Alex Ferguson

Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson CBE (born 31 December 1941 in Govan, Glasgow) is a Scottish football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United F.C. He has won more trophies than any other manager in the history of English football and has been in charge of Manchester United for more than 1,000 matches. With 21 years under his belt, he is the second-longest serving manager in the history of Manchester United after Sir Matt Busby and is considered one of the best managers in football.

He has previously managed East Stirlingshire and St. Mirren, before a highly successful period as manager of Aberdeen. He was briefly the manager of the Scotland national team, in a temporary capacity owing to the death of Jock Stein, before becoming the manager of Manchester United in 1986.

At Manchester United, Sir Alex has become the most successful manager in the history of English football, having guided the team to nine league championships. In 1999, he became the first manager to lead an English team to the treble of league championship, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. As well as being the only manager to win the FA Cup five times, he is also the only manager ever to win three successive league championships in the top flight in England with the same club (1998-1999, 1999-2000 and 2000-2001).

One recurring theme of Ferguson's management of Manchester United has been his view that no player is bigger than the club. He has consistently taken a "my way or the highway" approach in his dealings with players and the pressure of this management tactic has often been the cause of many notable players' departures. Over the years players such as Gordon Strachan, Paul McGrath, Paul Ince, Jaap Stam, Dwight Yorke, David Beckham and more recently, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gabriel Heinze have left the club after varying degrees of conflict with Ferguson. This disciplinary line that he takes with such highly-paid, high-profile players has been mentioned as a reason for the ongoing success of Manchester United.

Background and personal life

The son of Alexander Beaton Ferguson, a plater's helper in the shipbuilding industry, and his wife, the former Elizabeth Hardie,^[1] Ferguson lives in Wilmslow, Cheshire, with his wife, Cathy Ferguson (née Holding), whom he married in 1966. They have three sons: Mark (born 1968) and twins (born 1972) Darren, player-manager for Peterborough United and Jason, who runs an events management company.

Playing career

Alex Ferguson grew up in Govan and supported Rangers. He began as an amateur at Queen's Park, making his debut at 16 as a striker. He described his first match as a "nightmare"^[2] but scored Queen's Park's goal in a 2-1 defeat against Stranraer. As Queen's Park were an amateur team he also worked in the Clyde shipyards as an apprentice tool-worker, where he became an active trade union shop steward.

Although he scored 20 goals in his 31 games for Queen's Park, he could not command a regular place in the side and moved to St. Johnstone in 1960. Although he continued to score regularly at St. Johnstone, he was still unable to command a regular place and regularly requested transfers. Although he was out of favour at the club, their failure to sign a forward led the manager to select Ferguson for a match against Rangers, in which he scored a hat trick in a surprise victory. Dunfermline signed him the following summer (1964), and Ferguson became a full-time professional footballer.

The following season (1964-65), Dunfermline were strong challengers for the Scottish League and reached the Scottish Cup Final, but Ferguson was dropped for the final after a poor performance in a league game against St. Johnstone. Dunfermline lost the final 3-2 to Celtic, then failed to win the League by one point.

In 1967, he joined Rangers for £65,000, then a record fee for a transfer between two Scottish clubs. He was blamed for a goal that they conceded in the 1969 Scottish cup final,^[3] and was forced to play for the club's junior side instead of the first team.^[4] According to his brother, Ferguson was so upset by the experience that he threw his losers' medal away.^[5] There have been claims that he suffered discrimination at Rangers after his marriage to his wife Cathie, who was a Catholic^[6] but Ferguson himself makes it clear in his autobiography^[7] that Rangers knew of his wife's religion when he joined the club and that he left the club very reluctantly, due to the fall-out from his alleged cup final mistake.

The following October, Nottingham Forest wanted to sign Ferguson,^[8] but his wife was not keen on moving to England at that time so he went to Falkirk instead. He was promoted to player-coach there, but when John Prentice became manager he removed Ferguson's coaching responsibilities. Ferguson responded by requesting a transfer and moved to Ayr United, where he finished his playing career in 1974.

