The 36-year-old has called time on his
19-year career after being released by
QPR earlier this week. Ferdinand won six Premier League
titles, the Champions League, the FA
Cup and three League Cup trophies in
12 seasons with Manchester United. He
was also capped 81 times by England. “After 18 years as a professional
footballer, I now feel it's the right time
for me to retire from the game that I
love," Ferdinand said in a statement to
BT Sport. “As a 12-year-old boy, kicking around
a football on the Friary Estate in
Peckham, I never dreamt that I would
play for my boyhood club West Ham,
captain Leeds United, win the
Champions League with Manchester United, or re-join my first manager
Harry Redknapp at Queens Park
Rangers. “I will always regard the 81 times that
I played for England, with immense
pride. These are all treasured
memories that will last a lifetime. “Starting a career, every young man
needs mentors. I found mine in Dave
Goodwin, the district manager at
Blackheath, and Tony Carr, the youth
team manager at West Ham. They
installed in me personality traits that lasted throughout my career. I will
always be grateful to them. “I'd like to thank Chris Ramsey, Harry
Redknapp, David O'Leary and David
Moyes who managed me at various
times in my career, all the backroom
staff who looked after me over the
years, and the players that I played with. I would also like to thank the
team who managed me off the pitch,
Jamie Moralee and everybody at New
Era. “Winning trophies over my 13 years at
Manchester United allowed me to
achieve everything that I desired in
football. From a young child to today,
that was all I cared about. “None of that would have been
possible, without the genius of one
man, Sir Alex Ferguson. His greatest
accomplishment in my eyes will always
be how he developed us as men, not
just as footballers. He will in my opinion, always be the greatest
manager in British football history. “I'd also like to thank and pay tribute
to my wife Rebecca and my family,
including my mother and father, for
their sacrifices, their encouragement
and their advice throughout my
career. “And finally, I'd like to thank all the
fans from all the clubs - for without
them professional football would not
exist. I will miss each and every one of
you on my Saturday afternoons.”

oh......I'm the first to comment.. I dedicated this page to GEJ n PEJ for making Nigeria a peaceful country. back to the discussion, farewell Rio Ferdinand.