Rio Ferdinand bids soccer farewell

June 2, 2015 Everything that has a start must come to an end, and in this case, the end is the story of former England and Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand, who has hung up his boots, and has announced his retirement from active football.

This marks the end of Rio Ferdinand’s 20-year professional career where the 36 year old defender established himself as one of the top English players of his generation.

He started his professional career at West Ham in 1995 and became the most expensive English player in 2002when he joined United from Leeds for £29.1 million.

He was released by United in the Summer of 2014 after 454 appearances, and was signed by QPR, where he struggled to hold down a regular place in a team that ended up getting relegated from the Premier League.

Sadly, Ferdinand was absent for the closing stages of his final season in football with Queens Park Rangers, after his wife died on May 1st following a battle with cancer.

We wish him the very best in his future endeavors as he forges ahead.