Early managerial career

East Stirlingshire

In June 1974, Ferguson was appointed manager of East Stirlingshire, at the comparatively young age of 32. It was a part-time job that paid £40 per week, and the club did not have a single goalkeeper at the time.^[9] He immediately gained a reputation as a disciplinarian, with club forward Bobby McCulley later saying he had "never been afraid of anyone before but Ferguson was a frightening bastard from the start."^[10] His players admired his tactical decisions, however, and the club's results improved considerably.

The following October, Ferguson was invited to manage St. Mirren. Although they were below East Stirlingshire in the league, they were a bigger club and although Ferguson felt a degree of loyalty towards East Stirlingshire, he decided to join St. Mirren after taking advice from Jock Stein.^[11]

St Mirren

Ferguson was manager of St Mirren from 1974-1978 producing a remarkable transformation of a team in the lower half of the old Second Division watched by crowds of just over 1,000 to first division champions in 1977 discovering talent like Billy Stark, Tony Fitzpatrick, Lex Richardson, Frank McGarvey, Bobby Reid and Peter Weir while playing superb attacking football.^[12] The average age of the league winning team was 19 and the captain Tony Fitzpatrick was 20.^[13]

St Mirren have been the only club ever to sack Ferguson. He claimed wrongful dismissal against the club at an industrial tribunal but lost and was given no leave to appeal. According to a Billy Adams Sunday Herald article on 30 May 1999, the official version is that Ferguson was sacked for various breaches of contract including unauthorised payments to players.^[12] He was counter-accused of intimidating behaviour towards his office secretary because he wanted players to get some expenses tax free. He didn't speak to her for six weeks, confiscated her keys and communicated only through a 17-year-old assistant. The tribunal concluded that Ferguson was "particularly petty" and "immature" . ^[14]

Managing Aberdeen

Early disappointment

Ferguson joined Aberdeen as manager in June 1978, replacing Billy McNeill who had only lasted a season before he was offered the chance to manage Celtic. Although Aberdeen was one of Scotland's major clubs, they had not won the league since 1955. The team had been playing well, however, and had not lost a league match since the previous December, having finished second in the league the previous season.^[15] Ferguson had now been a manager for four years, but was still not much older than some of the players and had trouble winning the respect of some of the older ones such as Joe Harper.^[16] The season did not go especially well, with Aberdeen reaching the semi-final of the Scottish F.A. Cup and the final of the league cup, but losing both matches and finishing fourth in the league.

The following December (1979), they lost the league cup final again, this time to Dundee United after a replay. Ferguson took the blame for the defeat, saying he should have made changes to the team for the replay.^[17]

Silverware at last

Aberdeen had started the season poorly but their form improved dramatically in the new year and they won the Scottish league that season with a 5-0 win on the final day. It was the first time in fifteen years that the league had not been won by either Rangers or Celtic. Ferguson now felt that he had the respect of his players, later saying "That was the achievement which united us. I finally had the players believing in me".^[18]

He was still a strict disciplinarian, though, and his players nicknamed him Furious Fergie. He fined one of his players, John Hewitt, for overtaking him on a public road,^[19] and kicked a tea urn at the players at half time after a poor first half.^[20] He was dissatisfied with the atmosphere at Aberdeen matches, and deliberately created a 'siege mentality' by accusing the Scottish media of being biased towards the Glasgow clubs, in order to motivate the team.^[21] The team continued their success with a Scottish Cup win in 1982. Ferguson was offered the managers' job at Wolves but turned it down as he felt that Wolves were in trouble^[22] and "[his] ambitions at Aberdeen were not even half fulfilled".^[23]

European success

Ferguson led Aberdeen to even greater success the following season (1982-83). They had qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as a result of winning the Scottish Cup the previous season, and impressively knocked out Bayern Munich, who had beaten Tottenham Hotspur 4–1 in the previous round. According to Willie Miller, this gave them the confidence to believe that they could go on to win the competition,^[24] which they did, with a 2–1 victory over Real Madrid in the final on 11 May 1983. Aberdeen became only the third Scottish team to win a European trophy and Ferguson now felt that "he'd done something worthwhile with his life".^[25] Aberdeen had also performed well in the league that season, and retained the Scottish Cup with a 1–0 victory over Rangers, but Ferguson was not happy with his team's play in that match and upset the players by describing them as a "disgraceful performance" in a televised interview after the match^[26] - a statement that he later retracted.

