Les Ferdinand

Early career

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.

Queens Park Rangers

Ferdinand 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…

Ferdinand made his England debut in February 1993 against San Marino, scoring the final goal in a 6–0 victory at Wembley. He was part of the Euro 96 and 1998 FIFA World Cup squads, although he did not feature in any of the tournament matches. He was capped 17 times, scoring five goals.

On 5 November 2008 Ferdinand joined fellow ex-Tottenham player Tim Sherwood on the coaching staff of Tottenham Hotspur, to work with the strikers. Ferdinand left the club on 19 June 2014. In October 2014, Ferdinand became head of football operations at Queens Park Rangers, before being appointed as director of football in February 2015. On 16 June 2023, it was announced that Ferdinand had stepped down as director of football with the west London club, citing it was the right time to move on after eight years at the helm.

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.