under-13 and Under-14 levels. He
also played in central midfield at Eltham, where he caught the
eye of the West Ham scouts.
Rio first signed for West Ham as a schoolboy,
aged fourteen. Upon leaving school at sixteen, he ignored the
overtures from Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Millwall, Charlton
and Chelsea and decided to stay with the Hammers, this time on
a two-year YTS contract. He was paid the going rate for an apprentice
footballer, £30 per week, and his duties included cleaning
the boots of Upton Park legend Tony Cottee and the manager himself,
Harry Redknapp. On the field, he helped West Ham's youth team
to win the South East Counties League in 1995/96 with a record
number of points.
Rio's attitude and ability clearly impressed
Redknapp, who signed him on his first professional contract at
the age of 17. Harry then handed Ferdinand his first taste of
senior football on 5 May 1996, sending him on as a substitute
against Sheffield Wednesday at Upton Park.
The following season saw Redknapp make good use
of the loan system to send Rio to Bournemouth for two character-building
months in the Football League. The defender made ten appearances
in Division Two for the Cherries between 9 November 1996 and 11
January 1997, and returned to West Ham ready for another stint
in the senior team.
Rio started a senior West Ham match for the first
time on 25 January 1997, only to find himself on the receiving
end of a shock result - Wrexham knocked the Hammers out of the
FA Cup, 0-1, at Upton Park. Rio's first Premiership start also
resulted in defeat, 1-2 against Blackburn at Ewood Park. The date,
1 February 1997, was still memorable though for the occasion of
Rio's first senior goal.
Rio made 152 (6) appearances for West Ham, scoring
two goals, before he was snapped up by Leeds United for £18million
on 26 November 2000. Ironically his last game for West Ham was
against Leeds on 18 November 2000 - the Hammers winning 1-0 at
Elland Road.
The £18m transfer fee was then a British
record for any player and a world record fee for a defender but
again Rio did not make the best of starts, losing 1-3 at Leicester
City on his Leeds debut and then 0-1 at Southampton in the second
game.
Life at Leeds soon improved, however, as Rio
helped David O'Leary's side to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA
Champions League just five months later. He also scored three
goals in this first season for Leeds - against Liverpool, Deportivo
La Coruna and, ironically, West Ham.
Rio's second season at Leeds, 2001/02, was less
successful for the team but it saw him develop into an even more
accomplished defender - and consequently a much sought-after asset.
A transfer to Manchester United was mooted even before the World
Cup Finals, in which Rio was one of England's outstanding performers.
Rio's transfer value sky-rocketed during the
2002 World Cup but the Reds maintained their interest and after
weeks of speculation, followed by days of negotiation, they signed
Rio Ferdinand for a new British record fee of £30million.
The sum also restored Rio to the position of the world's most
expensive defender, topping the £22m that Juventus paid
Parma for Lilian Thuram in 2001.
