Alex Ferguson
]]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"
but scored Queen's Park's goal in a 2-1 defeat against
Stranraer. Although he scored 15 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.)
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
[The Boss p. 82], and was forced to play for the club's junior side instead of the first team
[The Boss p. 83]. According to his brother, Ferguson was so upset by the experience that he threw his losers' medal away.
[The Boss p. 86] The following October,
Nottingham Forest wanted to sign Ferguson
[The Boss p. 85], 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 responsiblities. Ferguson responded by requesting a transfer and moved to
Ayr United, where he finished his playing 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 didn't have a single
goalkeeper at the time.
[The Boss p. 108-9.] He immediately gained a reputation as a disciplinarian, with one of his players later saying he had "never been afraid of anyone before but Ferguson was a frightening bastard from the start." 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.
[The Boss p. 117.]St Mirren
Ferguson was manager of St Mirren from 1974-1978. Despite having to look after the team with a small budget, he was able to achieve promotion for the side to the Scottish First division in 1977. However, due to a dispute with the club's chairman, he was sacked the following year and was not able to claim wrongful dismissal against the club at an industrial tribunal. St Mirren were the only club ever to sack Sir Alex Ferguson!It is rumoured that Ferguson had already agreed to join Aberdeen before his dispute with St Mirren, a rumour which probably had a good deal to do with his failure to claim wrongful dismissal.
Ferguson joined Aberdeen as manager in June 1978. 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.
[The Boss p. 159.] 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[The Boss p. 171.] 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.
[The Boss p. 174.] It was the third time in three years that a team managed by Ferguson had lost a cup final. 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".
[The Boss p. 175.]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,
[The Boss p. 179.] and kicked a tea urn at the players at half time after a poor first half.
[The Boss p. 180.]. 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.
[The Boss p. 191.] 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
[The Boss p. 195] and "[his] ambitions as Aberdeen were not even half fulfilled"
[The Boss p. 196.]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,
[The Boss p. 201.] 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".
[The Boss p. 203.] 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.
[The Boss p. 204.]After a poor 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 1984 honours list, 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.
First seasons at United
He was appointed manager at
Old Trafford on
November 6 1986. Although United were one of the wealthiest clubs in Britain, they were second from bottom in the old First Division and relegation looked a real possibility. Ferguson was worried that many of the players 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 at in the 1987–
88 season, including
Steve Bruce,
Viv Anderson,
Brian McClair and
Jim Leighton. 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, 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 two new midfielders to bolster their chances of success in the 1989-90 season: Nottingham Forest's Neil Webb and West Ham United's
Paul Ince. Middlesbrough's 24-year-old central defender
Gary Pallister also joined the club for a fee of £2.3million. On the opening day of the 1989-90 season, United beat defending champions
Arsenal 4-1 and there was hope that the league title would return to
Old Trafford having being absent since 1967. 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.
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."
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 to this day 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.
[Managing My Life p. 285.] 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, but their cup performances were far more impressive. They reached the League Cup final after impressive wins over Liverpool and Arsenal, 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.
[Managing My Life p. 302.] It was a brave statement, considering that the club had failed to do so since 1967.
The 1991–
92 season was a disaster for United, and in Ferguson's words, "many in the media felt that [his] mistakes had contributed to the misery".
[Managing My Life p. 311.] 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.
[Managing My Life p. 320.]1992–1993: 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. But then Alex Ferguson paid
Leeds United £1.2 million for their 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, ending United's 26-year wait, and also making them the first ever Premiership Champions, after the league reform. Alex Ferguson was voted Manager of the Year by the League Managers' Association.
1993–1994: The Double
1993–94 brought more success for Alex Ferguson and Manchester United. He added Nottingham Forest's 22-year-old midfielder
Roy Keane to the ranks for a British record fee of £3.75million as a long term replacement for
Bryan Robson, although the Old Trafford legend remained in the squad for one more season.
United led the 1993–94 Premiership table virtually from start to finish and this time they finished champions ahead of runners-up
Blackburn. Eric 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 and the result confirmed Alex Ferguson's place as one of the greatest managers in the English game. 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 £1.2million for David May.
