Editing Rio Ferdinand (section)

==Early life==
===Formative years and education===
Rio Gavin Ferdinand was born on 7 November 1978 at [[King's College Hospital]] in [[Camberwell]] and grew up in [[Peckham]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ferdinand|first1=Rio|title=Rio: My Story|year=2007|orig-year=2006|publisher=Headline Publishing Group|location=London|isbn=978-0-7553-1533-8|page=10}}</ref> He is the son of an [[Irish people|Irish]] mother, Janice Lavender, and an [[Afro-Saint Lucian]] father, Julian Ferdinand.<ref name=Jackson>{{cite news|first=Jamie|last=Jackson|title=His name is Rio|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/aug/12/sport.obsmagspecial4|newspaper=The Observer |location=London|date=12 August 2007|access-date=5 November 2008}}</ref><ref name=StLucia>{{cite news|first=Helen |last=Parker |title=Caribbean property: Rio Ferdinand is ahead of the game |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/overseasproperty/3360841/Caribbean-property-Rio-Ferdinand-is-ahead-of-the-game.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=29 March 2008 |access-date=5 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327125749/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/overseasproperty/3360841/Caribbean-property-Rio-Ferdinand-is-ahead-of-the-game.html |archive-date=27 March 2009}}</ref>

Ferdinand grew up in [[Peckham]] in a large family, his mother was one of six children and his father arrived in Britain with ten other family members.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/21/rio-ferdinand-my-family-values |title=Rio Ferdinand: My Family Values |newspaper=The Guardian |last=Wintle |first=Angela |date=21 August 2014 |access-date=1 January 2019}}</ref> Both parents worked to support the family, his mother as a child carer and his father as a tailor. His parents never married and they separated when he was 14 years old. His father remained close, moving to a nearby estate, and took the kids to football training and to local parks.<ref name=Jackson/><ref name=Caspar/> Ferdinand attended Camelot Primary School.<ref name=Caspar>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2008/jun/01/manchesterunited|title=A united front|last=Llewellyn Smith|first=Caspar|newspaper=The Observer|location=London |date=1 June 2008|access-date=6 November 2008}}</ref><ref name=Jones>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/newsmakers/2057425.stm|title=Rio Ferdinand: The silver lining|last=Jones|first=Chris|publisher=BBC Sport|date=21 June 2002|access-date=6 November 2008}}</ref> At school, he focused on maths and revelled in the opportunity to perform before an audience during a school production of ''[[Bugsy Malone]]''.<ref name=Caspar/>

<blockquote>"I always as a kid wanted to do something different, I'd get bored very easily&nbsp;– even playing football or hanging around with my mates. So travelling away from home, meeting new people. ... I enjoyed it."<ref name=Caspar/></blockquote>

He chose to attend [[Blackheath Bluecoat Church of England School|Blackheath Bluecoat School]] to make new friends and settled in well, feeling his confidence growing.<ref name=Jackson/> His second year was marred by the death of a fellow pupil, [[Stephen Lawrence]], and the event demonstrated the ever-present threat of violence.<ref name=Jones/> Ferdinand enjoyed physical expression, taking part in not just football and gymnastics classes but drama, theatre and ballet too.<ref name=Caspar/> He was an able child: he represented [[London Borough of Southwark|Southwark]] in gymnastics at the [[London Youth Games]],<ref>{{cite news|title=London gymnastics team wins gold at the weekend|url=http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/9081346.London_gymnastics_team_wins_gold_at_the_weekend/?ref=mmpg|newspaper=Croydon Guardian|location=London|date=14 June 2011|access-date=19 March 2012}}</ref> by age 10 he had been invited to train at the [[Queens Park Rangers F.C.|Queens Park Rangers]] academy, and at age 11 he won a scholarship to attend the [[Central School of Ballet]] in London.<ref name=Jackson/> Ferdinand attended the ballet classes, travelling to the city centre four days a week for four years.<ref name=Caspar/>

===Youth-team career===
Ferdinand's superior footballing abilities were evident even as a child: when he was 11 years old a youth coach, David Goodwin, remarked "I'm going to call you Pelé, son, I like the way you play."<ref name=Caspar/> Ferdinand was regularly playing in youth teams and at Eltham Town he played as an [[attacking midfielder]] but team scouts saw the young player had the physical potential to be a centre-back instead. Teams vied for the young footballer's services and during his youth he trained with [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]], [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]], [[Millwall F.C.|Millwall]] and Queens Park Rangers. Ferdinand was ever curious of different places and even travelled north to [[Middlesbrough F.C.|Middlesbrough]]'s training ground, spending a good part of his school holidays in a bedsit just to be there.<ref name=Caspar/>

London team West Ham United was to be his footballing home, however, and he joined their [[youth system]] in 1992.<ref name=Jackson/> He signed his first [[Youth Training Scheme]] contract in January 1994 and played alongside players such as [[Frank Lampard]] at the academy.<ref name=Caspar/><ref>{{cite news|first=David|last=Hytner|title=Old boys' reunion will not prevent Cole from taking care of business|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2008/may/19/championsleague.chelsea|newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=19 May 2008|access-date=6 November 2008}}</ref> Success pending at club level, international football also began for Ferdinand; at 16 he joined the England youth-team squad to compete in their age group's [[UEFA European Championship]], gaining his first experience of international competition.<ref name=Caspar/>