Speaking at his book launch for his autobiography, “My Decade As A Red”, Rio Ferdinand talked about how great it felt to win the title for the first time with United in 2003.

“It was a dream come true,” said Rio. “You think it’s never going to happen. I’d been playing professional football for seven years and never even got close to winning the league. So when I signed for Man United, that was my whole aim. All I’d dreamed about was winning the league and now I was at a club where the platform was there to win that. To do it in the first season was great. Funnily enough, we won that league and I was celebrating and happy, but deep down I didn’t feel that I’d played to the best of my capabilities throughout the whole season. So the one after, that felt like ‘yes! This is me’. The first one is the hardest because you don’t think it’s ever going to happen, you don’t see it coming, so to win that, alongside Moscow, was the best moment of my career.”

Rio reckoned that whilst winning the league is a dream fulfilled, it doesn’t necessarily change you as a person, but makes you more hungry to win more titles.

“It doesn’t change you as a person, it just heightens your desire and wets you appetite to win more,” he said. “You get that feeling once and then you just want it again and again.”

Whilst Ferdinand always had that desire to be a winner inside him, he claims that the mentality at United only increases that.

“I’ve invested in to the mentality of Manchester United,” he continued. “Winning, and what it takes to win, which was in line with my own personal desire to be a winner as well. To do it at this club on a consistent basis, when the pressure’s on and the desire from the fans is to be successful and win trophies, is hard, but it’s a great thing to try and do.”

—-
Ramsin Isaac was at the event on behalf of RoM. Follow him on Twitter.