Profile of Les Ferdinand on Famous Like Me

Les Ferdinand MBE (born December 18, 1966 in London) is an English footballer. He was a powerful and elegant centre forward famed for his ability in the air. He is the cousin of Rio and Anton Ferdinand.

Ferdinand started his career in non-league football, first at Southall and then moving to Hayes. He was spotted by QPR and moved there for £30,000. Ferdinand had two loan spells at Brentford and Besiktas (in Turkey). He became first choice at QPR in 1991 and made his England debut in 1994. He had a great career with Rangers and was a often seen leaping like a salmon to power home headers. Much to the fans' disappointment, Ferdinand was sold to Newcastle in 1995 for £6 million, with Hayes recieving £600,000 of this (a huge sum for a non-league side) due to a sell-on clause). He scored 29 goals in his first season with them, and got them within touching distance of the Premiership title. Meanwhile, his absence precipitated Queens Park Rangers' relegation in the 95/96 season.

In 1997 Ferdinand was bought by Spurs, again for £6 million. In the 2002/2003 season he moved to West Ham, but the club was relegated at the end of the season. Ferdinand joined Leicester on a free transfer at the beginning of the 2003/2004 season. After the Foxes were relegated at the end of that season he joined Bolton Wanderers, but left them on January 2, 2005. Four days later, Ferdinand signed with Reading. His contract at the club lasted until the end of the 2004/2005 season, at which point he retired from professional football. He was made an MBE in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours List. In September 2005, Ferdinand committed to non-contract terms with Football League Championship side Watford_F.C. as both part-time player and coach.

For England, Ferdinand was capped 17 times, scoring five goals. He was part of the Euro 96 and 1998 World Cup squads.

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