Les Ferdinand

Leslie Ferdinand was born on 8 December 1966 and works as a football coach, former professional striker, and television pundit. He played in the Premier League for Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Leicester City, and Bolton Wanderers, and also had stints in Turkey with Beşiktaş and in the Football League with Brentford, Reading, and Watford. Before turning professional, he played non-league football for Southall and Hayes. Ferdinand earned 17 caps for England and was selected for the squads at Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup. He ranks eleventh on the Premier League’s all-time scoring list with 149 goals, plus 49 assists.

After retiring as a player, Ferdinand became a pundit. He returned to Tottenham in 2008 as a striker coach, staying until 2014, then went back to QPR as head of football operations and later director of football. In 2015, he served briefly as caretaker manager.

Ferdinand grew up in Acton, Greater London. He is the second cousin of Rio and Anton Ferdinand, and a cousin of Kane Ferdinand. His autobiography, Sir Les, came out in 1997. He was made an MBE in the 2005 Birthday Honours. In a February 2020 interview, he said fans racially abused him both as a player and as a director of football.

His club career began at non-league Viking Sports, then Southall, where he debuted in August 1984 and reached the 1986 FA Vase final. He moved to Hayes, scoring 20 goals in 42 appearances, and QPR signed him for £50,000. Ferdinand made his QPR debut in April 1987 and was loaned to Brentford and later Beşiktaş, where he scored 14 league goals and won the Turkish Cup. Back at QPR, he scored his first English league goals in 1989–90, netted eight in 1990–91, and helped the club become Premier League founders. In 1992–93, he scored 20 league goals as QPR finished fifth, the highest of any London side. He scored a hat-trick against Everton in April 1993, a ground where he had faced racist abuse. He stayed at QPR through 1994–95, scoring 24 league goals that season.

Newcastle bought him for £6 million in 1995, with Hayes receiving £600,000 from a sell-on clause. Ferdinand scored 29 goals in his first season, helping Newcastle nearly win the title after leading by 12 points. He collected runners-up medals both seasons. After Kevin Keegan left, Kenny Dalglish sold him to free up funds. Ferdinand later said he regretted leaving. He scored 50 goals in 84 games for Newcastle, forming a partnership with Alan Shearer, and remains affectionately known as ‘Sir Les’ on Tyneside. When he returned as a Tottenham player, he received a standing ovation and broke down in tears trying to put on Shearer’s number 9 shirt for a lap of honour.