South-East Londoner Rio Ferdinand began his schoolboy football years playing as a centre-forward. He later moved to central midfield and it was at Eltham Town U14 he caught the eye of the West Ham scouts. He was signed as a schoolboy, aged fourteen and at sixteen he opted to stay with the Hammers, despite interest from Middlesbrough and Chelsea.
On a two-year YTS contract as an apprentice in his now familiar role of central defender, he helped West Ham's youth team to win the South East Counties League in 1995/96 with a record number of points.
The then Hammers manager Harry Redknapp was impressed with Rio's growing ability and signed him on his first professional contract at the age of 17. Ferdinand got his first taste of senior football on 5th May 1996, on as a substitute against Sheffield Wednesday at Upton Park.
The following season saw Redknapp make 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 between 9 November 1996 and 11 January 1997, and returned to West Ham ready for his big break into the senior team.
Rio's senior West Ham debut on 25 January 1997 was a memorable one for all the wrong reasons as a shock result saw Wrexham knock the Hammers out of the FA Cup, 1-0, at Upton Park. Rio's first full Premiership starting appearance came on 1st February 1997 in a 2-1 defeat against Blackburn at Ewood Park, in which he coincidently also scored his first goal.
Rio made 152 (6) appearances for West Ham, scoring two goals and was regularly promoted as the footballing reincarnation of Bobby Moore. His reputation was that of the best young defender in the country, a supremely elegant footballer who defends with intelligence and guile, but also uses the ball when possession is gained.
He made his England debut against Cameroon at Wembley on Nov 1997 and made steady progress consolidating a place in the national team (although Kevin Keegan didn't select him for the disastrous Euro 2000 campaign).
He was catching the attention of the top clubs (including Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona) but none would pay the massive outlay Redknapp insisted was required to prise Rio away from Upton Park.
That is, until Leeds United manager David O'Leary was prepared to take the gamble and pay up. O'Leary shocked the football world by smashing the British transfer record with the £18 million fee on 26th November 2000. A world record fee for such a young defender had many sceptics baffled at the huge sum. However, Rio helped the Elland Road side to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League in his first season and a series of superb performances for Leeds proved it was money well spent.
Rio's second season at Leeds, 2001/2002, was less successful for the team but he began to raise his game up a level. The move north undoubtedly benefited the Londoner who claimed a regular spot in the England set-up alongside Sol Campbell as the old English rear-guard players of the 1990's were phased out. With Leeds captain Lucas Radebe injured, he was made club captain. A transfer to Manchester United was suggested even before the World Cup Finals, in which Ferdinand showed that he was the best defender in the competition.
Rio's transfer value rocketed during the 2002 World Cup but Fergie and the PLC were not deterred. After weeks of constant speculation, followed by days of negotiation, they signed Rio Ferdinand for a new British record fee of £31.1 million. United had got a world class player who at 23 had a long career ahead of him. The sum also put Rio in the position of being the world's most expensive defender again, topping the £22m that Juventus paid Parma for Lilian Thuram in 2001.
In his first season Ferdinand was solid but not outstanding. He picked up an ankle injury in a pre-season friendly with Boca Juniors, which delayed his full United debut until the 5-0 Champions League qualifying victory over Zalaegerszeg at Old Trafford. His Premiership debut came a few days later in a 1-1 draw at Sunderland and he went on to make 46 appearances through the season.
He was always going to have difficulty living up to his huge transfer fee and part of the problem was not having an established central partner. Even so, United still had the best defensive record in the Premiership so he must have been doing something right.
2003-2004 began well with Rio beginning to justify his huge transfer outlay. With his excellent defensive performances along with Mikael Silvestre, United were rock solid at the back and top of Premiership at Christmas. However, this was not to last as a cloud had been hanging over the player since September.
Rio had been ordered to take an FA drugs test at Carrington on September 23rd 2003, but left without undergoing the procedure. Claiming he forgot because he was moving house at the time and was distracted, he instead went shopping in Manchester city centre. Upon discovering his blunder, Ferdinand later contacted the club to offer to take the test, but was told it was too late - the FA testers had gone. He provided a negative urine sample within 2 days but the issue was not whether he was on drugs but that he had simply missed the test.
An independent tribunal found the defender guilty of misconduct and gave him an eight month ban starting from 20 January 2004. This meant he would miss the rest of the season and Euro 2004. United appealed against the punishment but were unsuccessful. One moment of forgetfulness set off a chain of events that cost the club dearly. Without Rio, United's defence fell apart from late January to mid March. The team shipped goals and dropped points with only one clean sheet in 11 (at Northampton Town).
The next season, Rio had to make up for the mistake that he could never have envisioned becoming so destructive. Making his comeback against Liverpool on 20th September he was a regular starter throughout the season, missing only seven Premiership matches and a cool presence at the back.
In late Arpril 2005, negotiations for a new contract angered the United faithful as the defender not only asked for a reported £120,000 a week but was seen at a meeting with his agent Pini Zahavi and Chelsea's Peter Kenyon.
2005-2006 saw a United first for Rio as he finally scored for the Reds - a header at home to Wigan in mid December. He went on to score twice more, most excellently the injury time winner in the 1-0 triumph at home to Liverpool. He also picked up a League Cup winner's medal and played more times than any other United player with 54 appearances. On the downside he suffered the first sending off in his United career away at Blackburn.
Last season Rio was a rock at the heart of the United defence and missed very few matches, with 48 starting appearances. He scored again against Liverpool in a 2-0 win, his only goal of the season. He did also score twice at the wrong end with an OG at home to Fulham and away to Portsmouth.
Alongside Nemanja Vidic he formed an excellent partnership but whether it is Vidic, Brown or Heinze matters little to Ferdinand's consistency. As one of the best defender's in the world and a much prized asset, Rio is one of United's most important talents and is at the peak of his career.
Born 1978-11-07
Age 29
Height 188
Weight 83
Birthplace Peckham England
Position Defence
Shirt 5
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