Playing at White Hart Lane was dream come true for Spurs’ hero Ferdinand

With more than 100 appearances for Spurs in his career, Les Ferdinand has revealed that simply playing once for club was a dream come true.

Ferdinand, now the director of football at Championship side Queens Park Rangers, joined Spurs in 1997, before leaving to go to rivals West Ham United in 2003.

But now, looking back on his career as Spurs prepare to play their final league fixture at White Hart Lane, Ferdinand recalls the dream of playing for the north London outfit that he harboured as a fledgling footballer.

“I was at QPR and played at White Hart Lane for the reserves,” said the 50-year-old. “Back then, teams always played reserve football at their home stadium.

Credit: Ross Kinnaird/ALLSPORT

“I can always remember the first time I played at Spurs, it was like ‘wow, this is White Hart Lane’ and walking out of the tunnel into the stadium, playing on the pitch, it was like a dream come true.

“I always remember seeing players in Tottenham tracksuits and you just knew they belonged to something special, so to go out there and play was incredible.

“As a player, even before I joined Spurs, if you spoke to players, White Hart Lane was always one of their favourite places to play, especially those evening matches.

“Playing there and scoring a hat-trick (against Leicester in November, 2000) that was special. It’s what dreams are made of. There are so many boys out there who would say ‘I’d love to play for Tottenham’ and I’m living proof that dreams can come true.”