Rio Ferdinand--Five Star--The Biography (5 page)

Rio’s old Bluecoat pal Mark Atkinson never forgot the day Rio returned to his old school to hand out an award. ‘Rio arrived in his BMW and I kept my Ford Fiesta parked around the back. I’m envious of all the money he’s earning but I’m not jealous of him. I’ve bumped into Rio out and about. We have a chat and he’s still got his feet on the ground.’

It was typical of Rio to show up on his old manor and lend some support to his friends. There was no doubt he
still enjoyed the company of some heavy characters from the Friary Estate, but as they still was to be protecting and nurturing him it was unlikely he’d blot his copybook.

I
n April 1997 Rio damaged his ankle ligaments during his debut for the England U-21 side in their 0–0 draw with Switzerland. Harry Redknapp refused to make a fuss, commenting: ‘It’s unfortunate but I’m not going to make an issue out of it. I would always release players for internationals. If clubs are going to stop letting players go for internationals, then we won’t have an England team. If West Ham had prevented Bobby Moore from playing for England in his early years, he wouldn’t have gone on to win 108 caps.’

The U-21 line-up that night makes fascinating reading in the light of what has happened over the past five years:

C. Day (Crystal Palace), M. Broomes (Blackburn), R. Ferdinand (West Ham), M. Hall (Coventry), J. Carragher (Liverpool), L. Bowyer (capt, Leeds), C. Holland (Birmingham),
M Carbon (Derby), S. Hughes (Arsenal), D. Huckerby (Coventry), R. Humphreys (Sheffield Wednesday). Subs: L. Briscoe (Sheffield Wednesday), B. Roberts (Middlesbrough), J. Morris (Chelsea), M. Bridges (Sunderland), I. Moore (Nottingham Forest).

England U-21 coach Peter Taylor was very excited by certain players, including Rio. But behind his praise lay a serious issue. The English game was finally starting to reap the benefits of youth. Off-the-field professionalism, superior technique and training methods, plus dietary discipline, were positive aspects inherited from the vast influx of players from abroad.

At last the quick fix of importing established stars on massive wages was starting to lose pace. As Taylor explained: ‘I quite like the foreign players being over here as long as they show a good example to the kids. I’m a great Klinsmann fan. I have spoken to people who worked with him at Spurs and they said he was fantastic in everything he did and young players can only learn from that. But I’m not one for having too many in a team. I preferred the old rule with three at the most. We wouldn’t want to lose those aspects of the English game, like team spirit, which are recognised as good attributes.’ Ironically, Rio’s squad at West Ham still featured at least 11 different nationalities.

TV pundit and former Hammers hero Trevor Brooking was particularly impressed by Rio. ‘He seems to have every attribute. He is one of those defensive players who can come into forward positions and that’s something we must produce more of in this country.’ Brooking also felt strongly about the huge influx of foreign players into the Premiership. ‘You can argue it both ways. It’s not easy to get the right balance because you have got to get results in the Premiership as well as introduce youngsters. Players
like Rio must benefit from their presence but it’s a long-term impact.’

The irony of the entire debate about foreign players was that the current crop of young talent coming through the ranks had been produced in an environment inspired by the way countries such as Germany and Holland developed their young players. In the 1980s the emphasis at clubs and the FA’s National School at Lilleshall was on physical presence and athleticism, rather than on technique and developing personality on and off the pitch, as it was eventually to become.

At that time it was all about results and winning. And while German and Dutch youth and U-21 teams would get steamrollered by their English counterparts, their players would develop into international players used to playing the same system as the national team, whereas British players seemed to stagnate. As Trevor Brooking explained: ‘We went through a spell in the eighties when you had to be tall and big. A number of clubs would turn players away for being too small, which was rubbish.’