After a sub-standard start to the 1983-84 season, Aberdeen's form improved and the team won the Scottish league and retained the Scottish Cup. Ferguson was awarded the OBE in the 1984 honours list^[27], and was offered the managers' jobs at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur during the season. Aberdeen retained their league title in the 1984-85 season, but had a disappointing season in 1985-86, finishing fourth in the league, although they did win both domestic cups. Ferguson had been appointed to the club's board of directors early in 1986, but that April he told Dick Donald, their chairman, that he intended to leave that summer. After the death of Jock Stein he had also taken on the role of Scotland manager in preparation for the 1986 World Cup, appointing Archie Knox as his co-manager at Aberdeen during this time. There had been speculation that he would take over from Ron Atkinson at Manchester United, who had been struggling badly that season after a good start. Although Ferguson remained at the club over the summer, he did eventually join Manchester United when Atkinson was sacked in November 1986.

Managing Manchester United

First seasons at United

He was appointed manager at Old Trafford on November 6, 1986, he chose Archie Knox to become his assistant manager. Ferguson was worried that many of the players, such as Norman Whiteside, Paul McGrath and Bryan Robson were drinking too much and was "depressed" by their level of fitness, but he managed to increase the players' discipline and United climbed up the table to finish the season in 11th place. His mother died from lung cancer in late 1986.

Ferguson made several major signings in the 1987-88 season, including Steve Bruce, Viv Anderson, and Brian McClair. The new players greatly improved the team and they finished in second place, nine points behind Liverpool.

United were expected to do well when Mark Hughes returned to the club, along with goalkeeper Jim Leighton, but the 1988-89 season was a disappointment for them, finishing eleventh in the league and losing 1–0 at home to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup quarter-final.

First trophy in England

During the summer of 1989 United signed three new midfielders to bolster their chances of success in the 1989-90 season: Nottingham Forest's Neil Webb, Michael Phelan from Norwich City and West Ham United's Paul Ince. Middlesbrough's 24-year-old central defender Gary Pallister and Southampton forward Danny Wallace also joined the club. Pallister for a British record fee of £2.3 million. On the opening day of the 1989-90 season, United beat defending champions Arsenal 4-1. But in September, United suffered a humiliating 5–1 away defeat against neighbours Manchester City. Things did not improve during the rest of the 1989, and in November a banner declaring "Three years of excuses and it's still crap. Ta ra Fergie." was displayed at Old Trafford, and many journalists and supporters called for Ferguson to be sacked.^[28] United went on a run of six defeats and two draws in eight games and Ferguson later described December 1989 as "the darkest period [he had] ever suffered in the game."^[29]

In January 1990, Manchester United were drawn away to Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup. Forest were one of the most feared cup teams in that era, and it was expected that United would lose the match and Ferguson would consequently be sacked, but United won the game 1–0 and eventually reached the final. This cup win is often cited as the match which saved Ferguson's Old Trafford career.

In the final United drew 3–3 with Crystal Palace. United's goalkeeper, Jim Leighton, was heavily criticised for two of Crystal Palace's goals, and his form over the whole season had been poor. Ferguson surprised many by replacing Leighton with Les Sealey for the replay, feeling that Leighton was "not in the right mental state" to play in the replay.^[30] United won the match 1–0 with a goal from defender Lee Martin. As FA Cup winners, United became England's representatives in the European Cup Winners Cup the following season. However, they had finished a disappointing 13th in the league.

