Sir Les inducted into National Football Museum Hall of Fame

Les Ferdinand - 'Sir Les' - will be inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame during a special ceremony at the Museum in Manchester today (Tuesday 17 February).

The date holds particular significance, marking the anniversary of his England debut in 1995, a match in which he also scored his first international goal. His induction follows public voting in 2025, reflecting the esteem in which he is held by football supporters across generations.

A Spurs fan, Les achieved every schoolboy's dream when he signed for his boyhood club alongside David Ginola from Newcastle United in the summer of 1997.

Things didn't initially go as planned in that first season as we battled relegation. However, those testing days turned into a trophy at Wembley the following season as we lifted the League Cup in 1999, Les started the final against Leicester. That was the highlight Spurs for Les, who readily admits that his time in N17 was tough, often laid low by injury, as he scored 39 goals in his 149 appearances in all competitions before moving to West Ham in January, 2003.

Renowned as one of the most complete centre-forwards of the Premier League era, Les enjoyed an outstanding playing career spanning more than two decades. He scored 149 Premier league goals in 351 games for us and the likes of QPR, Newcastle, West Ham and Leicester. A part of Kevin Keegan's team of the mid-1990s, Les fired Newcastle to successive second-place finishes in the Premier League - scoring 50 goals in 84 games for the Toon. He was named PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1995/96. He earned 17 caps for England.

Off The Shelf podcast | Les Ferdinand

Les returned to the club in 2008, initially as striking coach and then part of out development coaching team alongside Tim Sherwood and Chris Ramsey, overseeing the development of a number of players who not only went on to play for Spurs, but also represent England - the likes of Harry Kane, Andros Townsend, Jake Livermore, Danny Rose, Ryan Mason and Steven Caulker.

He left us in 2014 and went on to become QPR's Director of Football, a role he held for eight years.

Speaking ahead of the ceremony, Les said: “It’s an absolute honour to be inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame alongside some of the great players and managers that have graced the premier league! Football has been such a big part of my life, and to have my career recognised in this way — especially on the anniversary of my England debut — means a great deal to me. I’m also proud to be able to donate an object to the Museum and contribute to telling the story of the game for future generations.”

Speaking on our Off The Shelf podcast back in 2023, Les told us what it meant to join Spurs - his boyhood club...

"I often say to people, when I talk about my career, and people talk about dreaming about being a professional footballer and ask, 'do dreams come true?' And I say, well, my dream came true because I played for the team that I supported as a boy. That first day, you know... I'd always played against Spurs, and I'd actually done alright against Spurs in terms of scoring goals, but this is where I wanted to come and this is where I wanted to score goals, and that part of it was probably the biggest disappointment for me because I picked up lots of niggly little injuries while I was here. If there was one club that I wanted to come to and continue my goalscoring, it was here, but the team wasn't quite where it needed to be and, like I said, I picked up a lot of injuries, so that part of it was a disappointment, but pulling on the Tottenham shirt and walking out at White Hart Lane... I always remember speaking to the late Gary Speed one day, who had played against Tottenham and he said to me, 'of all the grounds I play in, this is my favourite ground' and I said, well, it's been mine for donkey's years! We were having a chuckle as we were walking out and there were a lot of players back in the day who loved playing at White Hart Lane, and I was no different. I just wish I'd scored more goals here."