Les Ferdinand – Biography, Career, Stats and Legacy of “Sir Les”

English coach and former footballer - Leslie Ferdinand started his career in non-league football, He wasn't a full-time professional until he was almost 21, and ended up as one of the most feared strikers in English football. Known as "Sir Les", he scored 149 Premier League goals for Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers, won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award in 1996 and scored the 10,000th goal in Premier League history.

This article tells the full story of Les Ferdinand: his early life and non-league years, his rise at Queens Park Rangers, the "Entertainers" era at Newcastle, his time at Tottenham, his England career, what he did after retiring as a player and why he is remembered with such warmth by supporters of several clubs. It also includes his career statistics, honours and a timeline.

Les Ferdinand: quick facts

Early life and non-league football

Les Ferdinand was born in Acton, in west London. As a boy he supported Tottenham Hotspur, which later made his move to the club even more special. He is a relative of Rio and Anton Ferdinand, who are described in published sources as his second cousins, and of the footballer Kane Ferdinand.

He did not come through a professional academy. Instead, he began in non-league football, first with a local club, Viking Sports, and then with Southall. He made his league debut for Southall in August 1984, aged 17, and was part of the team that reached the FA Vase final in 1986, where they lost 3–0 to Halesowen Town. After that he moved to Hayes, and in the 1986–87 season he scored 20 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions, including friendlies, which brought him to the attention of professional clubs.

That route is a reminder of how different football was in the 1980s. Without a youth contract at a league club, a talented player could easily be missed, and the step from non-league football to the top division was a long one. Ferdinand made that step, and it took him only a few years.

Queens Park Rangers: the first spell (1987–1995)

A slow start

QPR signed Ferdinand from Hayes in 1987 for £50,000. He made his debut as a substitute on 20 April 1987, aged 20, in a 4–1 league defeat at Coventry City. His early years at Loftus Road were slow. He played only two league games in his first season and one in the next, and in 1988 he was loaned to Brentford, in the Third Division, for three matches.

The loan to Turkey

The same year, he went on loan to Beşiktaş in Turkey for a season. It turned out to be a very useful experience. He scored 14 goals in 24 league games and won his first trophy, helping Beşiktaş beat Fenerbahçe 3–1 on aggregate in the 1989 Turkish Cup final. For a young striker who had barely played in England's top division, playing regularly in a foreign league and winning silverware was a valuable boost to his confidence.

Becoming a top striker

Ferdinand returned to QPR for the 1989–90 season and scored his first two English league goals. In 1990–91 he scored eight goals in 18 league games, and in 1991–92 he scored 10 in 23, helping QPR secure their place as founder members of the new Premier League in 1992.

The 1992–93 season was his breakthrough. He scored 20 league goals in 37 games, and QPR finished fifth, the highest of all the London clubs. He was also involved in some memorable matches, including a hat-trick in a 5–3 win at Everton in April 1993, which he later wrote was especially satisfying given the racist abuse he had received at that ground in the past.

His form continued in 1993–94, when he scored 16 league goals as QPR finished ninth, and in 1994–95 he scored 24 Premier League goals. During his years at Loftus Road he played for four different managers: Jim Smith, Trevor Francis, Don Howe and Gerry Francis. There was speculation about a move to Manchester United or Arsenal, but he signed a new two-year contract in 1993. Two years later, a bigger move became inevitable.

The Hayes connection

One detail from this period says a lot about Ferdinand. When QPR sold him to Newcastle, his old club Hayes received £600,000 from a sell-on clause agreed when he left them. Hayes used some of that money to build a function suite, which they named "The Ferdinand Suite" in his honour. It is a small but charming example of how a non-league club benefited from developing a player who went on to the top of the game.

Newcastle United: the "Entertainers" (1995–1997)

In 1995, Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan signed Ferdinand for £6 million. It was not the first time they had tried: Newcastle had offered QPR £3.3 million for him nearly three years earlier, when they were in the second tier, but the offer was turned down.

A title race for the ages

Ferdinand's first season on Tyneside was one of the most exciting of the Premier League era. He scored 29 goals in all competitions, 25 of them in the league, and Newcastle played attacking, entertaining football that earned the team the nickname "the Entertainers". At one stage, Newcastle led the league by 12 points, but Manchester United overhauled them over the final months, and the title went to Old Trafford. In 1996–97, Newcastle finished second again.