Now there was a real expectation in the footballing community that players of the calibre of young Rio would develop to full national level by playing a similar 3-5-2 formation with the emphasis on developing ball skills and technique. U-21 coach Peter Taylor even confirmed that the future was more important in some ways than the results for his U-21 squad. ‘Of course we want to win but Glenn [Hoddle] has assured me that he wants the young players in and results don’t matter. If it was just a case of producing a team just to get a result I would be doing my job wrong. This is a different attitude to what there has been in the past.’

Then Rio’s U-21 squad colleague, Leicester City starlet
Emile Heskey, hit the headlines after allegedly getting so drunk he missed the banquet following his club’s Coca-Cola Cup victory. ‘I had one too many and I didn’t get to the party,’ Heskey explained. ‘I have never drunk very much, nothing major. I don’t really like it. It doesn’t do anything for me.’ Many of Heskey’s U-21 teammates, including Rio, were surprised by the vast publicity surrounding what seemed like a harmless incident. But older, wiser heads warned the youngsters to heed the warning signs and be careful to avoid such problems.

Meanwhile Harry Redknapp continued holding together the Hammers despite some precarious moments in the Premiership. His experience, as an adept football manager, racehorse owner and enthusiastic punter, had long since taught him the difficult art of pragmatism. ‘I suppose the bookies wouldn’t fancy us to go down this time. But something tells me it’s going to be even harder this coming season.’

With that in mind, Redknapp wasted no time during the close season of 1997 in strengthening his squad with two more foreign imports plus a number of other domestic players. He explained his spending spree in typical Redknapp style. ‘Everyone is having a go – we’re all spending our money from the TV deal. We finished above Chelsea last season and look at them. They splashed out a fortune. We’re all having to spend up and it’s going to be really tough.’

Once again Redknapp made a point of also mentioning his up-and-coming youngsters like Rio and in the process had a swipe at the footballing authorities. ‘PFA chief Gordon Taylor has criticised us for signing all the foreign players and is worried about the young players coming through, but I’ll have a bet with him now that players like Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard will make it. The young
players will still come through if they’re good enough.’

But for the moment the real focus of attention remained on the Hammers’ European hopes for the following season’s UEFA Cup competition. Redknapp insisted that team spirit was at an all-time high. ‘For the first time since I’ve been here, there’s not a player at the club I would rather see the back of. When I started with Billy Bonds there were half a dozen who were a disgrace. Bill wanted them out, I wanted them out, but it takes time. Now everyone here wants to play for the club. The Premier League is the place to be. It’s a very exciting time.’

Rio knew only too well that if he was to become a serious contender for a place in England’s World Cup squad the following year, he needed to come to terms with the fact that only two people in his life really mattered – Harry Redknapp and Glenn Hoddle.

Rio’s former West Ham teammate Alvin Martin crossed paths with the youngster just before Martin quit Upton Park in 1997. He said then: ‘Rio’s good enough to go to France ’98 and he’s the sort who would respond to the challenge of playing against the best. I think he has learned in the past few months that even the smallest indiscretion will be magnified because of the position he is in. He has learned that very quickly. I know him well enough to say that he is a cracking lad. You get a feel for people, don’t you? There’s something about him that is basically nice.’

During the summer break of 1997 England coach Glenn Hoddle made enquiries about Rio’s availability, only to discover he was suffering from an injured foot. And Rio himself went out of his way to dismiss suggestions he might be in the running for a place at the 1998 World Cup Finals in France. ‘It all sounds a bit far-fetched,’ he said at
the time. ‘It’s nice to hear people say that kind of thing about yourself. But if you sit and drool over that, you could become obsessed. I don’t let it get to me.’

But, behind the scenes, Rio’s international stardom was already being plotted. His grandparents’ nationalities meant he could have played for either Ireland or France, but he’d already made the crucial decision by turning out for the English U-21s. He later explained: ‘I was born here, I’m from south London and my mum’s English. Simple as that.’

Everyone was full of praise for Rio and West Ham during that summer break in 1997. The previous season they’d produced mobile, well co-ordinated and tactically aggressive performances. They were tight at the back and were being tipped to go even further in the following Premiership season. Ian Pearce’s arrival from Blackburn had had a particularly steadying influence on young Rio. His calmness under pressure and astute distribution of the ball helped teach Rio a few important lessons.

