Rio admits he played Irons games through a boozy blur

Rio Ferdinand  has admitted that as a youngster he would go on benders and drink ten pints of Guinness before hitting the shorts.

And he reveals that there were matches at West Ham where things were a blur and that the culture at Upton Park was a drinking culture

In an interview with the Guardian, Ferdinand, 41  said: “I used to go through a load when I was younger.

“I could probably do eight, nine, ten. Then I’d move on to the vodkas.

“I could go through loads. I could go all day drinking, then wake up and go again when I was younger.

“I always say to people who ask if I have any regrets about playing, I wouldn’t have drunk alcohol.

“When I was younger I did. I was a lunatic. When I was at West Ham, elements of my career are a blur.

“People talk about performances and results at certain times in them games and I just sit and nod my head. I haven’t got a clue what they’re talking about. I don’t remember.

“Saturday or Sunday. It was a different culture. Crazy. The culture I was in at West Ham was a drinking culture.

“Football and drinks and nightclubs, that’s the way it was. And that’s the way I lived at that time.”

By the time Ferdinand made his record-breaking move from Leeds to Manchester United in 2002 for £30million, he had started to pull back from the abyss and largely cut out alcohol during the season.

But he would still cut loose during the off-season with lengthy benders.

Ferdinand, who won six league titles with United, added: “In the summers I’d drink for two weeks. Bang. Just keep drinking.

“Yes. I was lucky. I had a natural ability that could get me through that period of my life.

“But I got to a point where I had to make a decision to be more professional.”