1994–1995: Trophyless season
1994–95 was perhaps Alex Ferguson's second most difficult season as Manchester United manager after 1989-1990. Key players like
Paul Parker,
Lee Sharpe and
Andrei Kanchelskis were absent in many matches because of injury, and Eric Cantona was absent for the final four months of the season as he began an eight-month ban for assaulting a
Crystal Palace supporter in a game at
Selhurst Park. Cantona 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 hit the headlines two weeks before the Cantona incident when they paid a British record fee of £7million for
Newcastle's prolific striker
Andy Cole, who began his Old Trafford career with 12 goals in 18 league games.
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. United also lost the FA Cup final in a 1-0 defeat to
Everton.
1995–1996: 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. Ince was a regular England international but had fallen out with Ferguson. Within 24 hours of Ince's departure, long serving striker
Mark Hughes was suddenly sold to Chelsea in a £1.5 million deal, after it emerged that he had not signed the contract he had been offered the previous January. Shortly afterwards,
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, but there was considerable scepticism that they would be adequate replacements for Ince, Hughes and Kanchelskis. The youngsters, who would be known as "Fergie's Fledgings", 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. Indeed, BBC's Match of the Day pundit,
Alan Hansen infamously proclaimed that "you can't win anything with kids". However, the young players performed well and United won their next five matches. Although boosted by Eric Cantona's return from suspension, they found themselves fourteen points behind
Newcastle at one stage. 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 Fergie's greatest personal victory over another manager. Their Premiership title success was confirmed on the final day of the season thanks to a 3-0 away win over Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough. They played Liverpool in that year's FA Cup final, winning 1–0 with a late goal by Eric Cantona.
1996–1997: Another Title
1996–97 saw Alex Ferguson guide Manchester United to their fourth Premiership title in five seasons. In late October, they suffered three league defeats in a row and conceded 13 goals in the process. In January they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Wimbledon in the Fourth Round, meaning they would miss the final for the first time since 1993. 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, and fought off competition from Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool to win the league title. At the end of the season,
Eric Cantona surprisingly retired from football.
1997–1998: A great start but a disappointing end
Ferguson made two new signings to bolster United's challenge for the 1997-98 season. He paid Tottenham Hotspur £3.5 million for the 31-year-old England striker
Teddy Sheringham and signed
Henning Berg from
Blackburn Rovers for £5m.1997–98 ended trophyless but United still finished runners-up to
Arsenal (who had trailed them by 11 points at the beginning of March but had taken advantage of games in hand) and reached the Champions League quarter final.
In the summer of 1998, Alex Ferguson spent a total of £28 million on three major signings: Aston Villa's Trinidadian striker
Dwight Yorke,
PSV's Dutch defender
Jaap Stam and
Parma's Swedish winger
Jesper Blomqvist.
1998–1999: 'The Treble'
1998–99 is still the most successful season in the history of any European side (alongside
Celtic's 1966-67 season), with the club winning an unprecedented treble of the
Premiership title,
FA Cup and
Champions League. The season was characterized by highly dramatic matches. In the Champions League semi-final, United conceded two early goals away to Juventus in the second leg (after a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in which United scored a last-minute equaliser). Inspired by Roy Keane, who would later miss the final through suspension, United came back to beat Juventus 3-2 and reach their first European Cup final since 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, with the score at 1-1, Arsenal were awarded a last-minute penalty. Goalkeeper
Peter Schmeichel saved the penalty, and in extra time Ryan Giggs ran the length of the pitch to score a memorable winning goal. They then defeated
Newcastle United 2-0 in the FA Cup Final at
Wembley thanks to goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes. The European triumph was the most incredible of all. With 90 minutes on the clock they were 1-0 down to
Bayern Munich at the
Nou Camp in Barcelona thanks to a
Mario Basler free kick, but in 3 minutes of injury time allowed by referee
Pierluigi Collina,
Teddy Sheringham, a substitute, equalised and extra time looked certain. But with just seconds left on the clock,
Ole Gunnar Solskjær, also a late substitution scored the winning goal and history was made.
