Rio Ferdinand would drink up to ‘10 pints of Guinness’ in a night during his West Ham days

RIO FERDINAND has revealed how he once harboured an appreciation of Ireland’s most popular tipple, Guinness, but that he ultimately chose football over booze.

The retired England and Manchester United is the son of an Irish mother, Janice Lavender, and revealed to The Guardian how he used to regularly indulge in a pint or 10 of the black stuff during his time with first club West Ham.

"I used to get through a load when I was younger. I could probably do eight, nine, 10 [pints of Guinness]. Then I'd move on to the vodkas. I could go through loads. I could go all day drinking, then wake up and go again when I was younger,” Ferdinand said.

Coming at a time when nutrition was less of a concern in the world of football, Ferdinand revealed how his time in London with West Ham from 1995 to 2000 was a bit of a blur because of his hard-partying antics.

"I always say to people who ask if I have any regrets about playing, I wouldn't have drunk alcohol,” he said.

"It would be after a game - Saturday or Sunday. It was a different culture. Crazy. The culture I was in at West Ham was a drinking culture. Football and drinks and nightclubs, that's the way it was. And that's the way I lived at that time."

"When I was younger I was a lunatic. When I was at West Ham ... elements of my career are a blur. People talk about performances and results at certain times in them games and I just sit and nod my head. I haven't got a clue what they're talking about. I don't remember."

While Ferdinand would never drink before games at West Ham, he decided to stop drinking altogether during the seasons with Leeds and Manchester United.

“I was lucky. I had a natural ability that could get me through that period of my life. But I got to a point where I had to make a decision to be more professional.”