European success, but a disappointment in the league

Although United's league form improved greatly in 1990-91, they were still inconsistent and finished sixth. They reached the League Cup final, but lost 1–0 to Sheffield Wednesday, who were managed by Ferguson's predecessor at United, Ron Atkinson. They also reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, beating that season's Spanish champions Barcelona in the final. After the match, Ferguson announced to journalists that United would win the league the following season.^[31] It was a brave prediction, considering that the club had failed to do so since 1967. Ryan Giggs, who had made his United debut in March 1991 delivered rave performances, alongside new signings Andrei Kanchelskis, Paul Parker and Peter Schmeichel, arguably Ferguson's most important purchase.

The 1991-92 season started brightly but faltered after a 1–4 home defeat to QPR. The rest of the season did not live up to Ferguson's expectations and in Ferguson's words, "many in the media felt that [his] mistakes had contributed to the misery".^[32] They won the League Cup for the first time but lost out on the league title to Leeds United after leading the table for much of the season. Ferguson felt that his failure to sign Mick Harford from Luton Town had cost United the league, and that he needed "an extra dimension" to the team if they were to win the league the following season.^[33]

1992-93: Champions at last

After a slow start to the season (they were 10th of 22 at the beginning of November) it looked as though United would miss out on the championship again. A lack of goals was costing them points. Summer signing Dion Dublin (£1.2 million from Cambridge United) broke his leg in his sixth game. But then Alex Ferguson paid Leeds United £1.2 million for their mercurial French striker Eric Cantona and the deal proved to be a turning point in the history of Manchester United. Cantona formed a strong partnership with Mark Hughes and fired the club to the top of the table, culminating in a dramatic Easter Saturday match against Sheffield Wednesday where two late Steve Bruce headers gave them a 2–1 victory. Ferguson and assistant Brian Kidd danced for joy. A couple of weeks later, United ended their 26-year wait, and also became the first ever Premiership Champions, after the league reform. Alex Ferguson was voted Manager of the Year by the League Managers' Association.

1993-94: The Double

1993–94 brought more success. He added Nottingham Forest's 22-year-old midfielder Roy Keane to the ranks for a British record fee of £3.75 million as a long term replacement for Bryan Robson, who was nearing the end of his career.

United led the 1993–94 Premiership table virtually from start to finish. Cantona was top scorer with 25 goals in all competitions despite being sent off twice in the space of five days in March 1994. United also reached the League Cup final but lost 3-1 to Ron Atkinson's Aston Villa. In the FA Cup final Manchester United achieved an impressive 4-0 scoreline against Chelsea. United had become only the sixth club ever to win the League Championship/FA Cup double. Ferguson made only one close-season signing, paying Blackburn Rovers £1.2 million for David May.

1994-95: Trophyless season

1994-95 was a harder season for Ferguson. Cantona assaulted a Crystal Palace supporter in a game at Selhurst Park, and it seemed likely he would leave English football. An eight month ban saw Cantona miss the final four months of the season. He also received a 14-day prison sentence for the offence but the sentence was quashed on appeal and replaced by a 120-hour community service order. On the brighter side, United paid a British record fee of £7 million for Newcastle's prolific striker Andy Cole, with young winger Keith Gillespie heading to the north-east in exchange.

However, the championship slipped out of Manchester United's grasp as they drew 1-1 with West Ham United on the final day of the season, when a win would have given them the league, allowing Blackburn Rovers to clinch the title. United also lost the FA Cup final in a 1-0 defeat to Everton.

Ferguson was also awarded a CBE in the New Year honours list of 1995.^[34]

1995-96: The Double Double

Ferguson was heavily criticised in the summer of 1995 when three of United's star players were allowed to leave and replacements were not bought. First Paul Ince moved to Inter Milan of Italy for £7.5 million, long serving striker Mark Hughes was suddenly sold to Chelsea in a £1.5 million deal, and Andrei Kanchelskis was sold to Everton. It was widely known that Ferguson felt that United had a number of young players who were ready to play in the first team. The youngsters, who would be known as "Fergie's Fledglings", included Gary Neville, Phil Neville, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, who would all go on to be important members of the team.

