Rio Ferdinand reveals what goes on in Manchester United and Leeds United WhatsApp groups - including one surprise member
Updated 06/04/2025 at 12:37 GMT+1
Have you ever wondered what goes on in WhatsApp group chats between former footballers? TNT Sports' Rio Ferdinand has revealed all, discussing what is spoken about in private chats with his former Manchester United and Leeds United colleagues. Although ex-Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson does not have the app, according to Ferdinand, one of his former managers is a surprise participant.
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Rio Ferdinand has lifted the lid on what life after professional football is like and how he stays in contact with former team-mates.
TNT Sports expert Ferdinand represented Manchester United for 12 years between 2002 and 2014, after a two-year stint at bitter rivals Leeds United.
And he has revealed that he is in a WhatsApp group chat with his former colleagues from both sides, including one surprise addition.
"It's a [Manchester] United WhatsApp group. I've got two, actually - a [Manchester] United WhatsApp group and a Leeds WhatsApp group," he told TNT Sports.
"So the Leeds team I played in that got to the Champions League semi-final, we've got a group with about 20 players. The manager, David O'Leary, is in there.
"Sir Alex [Ferguson] hasn't made this [Man Utd] one. I don't think he's got WhatsApp, that's why. But all of us, there are loads of us in there."
But what goes on in these behind-closed-doors chats? Ferdinand was open about the usual topics of discussion.
"We talk about people more than anything, who's playing rubbish, who's playing well, Man Utd problems and then issues, but mainly about each other," he explained.
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"There's probably about 5000 pictures in there of people sending lookalikes of each other, or pictures we had years ago of each other, [that] people have got on their cloud of someone that they've found of someone sleeping on the coach or on the train.
"Always just taking the mick out of each other really. It's the group for just treading on people's confidence."
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