Anton Ferdinand spent his early years at West Ham with the tag of "Rio's brother" after his elder sibling departed the club to earn success at Leeds United and Manchester United, but to his credit, Anton earned a place in the first-team squad on his own merits, developing his game in the Championship before making 89 Premier League appearances across three seasons. In 2008, however, Ferdinand joined the Roy Keane revolution at Sunderland, and while he initially looked like fulfilling his undoubted potential, the level of his performances soon began to drop and he never made the progression into the England senior setup - a transition that seemed likely at West Ham. Despite still being short of his 31st birthday, Ferdinand now finds himself playing in the Championship for Reading.
A degree-educated, dart-throwing, non-smelling sports journalist based in a small Staffordshire town that has just become Floyd Mayweather's answer to the question: "What's the strangest place you have ever visited?"
