PREMIER LEAGUE icon Les Ferdinand has lifted the lid on his unorthodox commute to training.
While many people may drive, cycle or get public transport to work, Ferdinand sometimes opted to fly in by HELICOPTER.
Speaking on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast, the former Tottenham, Queens Park Rangers and Newcastle forward was asked about his licence by Manchester United icon Gary Neville.
Ferdinand answered Neville’s question with a nod and then a “yes”, before admitting he had not headed to the studio for the podcast by helicopter.
The 57-year-old said he got his licence while he was at Spurs, prompting Man Utd legend Roy Keane to joke: “Is that to get out of Spurs quickly?”
Ferdinand then said: “When I was at Newcastle, [Kevin] Keegan had put something out and said to me you’re coming into a goldfish bowl, in terms of London you can get lost (but) you can’t do nothing up here.
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“So he said what’s three things you want to do. I said I want to learn how to play saxophone, learn how to cook and learn how to ride a motorbike.
“He said to me, ‘I can let you do two of them, but the third one I can’t let you do.
“I said ‘f***ing hell’. So then he told me there was a place in Newcastle that built him a Harley (motorbike) and he said ‘I’ll let you pass your test if you ride the Harley back to my house’, so I said alright no problem.”
Neville interjected with a stunned expression and asked: “Kevin Keegan had a Harley?”
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Ferdinand continued: “Someone in Newcastle had built it for him, he couldn’t ride it but he was just going to showcase it.
“He put this in a programme for things to do and then someone said to me, ‘do you want to fly a helicopter?’
“At first I was like nah not really, but then he goes come and have a look and it just got into my head.”
England Women’s legend Jill Scott – who was in a helicopter when appearing on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here – confessed she would be “so scared” to fly a helicopter before asking whether it was a scary experience.
Ferdinand replied: “Nah, it’s one of those things, once you go up you either love it or you hate it. You’ll go, ‘Get me down’ straightaway or you’ll go (and love it).
“To be fair the first time I went up I went ‘f*** I’m not sure I like this’ and then the geezer said ‘where do you live?’ And I said just over there.
“He goes ‘let’s have a look at your house’ and as soon as I saw my house that was it, it changed my perception of everything.”
The rest of the team around the table seemed rather tentative about the thought of following Ferdinand’s steps in flying a helicopter.
Arsenal icon Ian Wright said he was “not fussed” with them, with Neville saying he was not into that.
He also reminded Keane they had jumped out of a helicopter last year, though Keane and Neville both said they would not do that again.
Ferdinand previously revealed he used the helicopter to get to training when he played for Reading.
He told the Football Ramble podcast in 2022: “It used to take me 45 minutes to an hour to get from my house to Reading, it took me 12 minutes in my helicopter.
“He (Steve Coppell) said ‘wait until I bring the boys out and then you can fly in’ so as they were coming out, I flew in.
“I remember Lloyd Owusu, more than anyone, couldn’t believe it.
“That was the only time I brought it into training because the manager told me to as it would be a bit of fun.”
Ferdinand finished runner up behind Teddy Sheringham in the Premier League golden boot race in the 1992/93 season, scoring 20 goals.
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In 1994/95 and 1995/96 he came third with goal hauls of 24 and 25, while also coming fourth in the 1996/97 season.
In total Ferdinand scored 215 goals in 523 career appearances, while scoring five in 17 games for England.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
