Rio Ferdinand--Five Star--The Biography (13 page)

T
he football world was stunned when, in July 2001, Harry Redknapp suddenly quit West Ham because of a dispute over the club’s potential summer transfer fund. He had been hoping to strengthen his squad with the remainder of the £18 million he’d raked in from Rio’s move to Leeds. Redknapp, a former Upton Park player, had been in charge since August 1994 and was the second-longest-serving manager in the top flight after Sir Alex Ferguson.

Redknapp’s loyal deputy, Frank Lampard senior, left shortly afterwards when the club announced that Glenn Roeder was taking over as manager. Lampard’s son Frank junior – one of Rio’s best friends – immediately left the Hammers and headed for Chelsea in an £11 million deal. Lampard had been unsettled ever since Rio’s transfer to Leeds United.

Lampard could have joined Rio at Leeds but chose
Stamford Bridge because he genuinely believed Chelsea were among the biggest clubs in the land. He explained: ‘When Rio left and I saw the success he was having I did feel a bit of what I suppose you could call professional jealousy. But just because something suited him didn’t mean it would be the same for me. With Chelsea I am surrounded by world-class players in a squad they say is old and isn’t but it is vastly experienced.’

It was an important point that Rio took on board. However much he loved Leeds and was grateful for their attitude towards him, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his head that Leeds weren’t really up there with the glamour boys. It could be one of the main reasons why they never won anything.

Then Rio got quite upset when Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale stated publicly that Frank Lampard was not worth the £11 million Chelsea paid for him. In Rio’s book that seemed an unnecessary insult. A lot of his mates reckoned Ridsdale was ‘out of order’. It was the first time Rio felt things were happening at Leeds of which he did not completely approve.

At the start of the 2001–2 season Rio realised a childhood dream by being appointed Leeds United’s captain. Club boss David O’Leary was convinced that the role would make him an even stronger member of the closely knit Leeds set-up. Rio, still only 22, took over from South African Lucas Radebe, an inspirational leader for the club until he suffered extensive injury problems. Rio was given the job of skipper ahead of regular stand-in Gary Kelly and tough guy Danny Mills. Within days the new England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson was hailing Rio as an England captain of the near future.

Rio was understandably well chuffed by the appointment
and the accompanying praise: ‘I’m delighted to be honest. As a kid you dream about leading your team out and this is a chance to take with both hands because to be captain of such a huge club is something to be very proud of and my family will be too. This sets me up for the season, knowing the manager and the staff think I am capable of doing the job, which I will do to the best of my capabilities. As I have always said, I came to this club to win things and if that happens as captain then that will be fantastic. But as far as I am concerned it doesn’t matter who captains the club, as I think we’re all captains out there on the pitch and we win something together.’

O’Leary was confident Rio would be a fine captain. ‘Rio has been an absolutely fantastic buy and I’m full of admiration for him. Rio is without doubt a top-class player who can only improve and the price we paid may have brought us some stick but he is already looking like a very reasonable buy. I was lucky when I said I wanted him that I have a chairman who could sign the cheque when everybody doubted our sanity. But after 20 years as a player in the position, I like to think I know a little bit about playing at centre-back, and I believe he is pure quality. I thought he did very well towards the end of the season and grew into being a potential captain and I think he will prove to be a fantastic skipper for many years to come. It’s no reflection on Lucas Radebe, who has done a brilliant job. He is a great guy to have around the place, but I just felt Rio’s game improved when he did the job while Lucas was out injured last season.’

The next career highlight for Rio would be the mammoth task of facing the Germans in Munich to try to salvage any hope of England qualifying for the World Cup Finals. Rio wasn’t worried by the prospect of facing giant German
striker Carsten Jancker, all six feet four inches of him. He told one journalist: ‘It doesn’t matter how they come, tall, short, fat or ugly, as long as they don’t score any goals.’

Rio and the rest of his England teammates had been working on the Germans’ tactics during training. Sven-Goran Eriksson made them all aware of how the Germans would probably approach the game. Rio had never faced a German team, either at club or international level, so he had no hang-ups about playing against the national side in Munich. Rio would be making his eleventh start and winning his sixteenth cap in Munich. And he knew that his experience with Leeds during their Champions League run the previous season had added greater maturity to his game.

