NFL betting players know all about underrated players, and when it comes to the Premiership, Les Ferdinand isn’t brought up when thinking about the best strikers in England. Here is a reminder why he was one of the best to ever do it.
Ferdinand bounced around the lower leagues with QPR and Brentford before going to Turkey, where he blossomed with Besiktas. Ferdinand then returned to England in 1989 with QPR again, spending six seasons between the Premiership and the First Division (now the Championship). Ferdinand then spent two short, but prolific, years at Newcastle, scoring 41 goals in 68 matches. Ferdinand wouldn’t score more than 12 goals in a season for the rest of his career, playing six years at Tottenham, and then a year each at West Ham, Leicester City, Bolton, Reading and Watford before retiring in 2006.
Ferdinand had just 17 caps for England, scoring five goals, and he inexplicably was left on the bench during Euro 96, after scoring 25 goals for Newcastle alongside Alan Shearer.
Ferdinand (cousin of England captain Rio, as well as West Ham’s Anton) wasn’t a flashy player, but he got the job done and really should get more attention than he does. It really makes you wonder how good Newcastle would have been if they decided to keep Ferdinand and Shearer together, because you wouldn’t need many chances to score with those two up front. When conversing with your friends about the top strikers in England history, bring up Ferdinand and we’re betting you’ll get a couple weird looks, but the numbers don’t lie.
