Rio Ferdinand

Manchester United and England

I first started playing football on the Peckham estate where I grew up with all my mates.

There were some grass fields nearby and we were always there, at weekends, after school - we'd be out there playing for hours!

I was always playing football around the house - I was always getting told off for knocking things over and breaking ornaments!

From Bloomfields to England

I can't remember what the most expensive thing I broke was, but I know there were a lot of broken things. I was a nightmare.

I first started to take football seriously when I joined a football team called Broomfields, which my uncle ran.

Ever since then I've always played for a team.

I first joined Bloomfields when I was 11 where I played centre-back. But then I moved to centre-midfield and played there until I was 15 or 16.

I used to really look up to attacking footballers when I was younger.

Players like Maradona and Ian Wright were amazing to watch because you knew something would always happen when they got the ball.

I grew up watching these players and wanted to play like them.

Frank Rijkaard was a role model for Rio

When I was a midfielder, I always used to try and copy their skills, but I don't do that so much as a defender now.

Me and my friends were really into Italian football and we used to watch it every week on television because we thought it was more skilful.

The player I loved watching was AC Milan's Frank Rijkaard. He was such a quality all-round player who was always confident on the ball.

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