Rio Ferdinand--Five Star--The Biography (7 page)

Rio’s arrest also highlighted an attitude that had prevailed in football for years, much to the detriment of stars such as Jimmy Greaves and Tony Adams. Add to that Paul Merson who confessed his addiction to drink and drugs to a packed press conference in November 1994. Hoddle’s
decision to drop Rio met with approval from Merson, who said: ‘There’s no point in saying it was only a minor incident. That minor mistake could have killed someone. But you’ve got to feel for the lad, particularly as he would probably have played in that match. It’s up to the manager what to do, but you can be sure Rio won’t go out and do something like this again. He’s learned his lesson now.’

Of course, Rio had read Jimmy Greaves’s experiences when he borrowed his autobiography from the school library. He knew he hadn’t been through half what Jimmy had. ‘But it just serves to illustrate what can happen. Perhaps I took my foot off the pedal temporarily,’ Rio later reflected.

Even former England captain Bryan Robson lost his licence in 1988 for his second drink-driving offence. Then there was Northern Ireland midfielder Norman Whiteside, one of Manchester United’s best-known heroes, banned from driving for two years in 1990 after being caught while four times over the legal limit. Former England defender Terry Fenwick served eight weeks in Ford Open Prison in Sussex for a drink-driving offence as well as being banned for three years. The ex-Nottingham Forest and England right-back Gary Charles was fined £1,600 for drink-driving in 1993. Police at the scene claimed that the player could barely crawl out of his car when he was stopped.

Over at West Ham’s London rivals Chelsea, Rio’s problems were used as a warning to the crop of youngsters coming through the club’s ranks at that time. Young manager Ruud Gullit was keen to reinforce a ‘keep your feet on the ground’ message to kids such as Michael Duberry, Paul Hughes, Danny Granville, Jody Morris and Neil Clement. To help do that, the management had pinned a photo of Rio under the headline ‘Stupid Boy’ on the notice board at Chelsea’s training ground. Underneath it was
written: ‘Do you want to become famous this way or do you want to become famous working hard our way?’ One Chelsea starlet commented: ‘I don’t think it could ever happen here. If you started becoming big-headed or flash you would get brought down to earth very quickly. The senior players just wouldn’t let you get away with it.’

Meanwhile Rio knew that the only way to answer his critics was to go out there on the field and produce some even greater performances.

O
n 24 September 1997 Rio got a severe lesson on the differences between the Hammers and the Premiership top three – Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal – when the Gunners thrashed West Ham 4–0 in a goal spree mainly inspired by that deadly Dutch duo Marc Overmars and Dennis Bergkamp. Unfortunately for young Rio, his marking of Bergkamp left a lot to be desired. The man with Arsenal’s Number 10 shirt and his teammates quickly dampened the spirits of Hammers fans who’d been chanting, ‘Boring, boring Arsenal’ before the match kicked off.

Rio was left gasping by the magnificence of master marksman Bergkamp. Most punters agreed that no defender in the world could live with the Dutchman in this form and West Ham should count themselves unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Three days later they were set to take on mighty Liverpool and everyone was talking about the expected clash between two of the country’s most exciting young stars – Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen. The pair had become friends at England U-21 level and Owen had made it clear he was determined to follow Rio into the full squad.

Despite Rio being denied his first full cap because of his drink-driving conviction, the ever-ambitious Owen saw Rio’s inclusion in the squad as an incentive to all youngsters. ‘It just shows that they are looking to pick young fellas,’ he told a pack of word-hungry reporters the day before the Liverpool–West Ham clash.

Ironically, Rio’s exclusion from the England team handed some of the impetus to Michael Owen, already a scoring sensation at Anfield. In fact, England boss Glenn Hoddle had already decided to use Owen in a series of friendly games following the crucial World Cup clash with Italy in early October. Now all eyes were on Owen as being likely to get his full debut at a younger age than even Rio or Man United legend Duncan Edwards.

