Les Ferdinand has spoken about his brief spell with Watford, during which he never actually made a competitive appearance.

The former Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur striker signed non-contract terms with the Hornets for the 2005-06 season in which they progressed to the Premier League via the playoffs.

Despite joining the club, Ferdinand claims he had no intention of playing again and was simply at Vicarage Road in order to wean himself away from football.

However, then manager Aidy Boothroyd had different ideas and still believed 'Sir Les' had something to offer on the pitch.

"When I finished at Reading I spoke to Aidy Boothroyd who invited me for training at Watford," said Ferdinand.

"So I went in to train and stuff but never with the intention of wanting to play again.

"It was more with the intention of detraining myself out of football. I had been in football all my life and what most players find is that all of a sudden you wake up and there is nothing. And I just thought to myself this was an opportunity to wean yourself off football.

"So I went in everyday and did all of pre-season with the Hornets. And then what I did was I took the days down, rather than going in every day, I went only a couple of times. But Aidy insisted and wanted me to play and I was like ‘No I don’t think I want to play on’. But I did all the training, everything, up until the start of the season."

Ferdinand can clearly remember the day he decided to hang up his boots as he watched the team bus leave for the first game of the new season.

However, he remains grateful to Watford for giving him the chance to ease himself out of the game rather than having the usual abrupt end to his playing career that most players have.

"The first day of the new season was about to start and I will always remember that it was a Friday and Watford were playing away," he said.

"I came out of the training ground and saw the coach going out the drive and I said to myself ‘It’s time to retire Les, the buzz is gone, you’ve made the right decision, it’s time to call it a day.’

"Then what I needed to do was just give myself some time in terms of what was next for me and I had shaken hands with the BBC to do some work for them throughout the next season. But as I said Watford was a good opportunity for me to detrain myself out of the game."