When United lost their first league match 3–1 to Aston Villa, the media swooped upon Ferguson with undisguised glee. They wrote United off because Alex Ferguson's squad contained so many young and inexperienced players. Match of the Day pundit, Alan Hansen infamously proclaimed that "you don't win anything with kids". However, the young players performed well and United won their next five matches.

Cantona's return from suspension was a boost, but they found themselves fourteen points behind Newcastle. However a series of good results in early 1996 saw the gap close, and from early March onwards United led the table. This contrasted with a disastrous run of form for Newcastle, whose manager, Kevin Keegan, succumbed to the immense pressure of the title race, and the mind games Ferguson famously loves to play with opposing managers. His famous outburst on live television, "I'd love it if we beat them! Love it!" has gone down in football legend as Ferguson's greatest personal victory over another manager. United's Premiership title success was confirmed on the final day of the season. They played Liverpool in that year's FA Cup final, winning 1–0 with a late goal by Cantona.

1996-97: Another title

1996–97 saw Alex Ferguson guide Manchester United to their fourth Premiership title in five seasons. The signings made during the close season had been Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (who went on to become a United legend), Ronny Johnsen, Raimond Van Der Gouw, Jordi Cruyff and Karel Poborsky. Ferguson also missed out on Alan Shearer who joined Newcastle United from Blackburn Rovers. In late October, they suffered three league defeats in a row and conceded 13 goals in the process. They also lost their 40 year unbeaten home record in Europe to unfancied Turkish side Fenerbahçe. But they still reached the Champions League semi final, where they lost to Borussia Dortmund of Germany. At the end of the season, Cantona surprisingly retired from football.

1997-98: Trophyless season

Ferguson made two new signings to bolster United's challenge for the 1997-98 season, 31-year-old England striker Teddy Sheringham and defender Henning Berg. However the season ended trophyless as Arsenal won the Premiership under French manager Arsene Wenger, who started a long-lasting rivalry with Ferguson. The summer of 1998 saw striker Dwight Yorke, winger Jesper Blomqvist and Dutch defender Jaap Stam join Manchester United.

1998-99: The Treble

1998–99 saw Manchester United winning an unprecedented treble of the Premiership title, FA Cup and Champions League. The season was characterised by highly dramatic matches. In the Champions League semi-final, United conceded two early goals away to Juventus in the second leg. Inspired by Roy Keane, who would later miss the final through suspension, United came back to beat Juventus 3-2 and reach the European Cup final, their second (the first having come pre-Ferguson, in 1968). In the FA Cup semi-final, United faced close rivals Arsenal and appeared to be heading for defeat when Keane was sent off and Arsenal were awarded a last-minute penalty. Peter Schmeichel saved the penalty, and in extra time Ryan Giggs ran, taking the ball past five players from the half way line to score what is widely considered by many long-term Manchester United fans to be one of the greatest goals in Manchester United's history. They then defeated Newcastle United 2-0 in the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium thanks to goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes. The European triumph at the Nou Camp in Barcelona was the most incredible of all. After 90 minutes of play in a dull game, they were 1-0 down to a clearly superior Bayern Munich side who had hit the woodwork three times after taking the lead through a Mario Basler free kick; but in the three minutes of injury time allowed by referee Pierluigi Collina, Teddy Sheringham, a substitute, undeservedly equalised and extra time looked certain. But with just seconds left on the clock with the German side already visibly shell-shocked, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, also a late substitution scored the winning goal. This dramatic finish prompted the famous words from Alex Ferguson, "Football, Bloody hell."^[35]. In October 1998, Peter Schmeichel announced his decision to leave United at the end of the season. In April 1999, Ferguson confirmed Mark Bosnich would be joining on a free transfer from Aston Villa as Schmeichel's replacement.

On 12 June 1999, Alex Ferguson received a knighthood in recognition of his services to the game in the Queen's Birthday Honours.^[36]

1999-2000: Title number six

Manchester United ended the 1999-2000 season as champions with just three Premiership defeats, and a cushion of 18 points. The massive gap between United and the rest of the Premiership caused some to wonder if the club's financial dominance was developing into a problem for the English game. During the season United bought Massimo Taibi, Mikael Silvestre and Quinton Fortune.