The Hammers came out 2–1 winners over Liverpool and proved that Rio was far from demoralised by his recent troubles. He helped boost the Hammers’ confidence with an awesome display of defensive brilliance. As skipper Steve Lomas put it after the game: ‘West Ham have always been accused of having a soft underbelly. Now each of us will get hurt for the team. We’ll all go in, whereas maybe before others would have pulled out. We have pace in attack through Andy Impey and Stan Lazaridis, a big strong defence with Rio Ferdinand, David Unsworth and now Ian Pearce.’

Everyone at the game – including Glenn Hoddle – noticed how Rio effectively snuffed out master goal poacher Robbie Fowler, although he did have a tougher
time against Michael Owen. Harry Redknapp had the good grace to admit after the game: ‘Liverpool certainly have some impressive young players in the pipeline – Michael Owen, for instance, who gave our defence a real hard time.’

Hoddle was at Upton Park to run the rule over England prospects Paul Ince, Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman. He’d already decided that Rio’s full debut would have to wait until after the Italy game. But the Liverpool trio’s performance that afternoon was overshadowed by the Hammers’ Israeli star Eyal Berkovic, who made West Ham’s first goal and scored their second.

But when Liverpool pinned West Ham against the ropes during an exciting last 20 minutes, it was Rio who helped see them through for the three points. The
Daily Mirror
gushed after the game: ‘Rio performed with such towering authority in front of Hoddle that if he is not given a reprieve it will prove only one thing – the England manager holds grudges …’ For the Hammers it was a breakthrough game after being beaten in their three previous Premiership matches.

Two days later Hoddle was due to name his England squad for the make-or-break qualifier against Italy in Rome on 11 October. As Chelsea’s Gianfranco Zola pointed out: ‘Italy don’t make mistakes on big occasions.’ Referring to his country’s earlier 1–0 win at Wembley, he added: ‘We managed a miracle at Wembley and we can repeat the feat in Rome.’ Hoddle had seriously contemplated playing the as yet uncapped Rio, but concluded that he wasn’t quite yet ready to face the mighty Italians.

After weeks of off-the-park controversies, Hoddle was delighted to be dealing with purely footballing issues. ‘It’s the first time there hasn’t been some other issue. I hope it
stays that way. It would be nice to have a bit of good fortune going into this one. I said we had eight cup finals and if you could pick one where it was all plain sailing this would be it.’

As predicted, he settled for the safe options against Italy. The only mild controversy was the continued presence on the subs’ bench of the blatantly out-of-form Stan Collymore at the expense of Blackburn’s Chris Sutton, the Premiership’s leading scorer. In the end England got a creditable 0–0 draw and were guaranteed qualification to the World Cup Finals.

With England’s spine of Seaman, Adams, Ince, Gascoigne, Sheringham and Wright, it looked as if Rio might have to wait quite a while longer before he’d properly break into the team. At this stage the best Rio could hope for was to be an understudy. But if he was diligent enough and kept his nose clean in the future, then who could say what might happen.

The Hammers’ next Premiership game against Newcastle looked as if it might prove a testing time for Rio. But Harry Redknapp believed that his young star defender was up to the test. ‘I haven’t lost any sleep over Tino Asprilla,’ he said, refering to the Magpies’ Columbian striker. ‘He’s a terrific player, has a lot of talent and I’ve a lot of time for him. But young Ferdinand is a tremendous player. And with David Unsworth and Ian Pearce there as well, I’m sure we’ll cope. Let them worry about us. Let them worry about John Hartson – he’s just as much of a handful. Newcastle’s defenders will know they’ve been in a game after 90 minutes against Hartson and Dowie.’

As it turned out, Rio put in a Gladiator-style display in the clash with Newcastle. By the time the second half came
around, he was so full of confidence that he started forcing play into the opposition’s half to give all the paying customers his own rendition of ‘My Way’. When England hardman David Batty and a couple of fellow Geordie defenders came swinging their boots in his direction, he managed to leave them all kicking at thin air. Even the most loyal of Newcastle fans admitted Rio was a rare commodity. The Geordies squeezed out a miraculous 1–0 victory, but Rio’s talent was undeniable as he produced a display that made the cocky Colombian Asprilla look like a Sunday-morning park player.