Eriksson had given the entire squad a new confidence in their abilities. Now they had to go out on the pitch and prove it. And they did on 1 September 2001: Germany 1 England 5. Rio’s contribution to this outstanding, legendary victory against the old enemy was vital. The opposition were completely destroyed even though they went one up after just six minutes. The opening half-hour was fast and furious as both sides missed numerous chances. Then Michael Owen scored a hat-trick, which, along with goals from Heskey and Gerrard, sealed the Germans’ fate and put England back in control of World Cup Group 9.

The historic victory was without doubt the greatest moment in Rio’s international career to date. He looked commanding at the back. It was Germany’s worst home loss in nearly 70 years and one that made the rest of the footballing world sit up and take notice of Eriksson’s gifted pack of young lions.

The events of September 11 in America soon overshadowed England’s great success and Rio was saddened to hear that his great friend Frank Lampard had blotted his
copybook by taking part in a drinking binge around hotels at Heathrow Airport on the day after terrorists attacked New York and Washington. Lampard and three other Chelsea teammates found their careers in jeopardy because of one very irresponsible incident. Yet another lesson to Rio to keep his nose clean. Fortunately, he now had girlfriend Rebecca Ellison to go home to each evening. The relationship introduced perfect stability to Rio’s life and, hopefully, would help him avoid any more pitfalls and clichéd tabloid revelations. Sadly, that was not to be the case.

On 2 October – just a few days before England’s vital World Cup clash with Greece at Old Trafford – Rio and his England teammate Ashley Cole proved they still had more lessons to learn about the art of keeping out of the public eye. They accompanied ex-Arsenal player Paolo Vernazza to two West End lap-dancing bars. Rio’s behaviour only came to light two months later when he and Cole were quizzed by police about the night in question because it ended with Watford midfielder Vernazza being stabbed. Detectives spoke to the two young internationals about events leading up to the incident, which had left Vernazza with knife injuries after he surprised an intruder at his home. Although there was no suggestion that either Rio or Cole was involved, Vernazza told police that earlier in the evening he had been to the two lap-dancing clubs with Rio and Cole.

At Old Trafford, England almost threw it all away with a nail-biting 2–2 draw with Greece which nearly ended in disaster until David Beckham curled in a stunning free kick in stoppage time. Meanwhile the Germans’ 0–0 draw with Finland left them with the tricky task of playing home and away to Russia in order to qualify for Korea–Japan 2002.

Following England’s qualification for the 2002 World Cup Finals, it was back to reality for Rio as Leeds beat
Grasshoppers 2–1 in a UEFA Cup tie. The match came hot on the heels of five successive defeats for Leeds on the road in Europe, plus a first League defeat at the hands of lowly Sunderland the previous weekend.

In the winter of 2001, it can be revealed for the first time, Rio began secretly taking acting lessons. Typically, he was already looking ahead to when he would have to hang up his boots. His heroes in that department were Ian Wright and Vinnie Jones, who’d both managed the switch from soccer to showbiz. ‘I really admire what Vinnie and my mate Ian have done. One day I’d love to have a crack at acting, or my other great passion in life, music.’

Rio adored being in the limelight and his new position as skipper at Leeds meant even more TV interviews and public appearances. He believed he came over pretty well on the small screen, so acting was a natural move.

On Friday, 10 November 2001 Rio turned out for England in their 1–1 friendly draw with Sweden at Old Trafford. It was hard for the team to lift themselves after getting through to the World Cup Finals following their draw with Greece. Sweden certainly showed what a difficult team they are to break down. But the World Cup was now beckoning and Rio saw it as the ultimate showcase for his talents.

During the 2001–2 Premiership season, Rio devoted large amounts of time and effort to improving the prospects of youngsters whose future appeared as bleak as his own had once seemed. Already an accomplished and confident public speaker, he became a regular visitor to schools in London and Yorkshire, where he addressed racial issues and tried to encourage youngsters to work their way out of the ghetto.