Ferdinand's goals earned him the PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 1995–96, voted by his fellow professionals, and a place in the PFA Team of the Year. He later said he would have given up the trophy if Newcastle had won the league, and that being voted the best by his peers was the ultimate respect.

The partnership with Alan Shearer

At Newcastle, Ferdinand played alongside Alan Shearer, who had joined the club in 1996 for a world-record fee. The two formed a strong partnership, with Ferdinand's pace and finishing complementing Shearer's power. Across two seasons, Ferdinand scored 50 goals in 84 games for Newcastle in all competitions, including 41 in the league. He also scored four times in the UEFA Cup in 1996–97.

Leaving Newcastle

Midway through the 1996–97 season, Keegan unexpectedly resigned and was replaced by Kenny Dalglish. It soon became clear that Ferdinand would be sold to raise funds for new signings, even though Dalglish was reportedly sorry to lose such a strong striker. Ferdinand later admitted in a Sky Sports interview that he regretted leaving and had hoped to stay on Tyneside for the rest of his career.

The affection between Ferdinand and the Newcastle supporters has lasted. He is still known as "Sir Les" on Tyneside, was inducted into the Newcastle United Foundation Hall of Fame on 7 November 2017 and received standing ovations when he returned to St James' Park as a visiting player and as a substitute at Alan Shearer's testimonial. On the first occasion, he was moved to tears.

Tottenham Hotspur (1997–2003)

Joining his boyhood club

In 1997, Ferdinand signed for Tottenham, the club he had supported as a boy, for £6 million. He was joined at the club by his Newcastle team-mate David Ginola. Injuries disrupted his first season, but towards the end of the campaign he formed an effective partnership with Jürgen Klinsmann, and the two strikers' goals helped Spurs avoid relegation.

League Cup success

In 1999, Tottenham won the League Cup, beating Leicester City 1–0 in the final at Wembley, a trophy in which Ferdinand played a part. It was Spurs' first major trophy for several years. Injuries limited him to a total of 12 goals in his first three seasons, but he recovered some of his form later, scoring 10 league goals in 2000–01 and nine in 2001–02.

The 10,000th Premier League goal

On 15 December 2001, Ferdinand scored in a 4–0 win over Fulham. That goal was the 10,000th in the history of the Premier League, which earned him a special mention in the competition's Ten Seasons Awards. He also played in a second League Cup final in 2002, but Tottenham lost 2–1 to Blackburn Rovers, with Ferdinand denied by three saves from goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

West Ham, Leicester, Bolton, Reading and Watford (2003–2006)

After Robbie Keane arrived at Tottenham, Ferdinand found it hard to get into the team and moved to West Ham United in January 2003. He scored his first goal for the club against Tottenham, but West Ham were relegated from the Premier League, and Ferdinand chose to stay in the top flight by signing for newly promoted Leicester City on a free transfer.

At Leicester, aged 37, he scored 12 Premier League goals in 2003–04 and was named the club's Player of the Year, even though the team was relegated. He then joined Bolton Wanderers, where he found chances limited but still contributed. One of his most memorable moments came in September 2004, when he scored a late goal against Manchester United, even though he was playing in a deeper position at the time. The match finished 2–2.

He left Bolton in January 2005 and signed for Reading, scoring one league goal for the club. He then trained with Watford on non-contract terms during their 2005–06 promotion season but did not play a competitive match. He retired from playing a few months short of his 40th birthday.

Les Ferdinand's England career

Ferdinand made his England debut in February 1993 against San Marino, scoring the last goal in a 6–0 win at Wembley. Over the next five years, he won 17 caps and scored five goals. He was also selected for one England B match in 1998, in which he scored.

He was in the squads for Euro 96, which England hosted, and for the 1998 World Cup in France, but he did not play in any of the tournament matches. For a striker who had just been named the best player in the league by his fellow professionals in 1996, that was a disappointment. He has said that the highlight of his England career was making his debut.

