Rio Ferdinand has shared a funny story about Fabio Capello’s reign as England manager, revealing that the Three Lions players once secretly ordered McDonald’s after growing tired of his ‘serious’ regime.
Capello, who led England for five years between 2007 and 2012, was renowned for his no-nonsense style of management, joining the Three Lions after collecting an impressive trophy portfolio at AC Milan and Real Madrid.
Former Manchester United defender Ferdinand revealed just how strict Capello was during his time with England, opening up on how certain foods were banned.
He said in a conversation with Capello on his podcast FIVE: ‘The manager was always serious the whole time. Every now and then a joke but always serious. So then training has to be serious. He really wanted to create an atmosphere where we knew it was serious here.
‘I remember when came down for breakfast when the manager was there and all of a sudden there’s no butter. I have butter every day. I said to the lady, “Where’s the butter?”, she said, “I’m sorry, the manager says it has to be gone”. All banned, no ketchup.
Former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand has shared how England’s players once secretly ordered McDonald’s to a hotel room after growing tired of Fabio Capello’s ‘serious’ regime
Ferdinand claims John Terry (far left), Steven Gerrard (second left) and Ashley Cole (far right) were all involved in the McDonald’s incident, as he claims they ate the food ‘like scavengers’
‘I went to you (Capello) and said, “Please, I need butter in the morning”, and he went, “Why? Why do you need butter, it’s not good for you”. So I went and got olive oil and salt and put it on my toast.’
‘When he was the manager, I remember the lads were like, “We’re not eating, the food is terrible”, and me and Stevie (Gerrard) came to you and asked if we could please get some better food, and you said no, the doctors said no, Franco (Baldini) said no.
‘And in the end, after one of the games, we went and got McDonald’s to come round the side of the hotel and bring the McDonald’s in the room — and we were all sitting there like scavengers eating the food.’
When asked who joined him for the secret McDonald’s feast, Ferdinand revealed that almost the entire squad — including John Terry, Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher — were involved.
The ex-England star went on to reveal how Capello lost his temper at Emile Heskey, after the former striker broke his rule of having no phones at the dinner table.
‘The good thing about (Capello) is you knew where you stood,’ he continued. ‘It was all black or white, no grey areas. You can do this and can’t do this.
‘I remember another rule was no phones around the dinner table, and Emile Heskey had his phone out, texting someone, after finishing his food.
Capello, pictured above this month, managed England for five years between 2007 and 2012
The pair caught up on Ferdinand’s podcast FIVE and reminisced with a handful of funny stories
‘The manager went crazy. You know the lids you get on buffets? He picked them up like tambourines and went bang! “Respect, respect”, he was saying.’
Ferdinand captained England during Capello’s second game in charge of the Three Lions in March 2008, claiming the armband over the likes of David Beckham, Terry, Gerrard and Cole.
Capello told the media that this decision was part of a plan to rotate the captaincy ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in September 2008, but Ferdinand was ultimately named vice-captain behind Terry that summer.
Ferdinand’s final game for England came in 2011, a year before Capello’s exit, with the Manchester United legend not selected by new boss Roy Hodgson ahead of the Three Lions’ Euro 2012 campaign.