Les Ferdinand facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Les Ferdinand

Ferdinand watching a Queens Park Rangers match in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth	(1966-12-08) 8 December 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth	Acton, England
Height	5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
	Viking Sports
	Southall
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1984–1986	Southall
1986–1987	Hayes	33	(19)
1987–1995	Queens Park Rangers	163	(80)
1988	→ Brentford (loan)	3	(0)
1988–1989	→ Beşiktaş (loan)	24	(14)
1995–1997	Newcastle United	80	(50)
1997–2003	Tottenham Hotspur	118	(33)
2003	West Ham United	14	(2)
2003–2004	Leicester City	29	(12)
2004–2005	Bolton Wanderers	12	(1)
2005	Reading	12	(1)
2005–2006	Watford	0	(0)
Total		443	(184)
National team
1998	England B	1	(1)
1993–1998	England	17	(5)
Teams managed
2015	Queens Park Rangers (caretaker)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Leslie Ferdinand (born December 8, 1966) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. He also works as a television expert.

Les Ferdinand was a striker, known for scoring many goals. He played for famous teams like Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle United, and Tottenham Hotspur. He also played in Turkey for Beşiktaş.

Before becoming a professional, he played for smaller, non-league teams like Southall and Hayes. He played 17 times for the England national team. He was part of the England squads for Euro 96 and the World Cup 98.

Les Ferdinand is one of the top goal scorers in the history of the Premier League. He scored 149 goals and helped set up 49 more for his teammates. After he stopped playing, he became a coach. He worked as a strikers' coach for Tottenham Hotspur. Later, he returned to QPR as a director.

Early Life and Family

Ferdinand was born in Acton, a part of London. He has famous football relatives. Rio and Anton Ferdinand are his second cousins. Kane Ferdinand is also his cousin.

His book, Sir Les, was published in 1997. In 2005, he received an award called the MBE. This award recognizes his achievements.

In 2020, Ferdinand shared that he faced unfair treatment because of his race during his career. This happened both as a player and as a director.

Club Career Highlights

Starting Out in Football

Ferdinand began his football journey in non-league teams. He first played for Viking Sports. Then he moved to Southall. He played his first league game for Southall in August 1984.

He was part of the Southall team that reached the FA Vase final in 1986. They lost the final 3–0. After this, Ferdinand joined Hayes. He scored 20 goals in 42 games for Hayes.

His talent was noticed by Queens Park Rangers (QPR). He moved to QPR for £50,000.

Time at Queens Park Rangers

Ferdinand made his first appearance for QPR on April 20, 1987. He was 20 years old. He played as a substitute in a 4–1 loss to Coventry City.

In 1988, he went on loan to Beşiktaş in Turkey for a season. He did very well there, scoring 14 goals in 24 league games. He also won his first trophy, the Turkish Cup, with Beşiktaş.

He came back to QPR for the 1989–90 season. He scored his first two English league goals that year. In the 1990–91 season, he scored eight goals in 18 games.

By the 1992–93 season, he became a top striker. He scored 20 goals in 37 games. QPR finished fifth, which was the highest position for any London team. Ferdinand was very proud of scoring three goals in one game against Everton in April 1993. He said it gave him extra pleasure because he had faced unfair treatment from some Everton fans before.

Ferdinand continued his great form in the 1993–94 season. He scored 16 goals in 36 games. He signed a new contract with QPR that summer. In the 1994–95 season, he scored 24 goals in the Premier League. People started to think he would move to a bigger club soon.

Moving to Newcastle United

In 1995, Ferdinand was sold to Newcastle for £6 million. His old club, Hayes, received £600,000 from this transfer. Hayes even built a special room called "The Ferdinand Suite" in his honor.

His time at Newcastle was very successful. He scored 29 goals in his first season. He helped Newcastle almost win the Premier League title in the 1995–96 season. Newcastle was leading the league by 12 points at one point. But Manchester United caught up and won.

In both of his seasons at Newcastle, Ferdinand's team finished second in the Premier League. In 1997, the manager Kevin Keegan left Newcastle. Ferdinand later said he regretted leaving Newcastle. He had hoped to stay there for his whole career.

Ferdinand scored 50 goals in just 84 games for Newcastle. He played very well with Alan Shearer. Newcastle fans loved him and called him 'Sir Les'. When he returned to St James' Park as a Tottenham player, fans gave him a standing ovation. He was also honored in the Newcastle United Foundation Hall of Fame in 2017.

Playing for Tottenham Hotspur

In 1997, Ferdinand joined Tottenham Hotspur for £6 million. This was the club he supported as a boy. Injuries made his first season difficult. But he helped Spurs avoid being moved down to a lower league.

Ferdinand helped Spurs win the League Cup in 1999. They beat Leicester City 1–0 in the final at Wembley. Injuries limited his goals in his first three seasons.

He scored more goals in the next two seasons. He scored 10 goals in 2000–01 and 15 goals in 2001–02. On December 15, 2001, Ferdinand scored the 10,000th goal in Premier League history. This happened in a 4–0 win against Fulham. He played in another League Cup final in 2002, but Spurs lost 2–1.

Later Career Teams

After finding it hard to get a regular spot at Spurs, he moved to West Ham United in January 2003. He scored his first goal for West Ham against his old club, Tottenham. However, West Ham was moved down from the Premier League.

Ferdinand then joined Leicester City for free. He scored 14 Premier League goals for Leicester, even at 37 years old. After Leicester was also moved down, he joined Bolton Wanderers.

He scored a memorable last-minute goal for Bolton against Manchester United. He left Bolton in January 2005. A few days later, he signed with Reading. He scored one league goal for Reading.

Ferdinand joined Watford in 2005. He did not play any official games for them. He retired from football a few months before his 40th birthday.

Playing for England

Ferdinand played his first game for England in February 1993. It was against San Marino. He scored the last goal in a 6–0 win at Wembley.

He was part of the England teams for Euro 96 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup. However, he did not play in any matches during those tournaments. Overall, he played 17 times for England and scored five goals.

Coaching and Director Roles

On November 5, 2008, Ferdinand joined the coaching staff at Tottenham Hotspur. He worked with the strikers. He left the club in June 2014.

In October 2014, Ferdinand became the head of football operations at Queens Park Rangers. In February 2015, he became the director of football. He also briefly served as a caretaker manager in 2015.

On June 16, 2023, Ferdinand announced he was stepping down as director of football at QPR. He felt it was the right time to move on after eight years.

Career Statistics

Awards and Achievements

Beşiktaş

• Turkish Cup: 1988–89

Tottenham Hotspur

• Football League Cup: 1998–99; runner-up: 2001–02

Individual Awards

• PFA Players' Player of the Year: 1995–96 (This award is given to the best player in the league, chosen by other players)
• PFA Team of the Year: 1995–96 Premier League (He was chosen as one of the best players in the league for that season)
• North-East FWA Player of the Year: 1996
• Scorer of the 10,000th Premier League goal – Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
• Leicester City Player of the Year: 2003–04
• Newcastle United Hall of Fame Inductee

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