In April 2000, it was announced that Manchester United had agreed to sign Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy from PSV Eindhoven for a British record fee of £18 million. But the move was put on hold when van Nistelrooy failed a medical, and he then returned to his homeland in a bid to regain fitness, only to suffer a serious knee injury which ruled him out for almost a year.

2000-01: Title number seven

29-year-old French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez was signed from Monaco for £7.8 million - making him the most expensive goalkeeper to be signed by a British club, and United won the title again. During the 2001 close season Ruud van Nistelrooy joined, and soon after Manchester United again broke the British transfer record - this time paying Lazio £28.1 million for Argentine attacking midfielder Juan Sebastián Verón.

Veron failed to live up to the high expectations his transfer fee suggested and he was sold to Chelsea for £15 million only two years later. Veron proved to be Ferguson's most expensive transfer mistake. Veron's career failed to recover at Chelsea, and his international career with Argentina also soon floundered.

2001-02: Trophyless season

Two games into the 2001-02 season, Dutch central defender Jaap Stam was suddenly sold to Lazio in a £16 million deal. The reason for Stam's departure was believed to have been claims in his autobiography Head to Head that he had been illegally spoken to about a move to Manchester United by Alex Ferguson, before his previous club PSV Eindhoven had been informed. Ferguson surprisingly replaced Stam with Inter Milan's 36-year-old central defender Laurent Blanc. In January 2002 Ferguson replaced the recently departed Andy Cole with Diego Forlan.

On 8 December 2001, Manchester United were ninth in the Premiership - 11 points behind leaders Liverpool who had a game in hand. But then came a dramatic turn around in form. Between mid-December and late January, eight successive wins saw Manchester United climb to the top of the Premiership and put their title challenge back on track but in the end, United finished third in the Premiership.

They lost in the semi-finals of the Champions League to Bayer Leverkusen on away goals, and failed in the domestic books. Ferguson's misery was compounded as rival Arsene Wenger clinched the Premiership title for Arsenal at Old Trafford with a 1-0 win in the penultimate game of the season.

Retirement plans

The 2001-02 season was to have been Ferguson's last as Manchester United manager, and the looming date of his retirement was cited by many as a reason for the team's loss of form. Ferguson himself admitted that the decision to pre-announce his retirement had resulted in a negative effect on the players and on his ability to impose discipline. But in February 2002 he agreed to stay in charge for at least another three years.

The close season saw Manchester United break the British transfer record yet again when they paid Leeds United £30 million for 24-year-old central defender Rio Ferdinand.

2002-03: Title number eight

Manchester United won their eighth Premiership title, yet just over two months before the end of the season they were eight points behind leaders Arsenal. But an improvement in form for United, and a decline for Arsenal, saw the Premiership trophy gradually slip out of the Londoners' grasp and push it back in the direction of Old Trafford. Ferguson described the 2002-03 championship as his most satisfying ever, due to the nature of a remarkable comeback.

Not for the first time, Ferguson had proven to be a master of managerial mind-games, successfully rattling the composure of Arsenal and their otherwise unflappable manager Arsène Wenger. The end of this season also brought with it the end of David Beckham's career at Manchester United, who left for Spain to join Real Madrid in a £25 million deal; Ferguson hoped to use the money to sign Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho from French club Paris Saint-Germain. Beckham's departure came after an infamous bust-up with Ferguson after United lost a match against Arsenal. In the dressing room, a disgruntled Ferguson kicked a boot which hit Beckham above the eye, cutting him.^[37] However, Beckham required no stitches and was fit to play United's next match.