It was no surprise that Glenn Hoddle dispatched his Number Two, John Gorman, to White Hart Lane to watch Rio’s progress on the second Saturday of the 1997–8 season. Rio’s performance as sweeper during West Ham’s 2–1 win over Tottenham was so superb it prompted some Spurs officials to describe him as the best young defender in the world. Even Gorman admitted: ‘Rio’s obviously a great prospect but I wouldn’t like to put too much pressure on the lad. After all, he’s only had two games this season, but we will be keeping close tabs on him over the coming months.’ The Hammers’ managing director, Peter Storrie, let it be known he was going to place a bet on Rio winning an international cap before Christmas.

And just to make sure all the praise didn’t go to his young head, Rio’s feet were kept firmly on the ground by West Ham’s assistant manager, Frank Burrows, who always picked the two nine-a-side teams during training. Harry Redknapp later explained: ‘The other day it was the “Good-looking” team against the “Uglies” and he picked Rio for the Ugly line-up. Rio couldn’t believe it. All through the match, he kept muttering, “It’s impossible”, but it was a good laugh and he joined in with the spirit of the thing.’

In some ways this incident summed up Rio’s Jack-the-Lad opinion of himself. He’d spent so long ducking and diving on the Friary Estate and charming even the most evil of characters that he believed he was now somebody – a force to be reckoned with in football. The only problem was that some others still saw him as a south London kid with a good pair of feet. There was still a long way to go, although you wouldn’t believe it from some of the glowing reports about Rio.

Simon Barnes in
The Times
perfectly summed up the grace and artistry that made Rio such a great talent. ‘At the age of 18 he is a trifle long in the tooth to be considered an infant, but he is a fine and precious talent. The point is not that he can play football, but the fact that he understands it. He understands the rhythms and the patterns, the well-laid strategies and the sudden inspirations that make up the game of football.

‘He is a defender with ball skills, but that fact does him an injustice. A footballing centre-half is usually a big bloke who likes to fanny about on the ball and then gets caught out in some mad foray upfield. The point with Ferdinand is that there are no frills in his game. He eschews the easy back pass and turns forward neatly to lay the ball into midfield, but there is nothing self-indulgent about it.

‘Watching him play is an astonishing, rather disquieting
experience. There is something almost freakish about his calm, his understanding. Naturally, people have been coming forward to say good things about him. “Immense skill,” said the West Ham manager Harry Redknapp. “Incredible maturity,” Roger Cross, the assistant manager of Tottenham Hotspur, added after a game earlier this season.’

Other sports writers soon picked up on the Rio phenomenon. Typical was Henry Winter in the
Daily Telegraph:
‘A new wave promises to race in across the familiar shore. Come the season’s climax, when West Ham visit Manchester United, two of the tyros on view could be firmly established in the national consciousness. West Ham offer Rio Ferdinand, a mobile central defender who impressed while on work experience with England at Bisham Abbey. In opposition at Old Trafford should be David Beckham, already a double-winner and now heading inexorably towards England recognition.’

Then, out of the blue at the end of August, the scene was set for Rio to become the second-youngest player, after the legendary Duncan Edwards, ever to put on an England shirt. With Arsenal’s Tony Adams and Martin Keown out and Stuart Pearce and Sol Campbell nursing injuries, Rio was called up for the England squad for the World Cup qualifying clash with Moldova in early September despite having just two U-21 caps and 16 Premiership starts to his name.

Everyone at West Ham tried to play down the situation because they wanted to ensure that Rio’s transition from ghetto kid to international football star went smoothly. ‘The kid’s definitely got a lucky streak but you know what they say, “You make your own luck in this life …”’ said one who should know.

The problem was that Rio’s luck was about to run out.

