Spend whole day drinking as a child and Ferdinand's most shocking confessions

Rio Ferdinand is one of the most recognised faces in English football, but it wasn't all positive as the recent confessions of alcoholism and depression prove.

During a prosperous career spanning over 20 years, the former Manchester United defender had his fair share of troubles on and off the field.

His relationship with alcohol

Ferdinand has confessed on more than one occasion that he had alcohol problems, above all during the start of his career at West Ham United. It was well known that there was a drinking culture at the Hammers and there would be post-match drinks after each fixture with the possibility of moving on to a nightclub after.

"When I was young, I was crazy, I could spend the whole day drinking. I would drink about ten pints of beer before switching to vodka," Ferdinand said.

"During my time at West Ham, I had memory lapses, people used to ask me about results and I wouldn't remember the scores."

The death of his wife and depression

The life of Rio Ferdinand was turned upside down following the death of his wife Rebecca Ellison in 2015. The ex-Manchester United defender was a widow at the age of 36 and with three young children to care for, he retired from football just a month after.

"Nobody was prepared for the loss of Rebecca," Ferdinand said.

"Before she passed on, she said to me that I would be an amazing mum and dad for our children."

"Nobody thought the worse was going to happen, but she passed away ten weeks after being diagnosed with cancer.

"After I lost Rebecca, I continued to drink after putting the kids to sleep. One day I couldn't even take them to school because I wasn't in a fit state.

"When we went on holiday, all I had to do was pack my own case because Rebecca would pack for everyone else.

"I didn't even know how to book a doctor's appointment as all I knew was the club's doctor."

Sharing a changing room with Cristiano

During his days at Manchester United, Ferdinand was teammates with Cristiano Ronaldo and from the start he recognised the dedication and desire the Portuguese attacker had and the Englishman knew that he would go on to do great things.

"He was the first person that brought a team of people around with him. Who are these people, I asked."

"This is my chef, my physio, my doctor and my personal trainer," Ronaldo replied to Ferdinand.

Rejecting Guardiola and Barcelona

During the 2008/2009 season, Rio Ferdinand could have become a Barcelona player, a team that went onto win the treble. He rejected a move to the Catalan giants because he thought it was a "team in transition".

"I was close to joining Barcelona, they made contact with my agent and I spoke to Rijkaard about his intentions," Ferdinand said.

"We beat them and we became Champions of Europe, so why was I going to leave the Champions of Europe to play for a team in transition."

"At that time, Xavi, Iniesta and Messi weren't the players they came to be a couple of years after," he added.