Rio Ferdinand: Leeds United fans anger ‘wrecks my head’..

Rio Ferdinand has expressed that some Leeds United supporters are still upset with him for leaving the team for rival Manchester United more than 20 years ago, saying “it wrecks my head.”

In July 2002, the pundit and former center-back finalized the £30 million transfer.

Ferdinand stated that he was “taken aback” that some fans were still upset about the transfer in an interview with Rob Burrow, a motor neurone disease activist and former rugby league star.

“Understand the situation and the context,” he urged them.

“I played a game about six months to a year ago, and the Leeds away fans were right in front of me,” Ferdinand remarked. I promise you that I was surprised by how irate and angry they still are with me. I wonder, ‘Are you still upset about this?’ because this transfer was more than 20 years ago.

“Unfortunately, the club was run in such a way that they had to sell all of the assets,” the former England captain said in his explanation. They needed to convince me. I had to leave. Therefore, it didn’t matter where I ended up.

“I didn’t really understand the rivalry because I wasn’t a native Leeds boy. I decided to attend the greatest club because it offered me the most opportunities.

“I understand the rivalry, but sometimes you’ve got to understand the situation and the context.”

During the podcast, Ferdinand also discussed boxing, ballet, and grief.

The former Leeds Rhinos player is the host of the BBC podcast The Total Sport Podcast, and Ferdinand is the most recent guest.

Known as Seven: In the podcast Rob Burrow, the legendary rugby player and his spouse Lindsey ask seven questions to seven legendary athletes.

Patron of the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association Burrow, who communicates through voice recordings and artificial intelligence (AI), received eye-gaze technology assistance from the charity to produce the series.

Wayne Rooney was another teammate that Ferdinand characterized as his worst ever, saying to Burrow, “We probably argued once every two or three games – big [arguments] like effing and blinding, screaming at each other.”

“It was because I wanted more from him, because I knew what he was good at and I knew he could do more and I wanted him to be more effective,” he said.

Between 2004 and 2014, Rooney and Ferdinand were teammates at Manchester United.

“Wayne wanted to play 30 or 40-yard passes like Paul Scholes, and he could do it, he was that good, but I wanted him to go and score 30 or 40 goals a season because he could,” he stated.

“He was unhappy because he wasn’t participating in the game, dictating games, making a lot of passes, or getting the ball on offense during the season we played. He scored thirty or so goals. He had to play as high as a nine,” he continued.

“I couldn’t wrap my mind around it,” he stated. We used to argue a little bit about Wayne’s desire to play football like he was in a park because he loved it so much.”

“After a fantastic pass, he would jog into the box, and I would tell him to turn and shoot. What are you doing? and we would alternate back and forth as he screamed at me. That was one of many good arguments we had. These are persuasive reasons to have them.

“As Mother and Father”
Ferdinand called the process of creating a TV documentary about grief after his wife Rebecca passed away “a cathartic experience” in the podcast.

In 2015, Rebecca, 34, passed away from breast cancer.

He stated: “I was learning so much about myself and my family and ways in which I could help my kids move forward.”

In 2018, the football player examined how grieving parents adjust to loss and create new lives for themselves and their kids in the BBC documentary Rio Ferdinand: Being Mum and Dad.

“I think if I hadn’t done the documentary I don’t think I’d be where I am right now with a wife and two added kids to the family because I think I would have got myself in a hole,” Ferdinand stated.

“I think it would be quite easy to dig a hole and just sit in that hole and not come out and sink into depression.”

Lindsey concurred that their feelings during the filming of Burrow’s documentary Living with MND were similar.

“Rob’s always been a family man, very private, and didn’t particularly like the limelight,” she stated.

“For Rob to open up his doors at a time when he is most vulnerable I think takes a lot of courage and bravery.”

Ferdinand threatened to be disowned by his children if he ever went on Strictly

Ferdinand also mentioned how attending a ballet school as a youngster helped him “in good stead” when it came to playing football.

Saying that “my kids would disown me” and that “there is no footage of me in a tutu” online, he ruled out ever competing on Strictly Come Dancing.

Ferdinand stated that he anticipated being questioned concerning the white suit he donned upon joining Manchester United in 2002, and Burrow did not let him down.

Although he called it “a phenomenal suit,” he claimed that Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, had not shown any appreciation for it, asking, “What have you come as?”

Ferdinand said he would give the suit to the Manchester United museum.