Les Ferdinand - Post-playing Career and Personal Interests

Post-playing Career and Personal Interests

Ferdinand was a pundit for BBC Sport. Beginning with the 2007–08 season, he is a pundit on Setanta's Premiership coverage. In November 2008 he was offered a coaching role at one of his former clubs, Tottenham Hotspur. He still works for the BBC part-time, on the weekend program Final Score.

He played and scored in a Soccer Aid match at Old Trafford. He has also been involved in various fundraising events for Cancer Research UK in honour of his mother Adrienne, who died of breast cancer on 12 February 1990. In July 2007 he visited a number of Sport Relief funded projects in Uganda.

With fellow former footballers John Barnes and Luther Blissett, he has founded Team48 Motorsport, a team aiming to promote young racing drivers of African-Caribbean background. For 2008, they enter the British Touring Car Championship, running Alfa Romeos for white Jamaican Matthew Gore and 18-year-old black Briton Darelle Wilson.

Ferdinand is a qualified helicopter pilot and owns at least one helicopter, which he regularly uses.

Ferdinand has for many years been thought to have been connected (along with Dennis Wise) with the vandalism of the Blue Peter garden in 1984; however, he has always rejected these claims. Although at one point he claimed to have "helped a few lads over the wall", he later claimed to have been joking.

Ferdinand was also a resident pundit at Setanta Sports with ex-England International teammate, Steve McManaman.

Ferdinand has appeared on the popular BBC2 programme Top Gear, posting a lap-time of 1:47.4 in the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" feature.