Many West Ham fans came away that afternoon saying that Rio would one day captain England, just like Bobby Moore. He was also going to show the continentals how to play their own game. Many saw Rio as the answer to all England’s problems. It was heavy stuff to put on the shoulders of someone so young.

Bobby Moore had been the only Englishman to skipper a World Cup-winning side and was still the name on everyone’s lips at Upton Park. He died from cancer in 1993 at the age of 51. At 22, Moore became the youngest-ever captain of England when he led them out against Czechoslovakia in May 1963. He was later awarded the Order of the British Empire and given the freedom of London. Moore was also the first player to lift three trophies at Wembley in three consecutive years, winning the FA Cup and Cup-Winners Cup at Wembley before that infamous World Cup victory. Moore’s 108 caps for his country was a record until Peter Shilton surpassed it in 1989.

As Hammers fan Steve Rapport explained: ‘Bobby Moore was on a different plane altogether. It wasn’t just that he was the best defender in the entire history of football, the best reader of the game and, probably, the most accurate
passer ever to pull on an England shirt. He was also a general, a true captain and a symbol of an era.’

It was clear that the Bobby Moore tag could turn into a millstone around Rio’s neck if he wasn’t careful. Rio had been studying videos featuring some of Moore’s greatest performances. ‘Recently I saw clips of him in action. He just glided forward, didn’t he? And that tackle he made on Jairzinho in the 1970 World Cup, well, from what everyone tells me, that epitomised him.’

On 3 November 1997 Rio turned out for the Hammers against Crystal Palace in what must have been one of the most bizarre matches he ever played in. The floodlights went out near the end of the game when the score was 2–2. Both teams were taken off while electricians worked furiously to restore power to the floodlights, but although the North Stand pylons briefly flickered into life and then went off again, the referee David Elleray decided after consultation with police and safety officers to call the whole thing off after 30 minutes of delays.

In the end Rio’s international career was always going to thrive because Glenn Hoddle was obsessed with playing a sweeper and he believed Rio had the capability to perform that special role. Indeed, in many ways he saw a mirror image of himself at the peak of his career. Hoddle knew only too well that defending had been the one weakness in Rio’s game until that season, but he was convinced that he could adjust to the top flight after around a dozen international games.

Rio was being hailed as the first English League player to stride out of defence with complete composure and assurance since Liverpool’s Alan Hansen. As Rio himself later explained: ‘When you create an extra body in midfield
the opposition look around as if to say, “Where’s he come from?” and if other players are being marked there’s not usually a spare person to mark you, so it creates problems for other teams. But you’ve got to choose the right time to go, someone has got to sit in for you.’

Still quiet and unassuming, Rio was determined to succeed but knew he could still improve every aspect of his game. ‘Talking and organisation are things I need to improve,’ he said. ‘If you’re playing in the centre, you’ve got to be a good talker or lead by example. I’d like to be able to do both. Tony Adams is a fine example and Alvin Martin when I first went to West Ham was brilliant at it.’

And Rio acknowledged that Glenn Hoddle was an important person to learn from. ‘He understands the game, every part of it, from the strikers to the goalkeepers. And having played sweeper he can give me pointers on that. I’m not at that stage where I can pick and choose where I play, but if selected, I know I’ve got a chance to stake a claim to be in the first XI on a regular basis.’

Rio was still a teenager but he wasn’t going to let that get in the way of his many ambitions.

I
n November 1997, less than a year after suffering all alone in that miserable boarding house in Bournemouth, Rio found himself once again a member of Glenn Hoddle’s World Cup plans, relaxing in the luxury of the England headquarters – a £110-a-night hotel in Hertfordshire with breakfast an extra tenner. This time he’d been promised a definite slot on the subs’ bench against fellow World Cup qualifiers Cameroon at Wembley on the 15th.

Rio cast his mind back to those days and said to himself: ‘I grew up – I had to. Bournemouth was one of the best things that ever happened to me.’