On
12 June 1999, Alex Ferguson received a knighthood in recognition of his services to the game.
1999-2000: Title number 6
Manchester United ended the 1999-2000 season as champions with just three Premiership defeats, and with Arsenal in second place. Last season the gap at the top had been just 1 point. This time the gap was 18 points. The dominance of United in this season is comparable with Arsenal's 2003/04 championship (0 league defeats) and Chelsea's title triumph in 2004/05 (1 league defeat). However, 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. Ironically, this question was to be answered within four years with the sudden emergence of Chelsea as the new financial superpower in England.
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 £18million. 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 7
The major change to the Manchester United side for the 2000-01 season was the acquisition of 29-year-old French goalkeeper
Fabien Barthez from
Monaco for £7.8million - making him the most expensive goalkeeper to be signed by a British club.
Another change to the line-up was Teddy Sheringham's winning his first team place back after two seasons of often being included as only a substitute. By the end of the season, the 35-year-old Sheringham was Manchester United's leading scorer in all competitions and had been presented with both the
PFA Player of the Year Award and the
Football Writers Player of the Year Award.
During the 2001 close season Ruud van Nistelrooy was finally acquired, for £18million, and soon after Manchester United again broke the British transfer record - this time paying
Lazio £28.1million for Argentine attacking midfielder
Juan Sebastián Verón. Veron showed sparks of brilliance and he had his fair share of first team appearances, but he ultimately failed to live up to the high expectations his transfer fee suggested and he was sold to
Chelsea for £15million only two years later. Veron proved to be Ferguson's most expensive transfer mistake, and this explains his willingness to sell the player to rivals Chelsea in order to halve his substantial losses. 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, Manchester United fans were shocked when Dutch central defender
Jaap Stam was suddenly sold to
Lazio in a £16million 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. The club's supporters were even more shocked when Sir Alex Ferguson replaced Stam with
Inter Milan's 36-year-old central defender
Laurent Blanc.
During November and early December in 2001, Manchester United endured their worst league form in over a decade - six defeats in seven Premiership fixtures, three defeats at each side of a win. On
8 December 2001, Manchester United were ninth in the Premiership - 11 points behind leaders Liverpool who had a game in hand. Sir Alex Ferguson had already written off his side's chances of claiming a unique fourth successive Premiership title.
But then came a dramatic turn around in form. Between mid-December and late January, nine successive wins saw Manchester United climb to the top of the Premiership and put their title challenge back on track.
In the end, United finished third in the Premiership (their first finish outside the top two since they finished sixth in the 1990-91 old First Division), lost on away goals to
Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League Semi Finals, were knocked out of the FA Cup in the Fourth Round by
Middlesbrough, and were knocked out of the League Cup in the Third Round by
Arsenal. This meant that Manchester United had failed to finish winners or runners-up of a major competition for the first time since the 1988-89 season. United's misery was compounded as Arsenal clinched the
Premiership Title at Old Trafford with a 1-0 win in the penultimate game of the season.
The 2001-02 season was to have been Sir Alex 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. (He joked that at least half of the squad would be cursing the decision).
The close season saw Manchester United break the British transfer record yet again when they paid
Leeds United £30million for 24-year-old central defender
Rio Ferdinand.
2002-03: Title number 8
Manchester United yielded their eighth Premiership title in 11 seasons at the end of 2002-03, yet just over two months before the end of the season they had lost to Liverpool in the League Cup final and slipped eight points behind leaders Arsenal on the same day. 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.
On
4 May 2003, Manchester United's title success was confirmed when Arsenal lost 3-2 at home to Leeds United - a result which ended Arsenal's title hopes and secured Leeds's survival. (Ironically, it was to be Arsenal's last Premiership defeat for 49 games - a run which was ended in October 2004 by Manchester United). Ferguson described the 02/03 championship as his most satisfying ever, due to the nature of a remarkable comeback. While many focused on Arsenal's misery at allowing the title to slip from their grasps after having held an 18-point lead at one point, there was no ignoring the masterful way in which Ferguson guided United to finish the season with a powerful run of victories to overhaul the reigning champions. 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 Arsene Wenger (the relationship with Wenger subsequently deteriorated to such an extent that Wenger reputedly challenged Ferguson to a physical fight after one particularly stormy encounter, in an infamous tunnel melee which also included scuffles between major players on each side). In May 2003, however, the last laugh was with Ferguson, and United fans celebrated with a new anthem : "We've got our trophy back!"
