Rio Ferdinand has been speaking in the Sun today about his time at West Ham as Tony Cottee’s boot boy.
“At West Ham, I had to take care of Tony Cottee’s boots. I remember being in the boot room, having a laugh, when I heard someone shouting: “Where’s that f***ing Ferdinand? I came out and saw this five-foot-nothing stocky geezer standing there. Tony Cottee. Where’s my f***ing boots?” he said. “What boots?” I said. “You’re my boot boy. Where’s my boots?” he said. I said they were hanging on his peg in the boot room where I’d been told to put them.He said: “I want my boots with my training kit and tracksuit in my place every morning.” When I said that wasn’t my job, he got angry: “You’re my boot boy and you’ll do what I f***ing say.Then he walked off. So every day that year, Tony Cottee had everything exactly how he wanted it.That is unimaginable now.Aspiring stars don’t get chapped fingers because it’s freezing and they’re outside scrubbing boots.
I used to have to clean the away changing room too. You’d poke your head round the door and say: “Can I come in now? I’m going to miss my train home.” And they’d say: “F*** off! Get out!”
How times have changed! I couldn’t see this happening today in the Academy. I can’t imagine Reece Oxford cleans Mark Noble’s boots!