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Anton Ferdinand

Personal information
Full name	Anton Julian Ferdinand
Date of birth	18 February 1985 (1985-02-18) (age 24)
Place of birth	Peckham, London, England
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Centre-back
Club information
Current club	Sunderland
Number	5
Youth career
2002–2003	West Ham United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2008	West Ham United	138	(5)
2008–	Sunderland	43	(0)
National team‡
2004–2007	England U21	17	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:05, 21 November 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:14, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Anton Julian Ferdinand (born 18 February 1985 in Peckham, London) is a English footballer. He is currently playing for Sunderland in the English Premier League as a defender.

Contents 1 Background 2 Club career 2.1 West Ham United 2.2 Sunderland 3 International career 4 Personal life 4.1 Court case controversy 5 Career statistics 6 Honours 6.1 Club 6.2 Individual 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Background

Born into a footballing family (both his brother Rio and cousin Les are successful players),^[1] Anton Ferdinand showed considerable talent from an early age. Like his brother, Rio Ferdinand, he preferred to play in defence. His ability in this position led to him being signed to West Ham United's famed academy.

[edit] Club career

[edit] West Ham United

Ferdinand joined West Ham as a trainee in December 2002^[2] and was handed his full debut in August 2003 when he started the 2-1 victory at Preston North End on the 2003-04 season's opening day.^[2] He went on to feature in 26 games that season.^[2]

In the 2004-05 season, he cemented his first team place with several key performances (including scoring the opening goal on the final day as the Hammers beat Watford 2-1) as West Ham booked a play-off spot. West Ham went on to beat Preston in the final, earning them promotion back into the Premier League after an absence of two years. At the end of July 2005, Ferdinand decided to stay at West Ham by signing a three-year contract extension with the club.^[3]

Ferdinand won the Premier League Player of the Month award in January 2006. In the 2006 FA Cup Final against Liverpool in Cardiff, Ferdinand fell to his knees in tears^{[citation needed]} after missing the decisive penalty in the shoot out.

In March 2007 it was revealed that Ferdinand had been fined two weeks wages (estimated at £45,000) for lying about his whereabouts. Ferdinand told the club he needed to go to the Isle of Wight to visit his grandmother when in fact, he went to South Carolina to celebrate his 22nd birthday. West Ham lost the following game to relegation rivals Charlton Athletic 0-4^[4]. Anton Ferdinand scored his 4th goal for West Ham when they beat Manchester United 2-1 in the 2007-2008 season, scoring the equalising goal in the 77th minute from a Mark Noble corner. His last goal for West Ham was against Fulham scoring in the 69th minute to put West Ham 2-1 ahead, which proved to be the winning goal.

[edit] Sunderland

On 27 August 2008, Ferdinand signed for Sunderland for an undisclosed fee reported to be around £8 million.^[5] Sunderland manager Roy Keane also stated after the signing of Ferdinand that he views him as a future England International and believes that he could achieve this by playing for Sunderland. Ferdinand made a promising start to his Sunderland career, with fans praising the partnership formed between him and Danny Collins. Following captain Dean Whitehead's departure to Stoke City in July 2009, Nyron Nosworthy took Whitehead's vacated number 6 jersey and Ferdinand switched to number 5 from number 26. On 3 October 2009, Ferdinand scored a last minute own goal in a 2-2 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford

[edit] International career

Ferdinand was a regular selection for England's Under-21 side, having made his début in a 3-1 win over Ukraine at the Riverside Stadium on 17 August 2004.

Ferdinand was selected to be part of the England squad for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in the Netherlands, and given the number 5 shirt. Going into the tournament whilst recovering from an injury, he made only one appearance, as substitute, in the semi-final against the hosts. The match finished 1-1 after extra time, and in the penalty shootout which followed, he scored one and missed one as the Netherlands won 13-12. This was his final U21s appearance.

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Court case controversy

In October 2006 Ferdinand was arrested on assault charges following a fracas outside a nightclub in Ilford. He was charged in November 2006 .^[6] He appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 12 November 2007 charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray, arising from this incident. It was alleged that Ferdinand had punched Emile Walker. In his defence Ferdinand said he had feared he was going to be robbed of his £64,000 watch and was defending himself.

^[7] On 20 November 2007 Ferdinand was acquitted as the jury found that he may have been acting in self defence.^[8]

[edit] Career statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other1		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
West Ham	2003–04	20	0	3	0	3	0	–		0	0	26	0
	2004–05	29	1	3	0	1	0	–		3	0	36	1
	2005–06	33	2	5	0	0	0	–		0	0	38	2
	2006–07	31	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	34	0
	2007–08	24	2	2	0	2	0	–		0	0	28	2
	Total	138	5	14	0	7	0	1	0	3	0	163	5
Sunderland	2008–09	31	0	3	0	2	0	–		0	0	36	0
	2009–10	12	0	0	0	1	0	–		0	0	13	0
	Total	43	0	3	0	3	0	–		0	0	49	0
Career total		181	5	17	0	10	0	1	0	3	0	212	5

Statistics accurate as of match played 21 November 2009

¹Includes other competitive competitions, including the Football League Championship play-offs.

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

West Ham United

• Football League Championship play-offs (1): 2004-05

[edit] Individual

• Premier League Player of the Month (1): January 2006

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Anton Ferdinand career stats at Soccerbase
• Guardian Interview
• The Wonderful World of West Ham United statistics

v • d • e Sunderland A.F.C. – current squad 1 Gordon · 2 Bardsley · 3 McCartney · 4 Turner · 5 Ferdinand · 6 Nosworthy · 7 Zenden · 8 Malbranque · 9 Campbell · 10 Richardson · 11 Bent · 12 Mensah · 14 Murphy · 16 Henderson · 17 Jones · 18 Meyler · 19 Cana · 20 Reid · 22 Da Silva · 23 Healy · 24 Carson · 25 O'Donovan · 27 Anderson · 32 Fülöp · 39 Cattermole · Manager: Bruce