Now it was time for the next stage in his learning curve …

The game against Cameroon was even more significant for Rio after his drink-driving arrest. It meant he’d been forgiven and he fully intended to repay those who’d shown
such loyalty to him. Even as he was warming up in front of the Wembley crowd he got emotional about the atmosphere. And that was before he heard yells of ‘Rio, Rio’ from the fans. ‘I’d thought nobody really knew me at that stage but “Rio, Rio” was ringing around Wembley. I was thinking, Whoa, what’s goin’ on here?’

Rio came on in the fortieth minute for the injured Gareth Southgate and looked at home almost immediately. He drew loud cheers from the crowd for one penetrating move that almost led to a goal. As he later recalled: ‘I thought to myself, Go out there and enjoy the game. Didn’t I just! It has given me a taste of international football, and now I want more.’

There were aspects of the experience that Rio would never forget for the rest of his life. ‘First of all, the national anthem. That’s a massive experience. Standing there and listening to it gave me the shivers. Next, running on to the pitch as sub and Paul Ince slapping me on the back. And getting the ball from Andy Hinchcliffe was a big thing – my first touch in international football. Best of all, perhaps, was a run I made through the middle. I brought the ball out of defence and played a couple of passes, and if Robbie Fowler had played it back to me I might have scored. Instead, when I put him through he had a shot. That run did a lot for my confidence. The crowd were shouting my name, and that makes you realise how good it is to be on the international stage.’

England won 2–0, and after the game Hoddle was full of praise for his young debutant, saying: ‘He did nothing wrong, everything right.’

Rio himself later admitted a perfectly understandable attack of nerves. ‘I’ve kept a video collection since I was very young and studied all the great players. Suddenly I
looked around the dressing room and there was Paul Gascoigne, Paul Ince and Sol Campbell, the players I’ve watched for the last few years and I was among them. I asked myself if I was good enough to be there and then realised if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have been picked in the first place. I’ve always had confidence in my ability but when I was younger I certainly didn’t think this sort of thing would happen so quickly.’

When Rio got home that night he watched a video of the game and criticised every mistake he made by making a note of it on a piece of paper. ‘You have to do that to improve,’ he later explained.

Rio’s next ambition was to actually start a match for the national side. He reckoned he still had a realistic chance of going to the 1998 World Cup Finals in France. By now he had learned that he couldn’t constantly be looking over his shoulder worrying about others being picked ahead of him. This was his chance to impress and he was going to have to be selfish if he was to achieve his goals.

Then he remembered Jimmy Greaves’s autobiography again. ‘Reading Jimmy’s book and learning to come to terms with a spell when I did not play well has made me meaner, more single-minded. I knew what I wanted and that was to go to the World Cup Finals.’

In December 1997 Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson once again tried to sign Rio. This time he proposed an unusual pay-now-pay-later deal after alleged secret talks between Hammers and Old Trafford bosses. Under the agreement, Rio would be allowed to stay at West Ham for another two years before moving to Man United. Alex Ferguson had already had a £6-million bid for Rio knocked
back. West Ham told the Premiership holders they’d have to pay at least £10 million to land the youngster. ‘Ferguson had been keeping an eye on Rio ever since he turned out for Bournemouth. He was like a man obsessed and determined to get his man in the end,’ one Man United source later explained.

According to insiders at both clubs, Ferguson was keen to bring in Rio as a long-term replacement for Gary Pallister. The plan was to either pay a suitable ‘deposit’ or let West Ham have one of Man United’s fringe players as an advance.

West Ham later denied there had ever been any pay-now-play-later proposal with Man United. Harry Redknapp hit back furiously, saying: ‘It’s a load of rubbish. If we were even thinking of selling Rio then we don’t deserve to be in the Premiership.’ But behind the scenes, there was no doubt that Man United were putting West Ham under immense pressure to sell Rio and they were prepared to try and pull off any type of deal to get their man.

