Editing Rio Ferdinand (section)

===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/>