Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Rio Ferdinand, born on 8 November 1978 in Peckham, East London, is an English international football player. His usual position is central defence. He signed as schoolboy for West Ham United F.C in 1992 and became a professional player under youth training scheme and is likened to the late Bobby Moore, the former West Ham and England captain. He made his first team debut on 5 May 1996 as a substitute in 1-1 home draw against Sheffield Wednesday F.C. He earned his full England cap as a substitute in a friendly against Cameroon in 1998. He joined Premier division football club Leeds United F.C on November 2000 for 18 million pounds, then a British record. In August 2001, he became the captain of Leeds. On 22 July 2002, Ferdinand joined another Premier division football club Manchester United on a 30-million-pound five-year deal to become the most expensive British footballer in history. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.