As usual, West Ham’s dilemma was that they were desperately in need of the cash to keep the club afloat. But was Redknapp really prepared to sell their best prospect since Bobby Moore? In the end West Ham decided that they would hold on to their ‘investment’ for the time being. It was too soon to sell him and, in any case, they knew his value would rocket over the coming couple of years. It didn’t make business sense to sell him – yet.

It is surely no coincidence that Rio signed a long-term contract with West Ham just days after the Man United stories surfaced in the press. The Hammers knew they didn’t stand a chance in hell of hanging on to the talented youngster for that long, but at least they’d get a king’s ransom when the time finally came to cash in their chips.
As one West Ham insider explained: ‘Under Harry, transfers were a vital part of the club’s survival.’

Rio’s new deal with the Hammers was worth around £2.5 million over seven years, according to newspaper reports. Not bad for a teenager who’d been on a £35-a-week YST three years earlier and was only on £400 a week when he made his debut for the Hammers the previous year. But news of the new contract simply fuelled gossip about Rio joining one of the bigger Premiership clubs sooner rather than later. Rio insisted all his loyalties lay with West Ham. ‘I’m happy to stay here as long as West Ham keep doing well. They gave me my chance in football. I’m not big-headed enough to say, “I’ve made it” and walk away from them. I want to repay them.’

Meanwhile Janice was deeply hurt by suggestions that her son’s background had led to his conviction for drink-driving. She insisted that Rio was ‘not your typical teenager who has a bit of money in his pocket and cannot handle it, he has not been brought up that way’. Janice was particularly irked by the suggestion that Rio came from a family of boozers. ‘We only have drink in the house on special occasions and he’s never been drunk before, he’s got too much respect for himself and the job that he does. He’s still the same boy he’s always been with the same friends and the same outlook. We would never let him get any other way.’

Now, Rio’s most painful reminder of his slip from grace was not being allowed to drive a car until the following September. In some ways his ‘house arrest’ suited the powers that be because it meant he couldn’t get out much. But living on one of the worst council estates in Europe didn’t exactly fit the image of being a well-paid football star and a lot of those ‘bad influences’ remained on his doorstep.

At least being ‘off the road’ meant that Rio read numerous books on trains and buses during his ban from driving, including
The Guv’nor
by Lenny McLean. He loved this true-crime life story of one man’s battle for respect in London’s East End. Rio could relate to McLean’s journey because he often felt as if he was following a similar path himself.

Many in the West Ham and England camps were hoping that when Rio did get his licence back he’d settle down with a nice girl, buy himself a flat and become a responsible adult. Others had already started calling him a ‘Spice Boy’ with delusions of grandeur. But Rio was determined to prove his critics wrong.

However, his recent conviction emphasised to Rio that he needed to hold on to the most solid base in his life – his family, especially his mum Janice. So he took Janice, her painter-and-decorator husband Peter St. Fort, his brothers Anton, 13, Jeremiah, two, and his eight-year-old sister Sian to see a plush new house miles away from the Friary Estate. Janice recalled: ‘Rio was pushing me into all the rooms, saying, “Go on, Mum, have it, have it.” I didn’t even know where we were. Peter and I had been looking for a house in Peckham but Rio ended up taking me to this house in Mottingham.’

A suburb on the borders of south-east London and Kent, Mottingham was totally different in character from the inner city. The property had five bedrooms and a garden and Rio picked up his mobile and called the estate agents to tell them that he wanted to buy the house within minutes of them all looking at it. ‘She’s having it,’ he proudly told the estate agent.

As for Janice: ‘I felt very uncomfortable about the whole thing but he said his dream was to buy me a house.
I was speechless – the entire contents of our flat fitted into one room.’

Rio felt it was the least he could do for the mum who’d been his guiding light throughout his young life. He intended to eventually buy his own penthouse apartment overlooking Tower Bridge but without wheels he was much better off at the house in Mottingham.

And Rio also kept in close contact with his dad, whom he described to one pal as his ‘best friend’. Somehow, despite the painful parting between Rio’s mother and father all those years earlier, Julian had continued to be a big influence on his life. ‘Julian was (and still is) a good father. He’s always been there when Rio needed him, offering good sensible advice and never expecting anything in return,’ says one close family friend.

