Les Ferdinand reveals how he became a licenced helicopter pilot

Les Ferdinand has revealed a conversation with Kevin Keegan led to him becoming a qualified helicopter pilot.

The former England striker and Premier League icon was quizzed by Gary Neville about his licence on the Stick to Football Podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.

Ferdinand confirmed he has passed his test while at Tottenham, leading to Roy Keane joking 'Is that to get out of Spurs quickly?'.

The 57-year-old revealed that the inspiration for becoming a helicopter pilot came after he signed for Newcastle in 1995, after speaking to manager Kevin Keegan.

‘When I was at Newcastle, Keegan had put something out and said to me you're coming into a goldfish bowl, in terms of London you can get lost but you can't do nothing up here,' Ferdinand said.

‘So he said what's three things you want to do. I said 'I want to learn how to play saxophone, learn how to cook and learn how to ride a motorbike'.

‘He said to me, “I can let you do two of them, but the third one I can't let you do”.

‘I said “f***ing hell”. He said there was a place in Newcastle that built him a Harley and he said 'I'll let you pass your test if you ride the Harley back to my house', so I said alright no problem.

'Someone in Newcastle had built it for him, he couldn't ride it but he was just going to showcase it.'

Ferdinand revealed that he was then approached to fly a helicopter after Keegan had included it on a programme of potential activities.

'At first I was like nah not really, but then he goes come and have a look and it just got into my head,' Ferdinand added.

'To be fair the first time I went up I went 'f*** I'm not sure I like this' and then the geezer said 'where do you live?' And I said just over there.

'He goes 'let's have a look at your house' and as soon as I