In this file picture taken on May 5, 2001 Manchester United manager Sir
Alex Ferguson (L) and captain Roy Keene hold the Premiership Cup after
winning the league title for the 14th time after their Premiership match
against Derby County at Old Trafford. Alex Ferguson is to retire as
the manager of Manchester United, the English Premier League champions
announced on May 8, 2013. Ferguson, 71, has been in charge at Old
Trafford for 26 years, guiding United to 13 Premier League titles and
two Champions League crowns. AFP PHOTO
By Agencies
Alex Ferguson is to retire as Manchester United manager at the end of this season, the English Premier League champions announced Wednesday, bringing down the curtain on one of the most successful careers football has known.
Ferguson, 71, has been in charge
at Old Trafford for 26 years, guiding United to 13 Premier League
titles and two Champions League crowns.
"The decision to retire is one
that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken
lightly. It is the right time," Ferguson said in a statement released by
the club.
"It was important to me to leave
an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have
done so," added Ferguson who will bow out with United having won this
season's Premier League.
The club gave no indication of a
successor amid press speculation that Everton's David Moyes could fill
the Old Trafford hot seat vacated by fellow Scotsman Ferguson.
United did say, however, that
Ferguson would remain at United as director and official club
ambassador. His final game in charge will be against West Bromwich
Albion on May 19.
Ferguson, who had recently
insisted he would be continuing as manager, is due to have a hip
replacement operation after the end of the season and until rumours
started circulating Tuesday there was no indication he was about to step
down.
Sir Alex Ferguson: The profile
Like so many of football's top managers, Alexander
Chapman Ferguson emerged from humble beginnings.
Born in Govan, the shipbuilding district of Glasgow, his working-class roots played a role in becoming the most successful manager in Premier League history and, after a near 27-year reign at Manchester United, he has won the respect of everyone in the game.
Born in Govan, the shipbuilding district of Glasgow, his working-class roots played a role in becoming the most successful manager in Premier League history and, after a near 27-year reign at Manchester United, he has won the respect of everyone in the game.
Ferguson took the plunge into
management with East Stirling in July 1974 then moved to First Division
side St Mirren in October of the same year. He promptly guided the
Paisley club to the championship in 1976-77 and, despite doing so on
limited resources, Ferguson was sacked three years into his tenure after
a disagreement with the club's chairman.
He eventually joined Aberdeen in
August 1978 and transformed an average side into the form team of the
1980s, breaking Rangers and Celtic's stranglehold on Scottish football,
and led the Granite City club to three league titles, four Scottish Cups
and a League Cup in eight seasons. His greatest achievement , though,
came in 1983, when he led Aberdeen to a 2-1 victory over the mighty Real
Madrid in the European Cup Winners' Cup.
He rejected lucrative offers
from Barcelona, Arsenal, Rangers and Tottenham to take control of
Manchester United in November 1986, and his initial years, when he had
to contend with a drinking culture at the club, were a struggle.
However, the club showed
patience as Ferguson rebuilt the club in minute detail and revamped the
youth system, shipping out many crowd favourites.
It has often been contended,
although just as often denied, that his job was on the line early in
1990, when - despite heavy investment the previous summer - a dismal run
of form saw United plummet down the table. It was suggested that a poor
result against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round would have
been the final straw, but Mark Robins scored the goal said to have saved
his job. The club kept faith, and were rewarded with FA Cup glory that
summer, and their first trophy of the Ferguson era. A year later, United
lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup.
Another Double came two years later, and with
"Fergie's Fledglings" - David Beckham, the Neville Brothers, Paul
Scholes, Nicky Butt and Ryan Giggs - in full flight, they went one
better in 1998-99 by claiming an historic Treble with a 2-1 win over
Bayern Munich in the Champions League. The manager was subsequently
knighted - becoming Sir Alex Ferguson - in the Queen's birthday honours
list as a reward for his services to British football.
The 2000-01 season saw United
cruise to another title, this time wrapping it up in mid-April, as
Ferguson became the first manager to win three English League titles in a
row to become the most successful manager in the history of English
football. In 2001-02, Ferguson announced his retirement, hoping for a
glorious farewell with the Champions League final due to take place at
Hampden Park, Glasgow, but United ended the season empty-handed, and the
Scot reversed his decision, vowing that he would never again foreshadow
his retirement.
The following season brought
another league title, but with the challenge of Arsenal and then Chelsea
came a fallow period. In 2005-06, there were serious questions raised
as to Ferguson's future, with many believing that the below-par United
side, which exited the Champions League at the group stage, was evidence
of a manager whose time had passed.
Yet he defied the doubters,
building his third team at Old Trafford, this time around the youthful
brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. United won three
back-to-back titles from 2007 to 2009, and also claimed a further
Champions League title, beating Chelsea on penalties in Moscow in 2008.
In 2009, United equalled
Liverpool's record 18 league titles, and overtook that haul in 2011. The
following year saw United denied as they lost the title to rivals
Manchester City on goal difference in the cruellest of circumstances
but, in 2013, the Red Devils ruled again, with Robin van Persie, signed
from Arsenal the previous summer, leading the charge.
In May, with the title sealed,
Ferguson announced his retirement at the age of 71, after spending over a
quarter of a century in charge of one of the world's biggest clubs.
Strengths: A
hard taskmaster, Ferguson would get 100% out of his players and
commanded ultimate respect throughout his career. A master of
psychology, his winning mentality took Manchester United to new heights.
Weaknesses: His
temper was notorious, with his eagerness to blame others - notably
match officials - for his sides' defeats a recurring theme over the
years.
Career high: A
close run thing between winning the Treble in 1999 and finally usurping
Liverpool as the most successful team in English football by claiming a
record 19th league title in 2011.
Career low: The
middle period of the 1989-90 season, when Manchester United endured a
slump in form that saw them drop to 17th in January. Had Mark Robins not
secured United's passage in the FA Cup earlier that month, it was
widely speculated that he would have been sacked. Ferguson called this
his "darkest period".
Tactics: Having
spent so long at the helm, Ferguson has experimented with a wide range
of tactics. He loved his players to be passionate and work hard around
the pitch, but he developed a taste for a quick counter-attacking
approach.
Quotes: ''He's
been marvellous and everything that Manchester United wanted. He's been a
major success and is the greatest manager there's ever been. It's
unquestioned.'' Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton, April 2013
Trivia: Ferguson's house in Wilmslow is named Fairfields after the shipyard at which his parents worked.
QUICK FACTS
Birthplace: Govan, Glasgow
Previous Clubs: East Stirling, St Mirren, Aberdeen
Honours: English Premier League:2011, 2009, 2008,
2007, 2003, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1997, 1996, 1994, 1993; FA Cup: 2004,
1999, 1996, 1994, 1990; League Cup : 2010, 2009, 2006, 1992; FA Charity
Shield: 1997, 1996, 1994, 1993, 1990, 2003; Scottish Premier League:
1985, 1984, 1980; Scottish First Division: 1977; Scottish FA Cup: 1986,
1984, 1983, 1982; Scottish League Cup: 1986; UEFA Champions League:
2008, 1999; UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1991, 1983; European Super Cup: 1991,
1983; Inter-Continental Club Cup: 1999
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