2003-04: FA Cup Glory
Sir Alex Ferguson guided Manchester United to their eleventh FA Cup at the end of the 2003-04 season, but it only partly compensated for a relatively disappointing season which had seen them finish third in the Premiership and suffer Champions League elimination at the hands of eventual winners
FC Porto, and a League Cup defeat by Aston Villa. This was partly caused by the absence of Rio Ferdinand for 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 and Jose
Kleberson were disappointing, but there was at least one productive signing - 19-year-old Portuguese winger
Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been signed from Sporting Lisbon for £12.24million. However, United failed to land their primary transfer targer - Brazilian star Ronaldinho, who turned his back on a move to United and instead joined Barcelona. Managing director Peter Kenyon was blamed by many for failing to secure Ronaldinho's signing, after several months of negotiations, and Kenyon later departed United to join rivals Chelsea.
Fabien Barthez spent the season on loan at
Marseille and was then sold permanently, and his place in the United goal was filled by American goalkeeper
Tim Howard.
2004-05: Trophyless
At the beginning of the 2004-05 season, Manchester United paid an initial fee of £20million for 19-year-old
Everton and
England striker
Wayne Rooney, whose performances led to him being voted
PFA Young Player of the Year at the end of the season. Argentine defender
Gabriel Heinze also proved to be a successful new signing, while
Cristiano Ronaldo continued where he had left off the previous season by putting in more match-winning performances.
United were never favourites to win the 2004-05 Premiership title, again their failure could be put down to a player's absence - high-scoring striker
Ruud van Nistelrooy was unavailable for almost half of the season due to injury and his deputy Alan Smith was unremarkable. Ferguson guided the club to a third-place finish for the third time in four seasons, in the F.A Cup they lost on
penalties to Arsenal after a completely dominant United failed to break the 'Gunners' tight defence down in the FA Cup final after a goalless draw. Ferguson compared the setback to losing the league title to Leeds in 1991/92, and hoped the experience would galvanize his squad into a successful 2005/06 campaign.
2005-06: League Cup triumph, European disaster
Ferguson's preparations for the season were disrupted by off-field drama at Manchester United. Ferguson had been involved in a high-profile dispute with major shareholder John Magnier, over the ownership of a racehorse. When Magnier and business partner JP McManus agreed to sell their shares to American business tycoon Malcolm Glazer, it cleared 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 the
Dutch keeper
Edwin van der Sar from
Fulham and
Korean star
Park Ji-Sung from
PSV. United made a poor start to the 2005–06 season, Ferguson's 32nd consecutive season in football management and his 20th at United. Sidelined due to injuries were many senior players like Gary Neville, Gabriel Heinze and their captain Roy Keane. In an
MUTV interview Keane was very critical about some of his fellow players. The interview was not aired subsequently. It is said that Keane was critical about the performances of
Rio Ferdinand,
Darren Fletcher,
John O'Shea and
Alan Smith. Despite this, United bounced back with a thrilling 1-0 victory over Premiership leaders Chelsea. The game was famous for the goal from the under-fire Darren Fletcher and a stunning holding role played by Alan Smith, who was named the Man of the Match.
On
18 November,
Roy Keane officially left the club, his contract ended by mutual consent. He returned for a testimonial at the end of the season, but infamously prevented Ferguson from delivering a tribute to the crowd. The two did shake hands, however, and Ferguson described Keane as the best player he had ever managed at Manchester United.