Rio also became deeply involved in the Prince’s Trust and
the National Literacy Trust, whose director, Neil McClelland, was impressed by his enthusiasm. At Christmas 2001 Rio persuaded Leeds to stage a dinner at which players were to paint designs on plates for a Prince’s Trust charity auction. The team had just crashed to an appalling defeat at bottom-of-the-table Leicester, but Rio cajoled his dispirited teammates into a spot of artwork and in the process raised £25,000. The community affairs manager at Leeds, Emma Stanford, was full of praise for the club captain: ‘Rio’s got tremendous attitude. He’ll stay and talk football with children who have cancer, for example. He never talks down to the kids. He speaks their language and they’re transfixed by him.’

Just after Christmas one of Rio’s oldest Peckham mates – 21-year-old Gillingham striker Marlon King – was given a one-year road ban and a fine of £650 for drink-driving. King was one-and-a-half times over the limit when police stopped him in Streatham, south London, the previous September. It seemed a shame that he hadn’t taken any notice of what had happened to his friend Rio back in 1997.

Many cynics believed that the trial of Leeds United’s Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer in January 2002 was proof that the saying ‘British justice is the best money can buy’ was spot on. The two millionaire players walked out of court as free men after an Asian, Sarfraz Najeib, was left battered, bleeding and unconscious in Leeds city centre. One of Woodgate’s friends was found guilty of the attack and sentenced to six years.

Woodgate, described by one witness as having jumped on the victim, though clearly the jury didn’t believe it, was convicted of affray and the judge sentenced him to 100 hours of community service. Bowyer, though blood had been found on his jacket and the judge accused him of telling a series of lies under police investigation, was cleared
of all charges. However, because of those lies, the judge imposed on Bowyer the obligation to pay £1 million in costs. Woodgate would also have to pay the same amount.

Rio has never spoken about the trial, but many of his friends in Peckham wondered how he felt about still playing alongside Bowyer, who already had ‘form’. As a 19-year-old who’d just joined Leeds from Charlton six years earlier, he’d been fined £4,500 for attacking Asian staff at a McDonald’s restaurant in east London.

In Leeds a small hard core of supporters who’d led racist taunts at Elland Road for so many years tried to claim that Rio, undeniably black, had been bought by the club because he was a whiter shade of black. It was sickening stuff which was rightly condemned by all sides.

After the trial, the family of Sarfraz Najeib were left mystified as to why the words shouted at him, ‘Do you want some, Paki?’, were not stated in open court. For some reason the prosecution decided that bringing racism into the equation would muddy the legal waters.

Although Rio had arrived at Leeds after Woodgate and Bowyer had been arrested, he still could not avoid the controversy. Chairman Peter Ridsdale later claimed that Rio had only been bought as ‘cover’ for Woodgate in case he got jailed. That in itself was upsetting to Rio because he rated himself a better player than Woodgate. Others in the club were even suggesting that Leeds bought Rio partly because they wanted to improve their racial mix. There were already other black players in the squad, but the club wanted to appear ‘colour friendly’. In fairness it seems unlikely that they would go as far as spending £18 million on a player just to prove that point.

But Rio continued to feel the undercurrent of racism while playing for Leeds. The bigoted remarks yelled during home
games deeply offended him and left him totally bewildered that this sort of behaviour was still tolerated in modern society. Rio believed that cutting out racism in British football was as important as any other issue in the game and joined the football-linked project Show Racism the Red Card.

Rio felt so strongly about the race issue that he agreed to take part in a 20-minute video which combined football action with interviews of players on their experiences of racism in football. The video was targeted at youngsters at schools across the country. Rio also hoped that other countries might take note of what was happening in Britain. ‘When I was growing up, no one bothered. It’s changing and it’s changing for the better.’

Rio saw Muhammad Ali as the ultimate role model, regardless of colour or religion, because he was always his own man and stuck to his beliefs. As another black professional player pointed out: ‘Ali was a black guy and he won a gold medal and threw it in the river because he wasn’t appreciated at all for being a man, you know what I mean? He was considered less than a man really because he was black. You’ve got the best fighter ever, in the history of the world, and he couldn’t go and have a cup of coffee. Yes, racism has got better and you know hopefully in 20 or 40 years’ time there won’t be any.’