O
n 31 August 1997 Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed died when their chauffeur, Henri Paul, smashed a Mercedes into a concrete pillar in a Paris tunnel. Paul’s decision to ignore basic rules about not drinking and driving helped deprive the world of one of its most glamorous figures. Flags were immediately flown at half mast throughout the UK and local authority buildings opened books of condolence for members of the public to sign.

A few hours after the Princess’s death, in the early hours of the morning of Monday, 1 September, Rio was pulling out of a garage in his BMW in Colliers Wood, south London. His lights were off. Not surprisingly, he was stopped by the police and breathalysed and found to have 55 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. He was just over the legal limit of 53 micrograms.

Rio told the police officers he had no idea alcohol was
still in his system but that didn’t stop them arresting him for drink-driving. Rio had gone out with a bunch of mates following the Hammers’ thrilling 3–1 victory over Wimbledon two days earlier and also to celebrate his England call-up. They went out in his car, but returned in a taxi to his home in Peckham because he was worried he might be over the limit. But Rio then made the mistake of having three more drinks at dinner with friends on the Sunday evening before driving home in the early hours. This effectively ‘topped up’ the alcohol remaining in his blood. Rio’s arrest tragically mirrored the circumstances behind the death of the ‘People’s Princess’. The timing could not have been worse.

As Rio later recalled, when he was stopped and the breathalyser showed positive, it sent a shiver down his spine. ‘The thought of being over the limit didn’t even come into my mind. I thought it was a routine check because I’d got a flash car. When it came up positive I was sure it was wrong. The second one also came up positive and I just collapsed inside.

‘I saw my whole life crumbling. I thought, What am I going to tell my mum, dad and West Ham boss Harry Redknapp? At that point Glenn Hoddle didn’t even come into my mind. It was only later, during the three hours I was at the police station, it hit me that I had to tell Glenn as well. I begged the policeman to let me off this one time. I said, “I just want to go home now, please let me go.” He knew I’d been picked for England but he said, “You can’t expect to be let off just because of that.”’

Rio’s mum eventually turned up at the police station. As soon as Rio told her what had happened, she said, ‘Right, we’ve got to sort this out.’ As usual, it was Janice to the rescue of the son she’d fought so hard to bring up safely
and securely. Within three hours of Rio’s arrest, West Ham had provided a legal team and he was released on bail.

Janice’s take on those events tells us a lot about her relationship with her oldest son. She told one friend: ‘He’s totally devastated. On Sunday he went out for a meal and later drove some of his friends home only to find he was still over the limit. He usually drinks Coke or lemonade. I don’t like alcohol and never have it in the house. We are not drinkers in this house and none of us realised that was possible. We are all so sad. Rio has such a solid head on his shoulders. He has been very strong and positive about keeping away from temptation. He’s really walked the straight line.’

Not surprisingly, news of Rio’s arrest soon leaked out to the media. But the nation was in such a numbed state after the death of Princess Diana that it didn’t make the expected huge splash in the tabloids. That was Rio’s only piece of good fortune that week. But the modest projection of the story didn’t stop Fleet Street from asking the inevitable question: ‘Will Rio still play for England against Moldova?’

With the death of the Princess on everyone’s mind, it was always going to be a tough task for England boss Glenn Hoddle to raise the spirits of his team for the World Cup clash with lowly Moldova. In the circumstances he had little choice but to drop Rio from the team. But he insisted Rio stay with the squad. Some suggested that Hoddle never intended to play Rio in the first place and was using the drink-driving arrest to ‘teach Rio a lesson’. Whatever the truth, Rio must have felt that his charmed world had just collapsed all around him.

One of the reasons why Hoddle insisted Rio remain with the squad at Bisham Abbey was that ‘I wanted him to see what he was missing out on.’ He added: ‘This being his
first call-up it had all the more impact. We have had a long chat. He’s very disappointed with what he’s done. He feels he let himself, his club and his family down. He’s not out for good but if he goes and does something else in a month’s time, then there’s a problem. I don’t want to crucify him.’