2003-04: FA Cup glory

Ferguson guided Manchester United to their eleventh FA Cup at the end of the 2003-04 season, but it was a disappointing season which had seen them finish third in the Premiership and suffer Champions League elimination at the hands of eventual winners FC Porto. Rio Ferdinand missed the final four months of the season, as he served the beginning of an eight-month ban for missing a drugs test. New signings like Eric Djemba-Djemba, David Bellion and José Kleberson were disappointing, while Tim Howard faltered after a promising start as goalkeeper, but there was at least one productive signing - 18-year-old Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo. Louis Saha joined from Fulham for £12 million in January 2004. The season was also disrupted by a high-profile dispute with major shareholder John Magnier, over the ownership of the racehorse Rock of Gibraltar. While Ferguson claimed that he had been offered a half-share in the horse, Magnier claimed that Ferguson had only been offered five per cent of race prize money that the horse won.^[38] The dispute was eventually ended out of court in March 2004.^[39]

2004-05: Trophyless season

At the beginning of the 2004-05 season, 18-year old Wayne Rooney (from Everton) and Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze (from PSG) joined United in deals worth £27 million and £6.9 million respectively, while Cristiano Ronaldo continued where he had left off the previous season by putting in more match-winning performances. Also joining the ranks was Alan Smith, a very aggressive, determined and hard working striker from relegated Leeds United for £7 million. But the lack of a striker after Van Nistelrooy spent most of the season injured saw the club finish third for the third time in four seasons. In the F.A Cup final they lost on penalties to Arsenal.

2005-06: League Cup triumph, European failure

Before the season started, John Magnier and business partner J. P. McManus agreed to sell their shares to American business tycoon Malcolm Glazer, clearing the way for Glazer to acquire full control of the club. This sparked violent protests from United fans, and disrupted Ferguson's plans to strengthen the team in the transfer market. In spite of this, United looked to solve their goalkeeping and midfield problems. For this, they signed two crucial players, the Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar from Fulham and Korean star Park Ji-Sung from PSV.

The season was one of transition. On 18 November, Roy Keane officially left the club, his contract ended by mutual consent. United failed to qualify for the knock-out phase of the UEFA Champions' League. In the January transfer window Serbian defender Nemanja Vidić and French full-back Patrice Evra were signed, and the side finished in second place in the league, behind runaway leaders Chelsea. To make matters worse, United lost at Liverpool 1-0 in the 5th Round of the F.A. Cup. Winning the League Cup was a consolation prize for lack of success elsewhere. Ruud van Nistelrooy's future at Old Trafford seemed to be in doubt after not starting in the Carling Cup final, and he departed at the end of the season for £10.9 million to rejoin former teammate David Beckham, who had left in similar circumstances, at Real Madrid.

2006-07: Title number nine; Ferguson's twentieth full season in charge

Michael Carrick was signed as a replacement for Roy Keane for £14 million, although the figure may rise in the future to £18.6 million depending on appearances and results. United started the season well, and for the first time ever won their first four Premiership games. They set the early pace in the Premiership and never relinquished top spot from the tenth match of the 38-game season. The January 2006 signings had a huge impact on United's performances; Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic came in to form a solid back line along with already existing players Rio Ferdinand and skipper Gary Neville. Vidic proved himself the natural successor to Steve Bruce as a goal-scoring centre back, contributing four goals in the season. The signing of Michael Carrick, which was questioned and criticised by a large portion of the media, brought stability and further creativity in the United midfield, forming an effective partnership with Paul Scholes. Park Ji-Sung and Ryan Giggs both underlined their value to the first team squad by adding significant pace and incisiveness in attack with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ferguson celebrated his 20th anniversary in charge of Manchester United on 6 November 2006. Tributes also came from Ferguson's players, both past and present,^[40] as well as his old foe, Arsène Wenger,^[41] his old captain, Roy Keane, and current players. The party was spoiled the following day when United endured a single-goal defeat at the hands of Southend in the fourth round of the Carling Cup. However, on 1 December it was announced that Manchester United had signed 35 year old Henrik Larsson,^[42] a player that Alex Ferguson had admired for many years, and attempted to capture previously. On 23 December 2006, Cristiano Ronaldo scored the club's 2000th goal under the helm of Ferguson in a match against Aston Villa.^[43]

Manchester United subsequently won their ninth Premiership title but were denied a double by a late Didier Drogba goal in the FA Cup Final, giving Chelsea the FA Cup.