Playing style

Ferdinand was a quick, strong and direct striker with a particular talent for running onto balls behind the defence and for finishing with power. He was good in the air, as shown by his many goals from crosses, and he was comfortable operating either as the main striker or alongside a partner such as Shearer or Klinsmann.

• Pace and power. He was difficult for defenders to handle in one-on-one situations.
• Finishing. His 149 Premier League goals include many from both feet and from headers.
• Partnership play. He worked well with other strikers, which showed in his seasons with Shearer at Newcastle and Klinsmann at Tottenham.
• Longevity. He was still scoring in the Premier League in his late thirties.

Racism and speaking out

Ferdinand has spoken publicly about racist abuse he suffered during his career. In his autobiography, he wrote about the abuse he received from some fans at Everton and the offensive letters that he got after scoring a hat-trick there. In a 2020 interview with the Evening Standard, he said that he had been racially abused by supporters both as a player and as a director of football. His willingness to talk about these experiences has made him an important voice in football's discussions about racism and diversity. In 2020, a number of players reportedly backed him for a senior role at the Football Association, and he was reported to have been interviewed for the FA's technical director job in 2018, which went to Les Reed.

Life after playing

Coaching at Tottenham (2008–2014)

After retiring, Ferdinand worked as a television pundit and then returned to Tottenham in November 2008 as a striker coach, working with Tim Sherwood. He left the club in June 2014.

QPR director of football (2014–2023)

In October 2014, he returned to QPR as head of football operations, and in February 2015 he was appointed director of football, when Harry Redknapp resigned as manager. In the period after Redknapp's departure, he and coach Chris Ramsey were placed in temporary charge of the first team. In June 2023, after eight years at the club, he stepped down, saying that it was the right time to move on. He said then that football was his life and that he wanted to stay in the game.

Honours and awards

Career statistics

Adding cup competitions gives a career total of 523 appearances and 215 goals. His 149 Premier League goals came as follows: 60 for QPR, 41 for Newcastle, 33 for Tottenham, 12 for Leicester, two for West Ham and one for Bolton.

Les Ferdinand timeline

Les Ferdinand's legacy

Ferdinand's legacy rests on several things. As a striker, he scored consistently for more than 15 years, in two different decades, for clubs of different sizes. He is remembered as one of the most exciting forwards of the 1990s, and the PFA Players' Player of the Year award confirms that his fellow professionals regarded him as the best player in the country in 1996.

He is also remembered for the way he went about his career. He is a hero at QPR, where he scored 80 league goals and later returned for eight years in a senior role. He is loved on Tyneside, even though he spent only two seasons there. And he is respected at Hayes, the non-league club that gave him his start and where his name is still on a function suite. Finally, he has used his platform to speak about racism in football, which has made him a respected figure beyond the pitch.

If you enjoy football stories from the 1990s, you can read more in our Legends and Clubs sections.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Les Ferdinand?

Les Ferdinand is a former England striker who played for QPR, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and other clubs, scored 149 Premier League goals and later became QPR's director of football.

How many Premier League goals did Les Ferdinand score?

He scored 149 Premier League goals and made 49 assists.

How many caps did Les Ferdinand win for England?

He won 17 caps and scored five goals between 1993 and 1998. He was in the squads for Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup but did not play in either tournament.

Why is Les Ferdinand called "Sir Les"?

It is an affectionate nickname used by supporters, especially on Tyneside, because of the respect he earned as a player. It was also the title of his 1997 autobiography.

Which clubs did Les Ferdinand play for?

Southall, Hayes, Queens Park Rangers, Brentford (loan), Beşiktaş (loan), Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers, Reading and Watford.

How much did Newcastle pay for Les Ferdinand?

Newcastle signed him from QPR in 1995 for £6 million.

Did Les Ferdinand score the 10,000th Premier League goal?

Yes. He scored it on 15 December 2001 for Tottenham in a 4–0 win over Fulham.

Is Les Ferdinand related to Rio Ferdinand?

Published sources describe him as the second cousin of Rio and Anton Ferdinand.

What does Les Ferdinand do now?

After eight years as QPR's director of football, he stepped down in June 2023. He has worked as a television pundit and has said he wants to remain in footballfoot

Last reviewed: October 2026. If you spot an error in this article, please let us know through our Contact page and we will correct it.