Hoddle’s sole aim was to provide England with a secure win at Wembley so that they would face Italy in Rome in a far better state of mind than following their earlier dismal 1–0 World Cup qualifiers defeat by Italy at home. Hoddle’s career as boss of the national team had begun a year earlier with a 3–0 win in Moldova. A win at home to Moldova would almost certainly mean a draw in Rome would be enough to secure automatic qualification as the second-placed qualifying team with the best record.

Three days later – on 4 September – Rio appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates Court, where he pleaded guilty to drink-driving and was fined £500 and banned from driving for a year. During the five-minute hearing, prosecutor Anne Davies told the court: ‘Police stopped the car in Priory Road, Colliers Wood, at 1.30am on Monday, September 1 and found Mr Ferdinand driving. He denied he had had anything to drink that night but gave a breath test which was positive.’ Besides the ban and £500 fine, Rio was also ordered to pay £40 costs.

Outside the court he told the waiting press that he thought his drinks might have been spiked with alcopops. He continued to insist that on the day before he was stopped by police he went out for dinner with friends and consumed just two halves of lager before changing to what he thought were soft drinks.

At West Ham, managing director Peter Storrie also
reiterated that Rio was not aware that he was over the limit when he was stopped. ‘Rio thinks the drinks could have been changed without his knowledge. He is full of remorse. But he will be back. He will learn from this.’

The day after his conviction, Rio issued a statement to the media in which he promised to pick up the pieces of his shattered career and even admitted: ‘I’ve been so naive. I’m just so sorry. I am being forced to pay a heavy price. It’s a harsh lesson for me to learn, being so close to gaining my first full England cap. I made a mistake for which I am dreadfully sorry. I cannot apologise enough. This will show a test of my character. I have to prove to people who have stood by me that I can bounce back.’

Janice was constantly by Rio’s side until he joined the England squad at Bisham Abbey. She explained to the press: ‘Rio has been punished but I hope he is not hounded. Just let him get on with playing his football. I would hate to think this might destroy him.’

Throughout the most momentous week in Rio’s career so far there was never any suggestion that he was a heavy drinker. The incident was seen as a lapse of judgement more than an illustration of a self-destructive lifestyle. This was the other reason why Glenn Hoddle allowed him to remain in the squad get-together at Bisham Abbey.

Yet some were highly critical of Hoddle’s decision not to play Rio and accused him of letting his heart rule his head. A number of newspaper commentators were angry with him for treating Rio so differently from the earlier so-called offender Paul Gascoigne, who was accused by his wife of beating her. Many believed that while the whole country wept for Princess Di, public figures like Hoddle should address a strong message to our youngsters. Drink-driving was undoubtedly a terrible offence and, as the nation had
witnessed those past few days, it was something that could be so cruel to the innocent.

But it was felt by some that Hoddle had got it all terribly wrong as he searched for one code of conduct for his players whether they were 18 or 38. There seemed to be certain rules for some while others were treated differently. Rio Ferdinand would become the new Bobby Moore – there was no doubt about it – but it would not be because of the handling of this latest horror decision by the England boss.

Some argued that because Hoddle had been quite a lad off the field in his early days, the old adage of ‘boys will be boys’ still stood. But players needed keeping firmly in their place by a manager who played the game fairly with one and all. Paul Gascoigne’s case made Rio’s situation seem unacceptable for the simple reason that Gazza should have been old enough to know better than to beat up his wife. To rub salt into Rio’s wounds, Hoddle even insisted that his players ‘will do it for the country’ by turning on the style against Moldova, yet he’d left out his most stylish player.

No one was condoning Rio’s behaviour, but it needed to be put in the right perspective. Glenn Hoddle was not only the head coach but a born-again Christian, and that church was there to help, so why did he not sit Rio down and hand out the same treatment he did to Gascoigne? Rio’s track record of just 21 first-team matches before leaping from youth football to international stardom was noted as perhaps meaning he knew no better.