2007-08

For the 2007-08 season, Ferguson made notable signings to bolster United's first team. He signed long-time target Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich bringing an end to a year long transfer saga. Ferguson further enforced the midfield by bringing in young Portuguese winger Nani and Brazilian playmaker Anderson. The last summer signing was of Carlos Tévez after a long and complicated transfer deal. The 2006-07 season marked the end of Gabriel Heinze's United career after he was sold to Real Madrid, while Alan Smith departed to Newcastle, Kieran Richardson to Sunderland and Giuseppe Rossi to Villareal during the summer transfer window.

United had their worst start of the season under Ferguson, drawing their first two games before suffering a 1-0 defeat against city rivals Manchester City. However, United recovered and won their next three Premier League matches 1-0 before kick starting their Champions League campaign with another 1-0 away win over Sporting Lisbon and the very same week defeated Chelsea with their first 2-0 scoreline for the season, the goals scored by Carlos Tevez and a penalty kick by Louis Saha. However, United were the victim of a shock result when they lost 2-0 at home to Championship side Coventry City in the Third Round of the League Cup in September 2007, after Ferguson fielded a depleted side which nevertheless included several million pounds-worth of international players such as Michael Carrick, Wes Brown, John O'Shea, Nani and Anderson.

After the defeat to Coventry followed two consecutive 1-0 wins, including one against AS Roma in the Champions League. Then there came the 4-0 win over Wigan at Old Trafford to take United temporarily top of the Premier League, but after all games were played Manchester United were second. Then United proved that the 4-0 thrashing of Wigan Athletic was not a fluke with a 4-1 win at Aston Villa, a 4-2 win over Dynamo Kyiv in Kyiv and a 4-1 win at Old Trafford over Middlesbrough. These four matches broke a record that stretches back 100 years to 1907: United had scored four goals in four consecutive matches. After a good run of form, Sir Alex claimed that throughout his time at Manchester United, this is the best squad he has managed to assemble so far^[44].

Managerial honours

Ferguson was made an Inaugural Inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game as a manager. In 2003, Ferguson became an inaugural recipient of the FA Coaching Diploma, awarded to all coaches who had at least 10 years experience of being a manager or head coach.

He is the Vice-President of the National Football Museum based in Preston, England. Also, he is a member of the Executive Committee of the League Managers Association.

Aberdeen 1978–1986

Domestic competition

• Scottish League: (3) 1979-80, 1983-84, 1984-85
  • Runners-Up: (2) 1980-81, 1981-82
• Scottish Cup: (4) 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86
• Scottish League Cup: (1) 1985-86
  • Runners-Up: (2) 1978-79, 1979-80

European competition

• European Cup Winners Cup: (1) 1982-83
• UEFA Super Cup: (1) 1983-84

Manchester United 1986-

Domestic competition

• Premier League: (9) 1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07
• FA Cup: (5) 1989-90, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1998-99, 2003-04
• League Cup: (2) 1991-92, 2005-06
• FA Charity/Community Shield: (7) 1990*, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007

European competition

• UEFA Champions League: (1) 1998-1999
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: (1) 1990-91
• Intercontinental Cup: (1) 1999
• UEFA Super Cup: (1) 1991-92

Notes: * The 1990 Charity Shield Final was drawn 1-1 with Liverpool and each club kept the shield for 6 months. The penalty shoot-out decider was abolished in the 1980s and only reinstated in 1993.

Manager Awards

• FA Premier League Manager of the Year: (7) 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2002-03, 2006-07
• Ferguson has won the FA Premier League Manager of the Month award 19 times (a record).
• LMA Manager of the Year: 1998-99
• LMA Manager of the Year: Manager of the decade: 1990s.
• UEFA Champions League Manager of the Year: 1998-99
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award: 2001
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award: 1999
• Football Writers' Association Tribute Award: 1996
• Mussabini Medal: 1999
• World Soccer Magazine Coach of the Year: (3) 1993, 1999, 2007
• Professional Footballers' Association Merit Award: 2007

Other awards

• BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award: 1999
• Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year: 2000

Managerial stats