{"id":300136,"date":"2023-12-13T18:25:41","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T18:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?p=300136"},"modified":"2023-12-13T18:25:41","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T18:25:41","slug":"ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/","title":{"rendered":"Ferdinand &apos;taken aback&apos; by Leeds fans &apos;still angry&apos; over his 2003 exit"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1> Rio Ferdinand reveals he is &#8216;taken aback&#8217; that Leeds fans are STILL &#8216;upset and angry&#8217; with him more than 20 years after he departed the Yorkshire club to join rivals Manchester United<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Rio Ferdinand reflected on his controversial departure from Elland Road in 2003<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The 45-year-old has remained an unpopular figure among Leeds fans to this day<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>On a packed train, how DO you ask a celebrity to move from a seat you have reserved? It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Rio Ferdinand has expressed his surprise at the resentment he receives from Leeds fans more than two decades after his departure from Elland Road.<\/p>\n<p>Ferdinand joined Leeds from West Ham in November 2000 in an \u00a318m deal that broke the British transfer record and made him the world&#8217;s most expensive defender.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being named captain and serving as an integral component of David O&#8217;Leary&#8217;s side that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, Ferdinand&#8217;s spell in Yorkshire would ultimately prove to be brief.<\/p>\n<p>Less than two years after arriving at the club, Ferdinand would join Leeds&#8217; bitter rivals Manchester United, with the \u00a330m fee paid for the England international again breaking the British transfer record.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the\u00a0BBC&#8217;s The Total Sport Podcast, Ferdinand told former rugby league star Rob Burrow that he was surprised by the level of vitriol aimed at him by the Leeds faithful.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/13\/16\/78921675-0-image-a-35_1702485408293.jpg\" height=\"476\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Rio Ferdinand detailed his surprise at still facing vitriol from Leeds fans more than 20 years after leaving the club<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/13\/16\/78921673-0-image-a-36_1702485415115.jpg\" height=\"938\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ferdinand spent two years at Elland Road and was part of the Leeds side that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/13\/16\/78921667-0-image-a-37_1702485479253.jpg\" height=\"491\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>But the England international failed to endear himself to the clubs faithful when he joined fierce rivals Manchester United in a British-record deal<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;About six months to a year ago I played a game and the Leeds away fans were just in front of me. I swear to you I was taken aback by how upset and angry they still are with me. This transfer was over 20 years ago and I&#8217;m thinking &#8220;are you still upset about this?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Unfortunately the club was run a particular way that they had to sell all of the assets. They had to sell me. I had to go. So it didn&#8217;t matter where I was going.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I wasn&#8217;t a local Leeds lad so I didn&#8217;t really understand the rivalry. I chose to go to the best club which had the best opportunity for me to win and that was Manchester United, and that decision proved to be right because I was very successful there and won so many things.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I understand the rivalry, but sometimes you&#8217;ve got to understand the situation and the context.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Despite the controversy surrounding his arrival, Ferdinand&#8217;s move to Manchester would prove enormously successful.<\/p>\n<p>In twelve years at Old Trafford Ferdinand would win a host of accolades, including six Premier League titles, two league cups and the Champions League.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12860223\/Rio-Ferdinand-reveals-taken-aback-Leeds-fans-upset-angry-joining-Man-United.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rio Ferdinand reveals he is &#8216;taken aback&#8217; that Leeds fans are STILL &#8216;upset and angry&#8217; with him more than 20 years after he departed the Yorkshire club to join rivals Manchester United Rio Ferdinand reflected on his controversial departure from Elland Road&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ferdinand &amp;apos;taken aback&amp;apos; by Leeds fans &amp;apos;still angry&amp;apos; over his 2003 exit - Sports-Life-News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ferdinand &amp;apos;taken aback&amp;apos; by Leeds fans &amp;apos;still angry&amp;apos; over his 2003 exit - Sports-Life-News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rio Ferdinand reveals he is &#8216;taken aback&#8217; that Leeds fans are STILL &#8216;upset and angry&#8217; with him more than 20 years after he departed the Yorkshire club to join rivals Manchester United Rio Ferdinand reflected on his controversial departure from Elland Road...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports-Life-News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-13T18:25:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Ferdinand-apostaken-abackapos-by-Leeds-fans-aposstill-angryapos-over-his-2003-exit.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/\",\"name\":\"Ferdinand &apos;taken aback&apos; by Leeds fans &apos;still angry&apos; over his 2003 exit - Sports-Life-News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-13T18:25:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-13T18:25:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Soccer\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/category\/soccer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Ferdinand &apos;taken aback&apos; by Leeds fans &apos;still angry&apos; over his 2003 exit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sports-Life-News\",\"description\":\"sports-life-news.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ferdinand &apos;taken aback&apos; by Leeds fans &apos;still angry&apos; over his 2003 exit - Sports-Life-News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ferdinand &apos;taken aback&apos; by Leeds fans &apos;still angry&apos; over his 2003 exit - Sports-Life-News","og_description":"Rio Ferdinand reveals he is &#8216;taken aback&#8217; that Leeds fans are STILL &#8216;upset and angry&#8217; with him more than 20 years after he departed the Yorkshire club to join rivals Manchester United Rio Ferdinand reflected on his controversial departure from Elland Road...","og_url":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/","og_site_name":"Sports-Life-News","article_published_time":"2023-12-13T18:25:41+00:00","author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Ferdinand-apostaken-abackapos-by-Leeds-fans-aposstill-angryapos-over-his-2003-exit.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/","url":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/","name":"Ferdinand &apos;taken aback&apos; by Leeds fans &apos;still angry&apos; over his 2003 exit - Sports-Life-News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-12-13T18:25:41+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-13T18:25:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/soccer\/ferdinand-taken-aback-by-leeds-fans-still-angry-over-his-2003-exit\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Soccer","item":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/category\/soccer\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Ferdinand &apos;taken aback&apos; by Leeds fans &apos;still angry&apos; over his 2003 exit"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/","name":"Sports-Life-News","description":"sports-life-news.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300136"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}