Les Ferdinand

Sir Les: A Premier League legend and Newcastle United Hall of Famer.

Leslie Ferdinand (born 8 December 1966) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and television pundit. A striker, his playing career included notable spells in the Premier League with Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers. He also played in Turkey with Beşiktaş and in the Football League with Brentford, Reading and Watford. Prior to becoming a professional player, Ferdinand had played non-league football with both Southall and Hayes. He earned 17 caps for England and was part of the Euro 96 and World Cup 98 squads. He is the eleventh-highest scorer in the history of the Premier League, with 149 goals and he contributed a further 49 assists in the division.

Quick Facts

Full name: Leslie Ferdinand
Born: 8 December 1966
Birthplace: Acton, Greater London, England
Height: 1.80 m / 5 ft 11 in
Position: Striker

Lore & Background

Ferdinand was born in Acton, Greater London. He is the second cousin of football-playing brothers Rio and Anton Ferdinand and a cousin of Maidenhead United player Kane Ferdinand. His autobiography, Sir Les, was published in 1997. Ferdinand was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2005 Birthday Honours. In an interview with the Evening Standard in February 2020, Ferdinand stated that fans racially abused him during his stints as a player and director of football.

Reader's Guide

Ferdinand started his career in non-league football, first at Viking Sports before moving to Southall. He made his league debut for Southall in August 1984 against Chertsey Town, and was part of the team which reached the FA Vase final in 1986, losing 3–0 to Halesowen Town. Following this, Ferdinand moved to Hayes, where he scored 20 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions (including friendlies). He was spotted by Queens Park Rangers and moved there for £50,000. He made his QPR debut on 20 April 1987, aged 20, as a substitute in the 4–1 league defeat by Coventry City at Highfield Road – the first of two league appearances that season. He played a further league game in 1987–88, and was loaned for three games to Third Division Brentford. In 1988, he was loaned to Turkish side Beşiktaş for a season, and performed well with 14 goals in 24 league games and he also got his first taste of silverware, helping the club to a 3–1 aggregate victory over Fenerbahçe S.K. in the Turkish Cup. He returned to the QPR side for the 1989–90 season, and appeared in nine First Division matches as well as scoring his first two English league goals. He fared better in 1990–91, playing in 18 league games and scoring eight goals as QPR ended up in a mid-table position. His 10 goals from 23 games in 1991–92 helped ensure QPR's status as founder members of the new FA Premier League for the 1992–93 season, 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 sides. In his autobiography, Sir Les, Ferdinand wrote of his pride at scoring a hat-trick in a 5–3 win against Everton at Goodison Park in April 1993, a place where he had previously received racist abuse. Ferdinand's fine form continued into 1993–94, during which his 16 goals from 36 games helped QPR finish ninth. Despite mounting speculation of a move to either Manchester United or Arsenal, he signed a two-year contract with QPR that summer. In 1994–95, he scored 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, he played under four different managers – Jim Smith, Trevor Francis, Don Howe and Gerry Francis.

Did You Know?

Ferdinand scored the 10,000th goal in Premiership history on 15 December 2001 in a 4–0 win against Fulham.
He scored 50 goals in only 84 games at Newcastle United.