Editing Rio Ferdinand (section)

===West Ham United===
[[File:Anton and Rio Ferdinand with West Ham United.jpg|thumb|left|Rio and Anton Ferdinand playing in [[Tony Carr]]'s testimonial match in 2010.]]

Originally scouted by [[Frank Lampard Sr.|Frank Lampard]], Ferdinand progressed through the youth-team ranks, earning a professional contract and a place in the first-team squad in the process.<ref name=Caspar/> On 5 May 1996, he made his senior team debut, as he came on as a substitute for [[Tony Cottee]] in the Hammers' last game of the season, a 1–1 home draw against [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]].<ref name=Caspar/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=260501|title=West Ham 1(0)&nbsp;– 1(0) Sheff Wed|access-date=22 April 2008|work=Soccerbase|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050521221256/http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=260501|archive-date=21 May 2005|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 1 February 1997, Ferdinand scored his first goal for West Ham, in his sixth appearance for the club, scoring in a 2–1 loss against [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]]. In doing so, Ferndinand became the youngest player, aged 18 and 86 days, to score for West Ham in the Premier League.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.premierleague.com/news/3250314|title=The reasons why Rio Ferdinand joins Premier League Hall of Fame|publisher=Premier League|date=3 May 2023|access-date=12 May 2024}}</ref> During the summer of 1997, [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] made enquires about Ferdinand before they turned to [[Henning Berg]] after West Ham rejected any sale.<ref>{{cite news|last=Nixon|first=Alan|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-berg-makes-pounds-5m-move-to-united-1245136.html|title=Berg makes £5m move to United|date=12 August 1997|access-date=3 July 2014|newspaper=The Independent |location=London}}</ref>

During the 1997–98 season, Ferdinand won the Hammer of the Year award at the young age of 19.<ref name=GUIDE>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/a-beginners-guide-to-rio-ferdinand-wvzvjvdml0x|title=A beginner's guide to Rio Ferdinand|last=Coffey|first=Charlie|newspaper=[[The Times]]|location=London |date=5 February 2010|access-date=26 July 2011}}</ref>

====AFC Bournemouth (loan)====
In November 1996, Ferdinand joined [[AFC Bournemouth]] on loan. He made his debut on 9 November in a 1–1 away draw against [[Blackpool F.C.|Blackpool]]. He played 10 games for Bournemouth before returning to West Ham in January 1997.<ref name="96/97"/>