One commentator wrote: ‘I know what Ferdinand is going through. Hoddle should have given him the biggest rollicking he will ever get in his short career and then told him to go out and put it all behind him. Show me a person, let alone a professional footballer, who has gone through
his career without a blemish on his copybook. I always say it is better to get in and out of trouble at an early age so that you can learn from your mistakes, but Ferdinand’s is a ridiculous price to pay. It could well mean us losing the best centre-half we have had for some time if we reach the World Cup Finals in France – all because of something that will be forgotten by then. Not only that, but we have two self-confessed alcoholics, Tony Adams and Paul Merson, representing us!’

Within days of Rio’s arrest and conviction, others were trying to show encouragement to the teenager to ensure he didn’t become too disheartened. In a touching display of loyalty, ex-England manager Terry Venables, now manager of the Aussie Socceroos, told newspapers that Rio and Sol Campbell were two brilliant prospects for the national team over the following 10 years.

Venables had given Sol Campbell his international debut as a sub against Hungary in 1996 as well as including Rio in the Euro ’96 squad. ‘I believe they will be an outstanding double act. Before too long, the opposition will be calling them the Gruesome Twosome!’ he said.

And Venables even pronounced on Rio’s drink driving: ‘… these things happen. Glenn has taken the bull and Rio will have learned a lot from all this. Rio’s ability is beyond doubt. I look at him and Sol and see a new type of English defender. They are good examples of the way our attitude towards bringing on young defenders is changing for the better. For too long we failed to train players at the back from a young age to bring the ball out of defence and contribute in a more all-round fashion – as they have been doing in Brazil and Holland for years.

‘I have believed for some years that we have to take a
short cut and play players at the back who have come from forward positions. Both Rio and Sol were centre-forwards at one time and that is a real help. At Spurs we always tried to get the kids to play an all-round game and it’s the same with Rio at West Ham. These boys have had real education – playing football and not specialising as a stereotype English centre-half or full-back. You specialise eventually. And, as we have seen with Rio and Sol, you are all the better for it. Obviously, it’s up to Glenn and any future England coach to decide the best way to use them.

‘But I can’t see the slightest problem – whether it’s three at the back or as the central two in the back four. Both are very mobile, very good on the ball, excellent defenders and strong in the air. You could probably play them both in midfield as well. With boys like these around, the future looks absolutely A1 for England. Glenn’s a lucky man.’

Sol Campbell knew only too well how costly the smallest defensive slip could be – and that was on the field of play. His tardy intervention had gifted Gianfranco Zola with a simple goal that enabled Italy to humble England 1–0 at Wembley, leaving the team’s chances of qualifying for the 1998 World Cup on a knife edge.

But Campbell later insisted he had used that appalling error as a stimulus to learn and improve. England coach Hoddle even compared Campbell to France’s Marcel Desailly. Back at West Ham, Rio had always admired Sol’s ability to win the ball and then use it effectively instead of just hoofing it up the park. The entire concept of a defender who did not just automatically locate the roof of the stand on winning the ball was one that Rio fully appreciated.

At the England training camp at Bisham Abbey, Hoddle encouraged old England stalwart Tony Adams to have a
chat with Rio. As he later pointed out: ‘It took Tony until he got to 30 to find the lesson that Rio has had now. It has to be good for the boy to speak to someone like Tony, who’s been through it and can explain what it means.’ Adams approached Rio when both players turned up for squad training. A rib injury had ruled the Arsenal skipper out of the Moldova World Cup tie. Three matches short of a half century of caps, Adams was England’s longest-serving player and the only international to have played in the same team as Hoddle. Adams knew all about the pressure on the youngsters and how it could affect their future.

Later Adams said: ‘I think the most significant change in my time has been towards youth. Although in some ways I think the younger players in the squad are a bit luckier than I was when I was first called up. Today the senior players in the squad are far more helpful to the youngsters. They’re more generous and giving. I understand that it can be difficult because there’s always someone younger than you pushing for your place. You have to be realistic, though. You have to swallow your pride.’