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Les Ferdinand
Les was a player with raw potential which manager Jim Smith felt could be moulded to make him a big star at Loftus Road. His early time at QPR saw him play only a handful of games to gain experience he was sent on loan firstly to Brentford before moving to Turkey where he played for first division team Besiktas. Les spent one season in Turkey and was a huge hit scoring plenty of goals and helping his new team to a league and cup double. One famous story is that on Les Ferdinands debut for Besiktas the club sacrificed a sheep in his honour. The young Englishman was pretty shocked by this but it is a moment he will never forget. Les scored 21 goals for Besiktas in just 32 games and helped the Turkish club to win the Turkish cup. Les returned to QPR when new manager Trevor Francis called him back after failing to agree a fee with Besiktas. Les became very angry with new manager as his first team opportunities were limited at QPR and Les felt he needed a move. Trevor Francis gave Les a chance in his last match in charge. Les played well in a 0-0 draw with Milwall before Francis was sacked and replaced by Don Howe.
Les was back in the reserves for the rest of the season after a poor performance at Sheffield Wednesday. The following season (1990-91) saw Les finally get a sustained run in the team. Ironically his chance came after an injury to Roy Wegerle. Les came into the side and scored twice in a 2-1 win at Luton. The second of his two goals came in the last minute and was a brilliant run and shot which showed off all of his pace and power. When Wegerle returned from injury a week later, Les kept his place and the two formed a good partnership. Les Scored seven goals in seven games to keep QPR safe from relegation. On that run, Les got two memorable goals. The first came at home to Manchester City. A nice flick by Les at the half way line saw David Bardsley set free and his cross was met by Ferdinand who dived at full stretch for a brilliant diving header. Any other season would have seen it voted goal of the season but Roy Wegerles strike at Leeds earlier that season beat him to it. The other famous goal came at Anfield where QPR had never won. Les got the first goal in a 3-1 win which seemed to start the fall of Liverpool as smaller teams began to play Liverpool without fear as QPR had done that day.
Another injury followed but Les returned in February, again against Notts County and again Les scored. Les then avoided injured for he remainder of the season and began to score regularly again. An almost identical goal to his one against man City the previous season followed in the same fixture as Rangers thrashed city 4-0.Les scored twice in that game and scored again in a 4-1 win over Leeds and in a win over Villa. The goals continued to flow as Les finished the season as the main striker after the sale of Roy Wegerle. As the FA Premiership began in 1992, so did Les Ferdinand emergence as a top striker. His goals helped QPR to a great start and he earned an England Call up. His England debut saw him score on his debut and produce a magnificent display against Holland later that season. Les ended up getting 20 goals and was second in the race for the Golden boot behind Teddy Sherringham. It was Ferdinands best ever season so far and the team finished as top London club. Les knew his season would be a hard one to follow but he managed it getting 16 goals and adding to his England caps and international goals.Les got many memorable goals over that season but speculation began to mount that he would be leaving for a bigger club such as Arsenal or Blackburn.
Les signed an extension to his contract at QPR but the Ferdinand felt it was time to move on and made it known to new manager Ray Wilkins that he intended to leave at the end of the season. Les helped QPR to another high finish in the league scoring 24 along the way juts missing out on a European place which may have convinced Ferdinand to stay another year. Les left in the summer of 1995 to join Newcastle United and leave a huge gap in the QPR team. Many players have tried to fill Les Ferdinands boots but relegation followed for QPR along with season after season of disappointment. Les went onto bigger things at Newcastle. His 25 goals almost won the league for Newcastle and he managed to play in the UEFA Cup. Les was an instant hero and helped the fans to forget about former hero Andy Cole. Les returned to QPR and scored in a 3-2 win for the Geordies but the reception he got from the QPR supporters will never be forgotten. He was given a standing ovation when many other former players such as David Seamen and Andy Sinton had been booed out of the stadium in the past.
The signing of Alan Shearer and the departure of Kevin Keegan saw the end of Ferdinands stay in the North East. Kenny Daglish put the player up for sale in the summer of 1997. Les rejoined former manger Gerry Francis at Spurs in 1997 but injuries saw him miss most of the season and despite picking up the first winners medal of his career in the Worthington cup Les seemed to be on his way out at Spurs with the likes of Iverson, Rebrov and Sherringham brought. Les though is still going strong and has worked hard to keep his place at Spurs and he is still producing some quality performances to this day, I could say many things about Les Ferdinand. He was my hero for a few years, a brilliant player and a lovely bloke who would always stop and sign autographs and chat with QPR fans and still does now. The QPR number nine shirt will always belong
to Les Ferdinand in my eyes, and although I can never do him
justice through these words here, I would just like to say Thank
you Les for the memories and the dreams you gave me and every
other QPR fan in the 1990's |
Howe
stuck with Ferdinand and Les got his first ever goals for QPR
in Don Howes second match in charge. Les got two in a 4-2 victory
over Chelsea to make him a popular man among the QPR fans. Just
as Les seemed to be establishing himself in the team, QPR paid
a club record £1million to sign striker Roy Wegerle. 
Les then saw the introduction of another manager but this time
it would see him become regular at QPR. Gerry Francis started
the season with Ferdinand up front but a broken cheekbone saw
him miss out of the first half of the season. He returned briefly
in November to end a five game losing streak at Notts County
with a last minute winner. 
Newcastle
Manager Kevin Keegan became a huge admirer of Les after a dazzling
display at St James Park. Les was only 50% fit but he managed
to destroy Newcastle showing himself to be one of the most complete
centre forwards in the country. 
One
of Ferdinands biggest honours followed when he was voted the
PFA Player of the season, an award given to him by Pele. Les
was also a part of the Euro 96 squad but didn't get to appear,
he suffered the same fate in the 1998 World Cup where he was
left on the bench for every game.