Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson is a Scottish former football manager and player, who is best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is largely referred to as the greatest football manager of all time, and has won more trophies than any other manager in the history of football.
About Sir Alex Ferguson
Alexander Chapman Ferguson was born at his grandmother’s home on Shieldhall Road in the Govan district of Glasgow on 31 December 1941, the son of Elizabeth (née Hardie) and Alexander Beaton Ferguson. His father was a plater’s helper in the shipbuilding industry.
He grew up in a tenement at 667 Govan Road, which has since been demolished, where he lived with his parents and his younger brother Martin, who also became a footballer. He attended Broomloan Road Primary School and later Govan High School.
Sir Alex started his football career with Harmony Row Boys Club in Govan, before progressing to Drumchapel Amateurs, a youth club with a strong reputation for producing senior footballers. He also took an apprenticeship as a toolmaker at a factory in Hillington, being appointed a union shop steward.
For the years he played football, Sir Alex played as a forward for several Scottish clubs, including Dunfermline Athletic and Rangers. While playing for Dunfermline, he was the top goalscorer in the Scottish league in the 1965–66 season.
Towards the end of his playing career he also worked as a coach, then started his managerial career with East Stirlingshire and St Mirren. Ferguson then enjoyed a extremely successful time as manager of Aberdeen, winning three Scottish league championships, four Scottish Cups and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983.
He briefly managed Scotland following the death of Jock Stein, taking the team to the World Cup in 1986.
And then, the big one, or one should say the biggest one came – the one upon which his fame chiefly dwells: his job in England.
In November, 1986, Ferguson was appointed manager of Manchester United. During his 26 years with Manchester United he won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, and two UEFA Champions League titles. He was knighted in the 1999 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for his services to the game.
Ferguson is the longest-serving manager of Manchester United, having overtaken Sir Matt Busby’s record on 19 December 2010. He retired from management at the end of the 2012–13 season, having won the Premier League in his final season.
Many of Ferguson’s former players have gone on to become football managers themselves, including Tony Fitzpatrick, Alex McLeish, Gordon Strachan, Mark McGhee, Willie Miller, Neale Cooper, Bryan Gunn, Eric Black, Billy Stark, Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes, Roy Keane, Paul Ince, Chris Casper, Mark Robins, Darren Ferguson, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Henning Berg, Andrei Kanchelskis, Michael Appleton, Ryan Giggs, David Healy, Gabriel Heinze, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Jaap Stam, and Phil Neville.
Also, three of these have subsequently managed Manchester United: the winger, Giggs (interim player-manager in 2014); the striker, Solskjær (2018 to 2021); and the midfielder, Michael Carrick (interim manager in 2021).
The phrase “squeaky-bum time” coined by Ferguson in reference to the tense final stages of a league competition has been included in the Collins English Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary.
A bronze statue of Ferguson, designed by Scottish sculptor Philip Jackson, was unveiled outside Old Trafford on 23 November 2012. On 14 October 2013, Ferguson attended a ceremony where a road near Old Trafford was renamed from Water’s Reach to Sir Alex Ferguson Way. And in July 2021, Aberdeen commissioned sculptor Andy Edwards to sculpt a bronze statue of Ferguson.
A documentary about Ferguson’s career titled Sir Alex Ferguson: “Never Give In” was released in UK cinemas on 27 May 2021 and was made available on Amazon Prime Video on the 29 May in the UK and Ireland. It includes interviews from Ferguson himself, his family, doctors and former players who he managed throughout his career.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s Net worth
Alex Ferguson has a net worth of approximately $70million as of 2021. His earnings are down to years of playing as a football player followed by his stellar managerial career, especially at Manchester United. The Scotsman spent an incredible 27 years at Old Trafford where he won countless trophies.
Sir Alex Ferguson, a manager of managers.