The striker banged in the goals for Newcastle.
Newcastle’s 1995-96 season is kept in mind for Kevin Keegan’s popular tirade and their crisis as a 12- point lead at the top of the table fell apart away.
However at the time, it was everything about Les Ferdinand‘s goals.
In his first season on Tyneside, the ₤ 6million finalizing from QPR scored 29 of them in all– 25 in the Premier League– assisting fuel Newcastle’s title obstacle for as long as it lasted.
Ferdinand accepted the PFA Player of the Year award from Brazilian great Pele (David Cheskin/PA)
His accomplishments were rewarded with the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award, another sign of the huge rise Ferdinand had actually made because starting out in non-league football with Hayes, stabilizing his profession with his day task as a painter and designer.
Bought by QPR and sent out on loan to Brentford, Ferdinand made his advancement while on loan with Besiktas and had actually long been a target for Newcastle prior to participating in the summer of 1995.
With David Ginola and Peter Beardsley pulling the strings behind, Ferdinand provided from the very start, with his goals powering the Magpies into such a strong position it is still challenging to fathom how all of it broke down.
When the PFA award came, Ferdinand was likewise called in the team of the season together with Blackburn’s Alan Shearer, however the pairing would soon end up being a reality as Newcastle spent lavishly ₤15 million to bring the Geordie striker home.
The arrival of Alan Shearer at Newcastle showed a turning point for Ferdinand (Paul Barker/PA)
Keegan would even ask Ferdinand to quit the number 9 t-shirt for Shearer, and it signified that, for all his goals the season prior to, there was a new hierarchy in order.
Within a year, Ferdinand would be on his way, offered to raise money however getting what appeared a dream move of his own as he joined the club he supported as a young boy, Tottenham.
The move eventually did not exercise as either celebration hoped– Ferdinand’s time at White Hart Lane was dogged by injuries as Spurs fought against transfer.
He never ever once again reached the heights he had actually enjoyed in his first season on Tyneside, where he is still passionately called Sir Les.
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