Rio was reminded of his drink-driving offence nearly every day as he made the tortuous journey from south-east London to West Ham’s training ground in east London by train and bus. ‘I had a lot of time to reflect on it, and obviously it was a major mistake. A naive mistake, not an intentional one.’

It was also gutting for Rio to have to keep looking out at the drive of his mum’s new house, where his gleaming BMW stood parked. Later he was honest enough to admit that he still liked the occasional drink, although he insisted: ‘I don’t drink alcopops and I’m not a beer fan. Of course I still go to nightclubs and bars occasionally but I’m not a huge boozer. I would feel terrible if I played badly on the pitch after drinking alcohol the night before – so I’m quite disciplined about it.’

But there was also absolutely no way that Rio would desert his old manor of Peckham. His best friend Gavin
Rose now taught soccer to the kids on the estate playground where they all used to play football.

Rio’s closest pal inside football at the time remained West Ham teammate Frank Lampard junior. Most of the other team members were married with children, although Rio also saw quite a bit of Harry Redknapp’s son Jamie, who was then at Liverpool, until the midfielder settled down with pop star Louise.

On the financial front, Rio was determined not to squander the millions of pounds that now seemed certain to come his way. He had an accountant to make sure he made some wise investments rather than spending it all at once. ‘I knew that if I had it all sitting there in one account I’d probably spend the lot. My huge weakness is clothes. When I went out Christmas shopping to buy things for my family I came back with things for myself.’

But, for the time being, Rio continued sensibly living at the home he’d bought for his mum. As he put it: ‘I get my washing done – and there’s always food on the table. I have thought about moving out and buying my own place but it is not an option at the moment.’

Rio claimed to all who would listen that he didn’t have time for romance, although his past relationship with Latifah seemed to have been conveniently forgotten. ‘I don’t want all the hassle that goes with commitment and relationships. I’ve never really had a full-time girlfriend. I tend to get bored really quickly and can’t really be bothered to put in all the time.’ He was genuinely worried that every time he took a girl out on a date she might be tempted to sell the story to the tabloids if they split up. ‘I think it’s harder to trust people once you’re famous.’

Even so, Rio still hankered after Latifah. One of his closest friends told this author: ‘Rio would kill me for
saying it, but Latifah was the one as far as he was concerned. He loved walking round the manor with her on his arm and when they split he was gutted. Throughout his teens he would talk about her. Couldn’t get her out of his mind. He used to call her perfection on a stick.’

Meanwhile Rio told one journalist that his idea of the perfect date would either be model Helena Christensen or Essex girl turned Big Breakfast TV presenter Denise Van Outen. ‘She’s a real babe,’ said Rio of Denise. Then, giving away his fondness for BBC TV soap opera
EastEnders
, he added: ‘Tiffany [Martine McCutcheon] and Cindy [Michelle Collins] really do it for me too!’ He surprised many of his pals by saying that he’d love an evening out with TV comic Jo Brand ‘because she’s so funny. She’d be a brilliant laugh to go out with.’ But he swore blind to his mates that he’d never date a famous pop star. ‘No. That gets you too much attention. I’d get embarrassed.’ He’d watched the way Jamie Redknapp and his wife-to-be Louise had handled the fame game and decided it was not for him.

Around this time Rio was flooded with offers to do modelling assignments alongside his football career. But he didn’t want the ‘Spice Boy’ label to stick, so he turned down every offer. He’d had acting ambitions since he was a kid but they would have to wait – football took priority.

In February 1998 Rio’s big mate Michael Owen was called up for his first full England cap against Chile at Wembley. The night before, Rio was swallowing his disappointment by playing for the England ‘B’ side at West Bromwich Albion’s ground. But, typically, Rio put in a sterling performance to show coach Glenn Hoddle that he still deserved to be selected for the senior side. Hoddle admitted to his colleagues he’d bide his time before blooding the
man everyone was telling him was the finest English defender in the Premiership.