For the first time in over a decade United failed to qualify for the knock-out phase of the UEFA Champions' League. United lost to Benfica 2-1 in the decider. With just one win in the entire group matches, United also failed to qualify for the UEFA Cup. Signings during January 2006 of
Serbian defender
Nemanja Vidic and
French full-back
Patrice Evra were made, as the side reached second place in the league, behind runaway leaders
Chelsea. Yet a defeat to
Manchester City led to more question marks over the team and the suitability of the manager.But United were able to claw their way back from a trophyless season by winning the League Cup. They hammered the surprisers of the tournament, Wigan Athletic 4-0. Wayne Rooney got two goals while Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha got the other two. It marked the first League Cup for Manchester United since 1992. Ruud Van Nistelrooy's future at Old Trafford seems to be in doubt after not starting in the Carling Cup final, and recent FA Premier League games. After the League Cup victory, United managed to close the gap on leaders Chelsea to 7 points at one point. Talks of an amazing comeback were building but hopes eventually faded away following a 0-0 draw at home against Sunderland. On April 29, Manchester United faced
Chelsea at
Stamford Bridge in what turned out to be the title decider for Chelsea, as the reigning champions comfortably won 3-0 and retained their title. There was to be more bad news for Manchester United with star player
Wayne Rooney breaking a
metatarsal for the second time in 2 years after falling awkwardly from a benign tackle by
Paulo Ferreira. It not only ended Rooney's league season but put his involvement in the
2006 World Cup this summer in doubt, however Rooney returned in England's second game against Trinidad & Tobago. Nevertheless, after their highest league finish in four years and closing the gap on Chelsea, United's hopes for the 2006/07 season were raised. Ferguson hoped to end his illustrious managerial career on a high, by halting the dominance of financially-powerful Chelsea and delivering a final championship trophy to Old Trafford.
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.
Domestic competition*FA Premiership: (8) 1992/93, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2002/03
*Runners up: (4) 1991/92, 1994/95, 1997/98, 2005/06
*FA Cup: (5) 1989/90, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1998/99, 2003/04
*Finalists: (2) 1994/95, 2004/05
*League Cup: (2) 1991/92, 2005/06
*Finalists: (3) 1990/91, 1993/94, 2002/03
*FA Charity/Community Shield: (5) 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003
*Finalists: (5) 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004
*Shared: (1) 1990
European competition*UEFA Champions League: (1) 1998/1999
*European Cup Winners Cup: (2) 1982/83*, 1990/91
*Intercontinental Cup: (1) 1999 (aka Toyota Cup since 1980)
*UEFA Supercup: (1) 1983/84*, 1991/92
*Finalists: (1) 1999/00
Total trophies won: 26
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.
* * won with Aberdeen
Manager Awards* Premier League Manager of the Year: (6) 1993/94, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2002/03
1000 games at Man UtdFerguson's 1000th game as manager of Manchester United was a Champions League match against
Lyon on
23 November 2004. The breakdown of those 1000 matches is as follows:
*League games: 707
*Charity/Community Shield: 11
*League Cup: 65
*FA Cup: 78
*Euro Cup/Champions League: 1
*Cup Winners Cup: 13
*UEFA Cup: 4
*Super Cup: 2
*World Club Championship: 3
*Toyota Cup: 1
* In 2005, the Collins English Dictionary included the phrase "squeaky-bum time", coined by Ferguson.
* Sir Alex Ferguson has a notorious history for playing mind games with managers during close Premiership title races - notably with the likes of
Kevin Keegan in 1995/96 & undisputedly, with
Arsène Wenger all the way back since 1997/98 up until Arsenal's last Premiership trophy in 2003/04.
* There are several stories mentioned in relation to Ferguson's hot temper which have nearly passed into folklore. The most notable of these stories involve Sir Alex's kicking a football boot at David Beckham, his throwing of teacups during motivational halftime speeches, and his famed "hair-dryer treatment" in which he vents his ire (and often abuse) directly into a recalcitrant player's face. That these anecdotes have seemingly served to enhance Ferguson's popular appeal is evidence of the clear niche that the manager has carved out for himself within his profession.
* Ferguson is an outspoken supporter of the
Labour Party.
* Sir Alex Ferguson is also a dotcom entrepreneur - he is one of the founders of restaurant booking site
toptable.
*
Alex Ferguson celebrates 1,000th game with Manchester Utd*
Sir Alex Ferguson: A career profile with pictures*
English Football Hall of Fame*
toptable - Sir Alex's dotcom
