Hi, I had some spare time for another compilation. Most of you already know the storied history and highlights of Sir Alex's time as manager of Manchester United, but below are some "lesser-known" facts and trivia about our former manager that some people might not know and which I hope you might find interesting. I compiled these from various sources (listed at the end of the post) and also combined them with some relevant quotes.

 

Former Pub Landlord

As a manager Ferguson was known for his drive and exceptional work ethic. These traits were instilled at a young age by his working class parents, Alexander and Elizabeth, and Ferguson started his working career as an apprentice toolmaker and shop steward in Glasgow. Ferguson had a keen interest in football and his playing career began as an amateur with Queen's Park, where he made his debut as a striker at age 16. After semi-professional and professional stints at Dunfermline, Falkirk and Rangers he finished his career at Ayr United in 1974. As his playing career was drawing to a close he 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 it was during this time, at age 33, that Ferguson was running his own pub in town, named "Fergie’s" with a downstairs bar that he called the "Elbow Room", in memory of his intensely physical style as a player.

“It was a part-time team I took over at East Stirling. The players were on about £5 a week and I was running two pubs in Glasgow. But the one common denominator is that you want to be successful. I set about it in a determined fashion and I wasn’t going to fail. I’d chosen that life. I’d been an engineer and I made up my mind I wasn’t going to go back to engineering. So I took all my coaching badges when I was young – 23 – so I had prepared to be a manager. It’s important if you want to be in the game that you do that. That involves taking all the courses so you can show anybody who interviews you for a job that you’re ready.”

- Ferguson

 

Fascinated By The JFK Assassination

Ferguson bonded with former prime minister Gordon Brown over a shared interest: US politics, and specifically the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Ferguson admits he is absolutely fascinated with the JFK assassination and Brown, who shares the same interest, sent him numerous CDs on the subject over the years. Ferguson said in 2007 that he keeps JFK's autopsy report by his bed. He also has a copy of the Warren Report signed by the former US president Gerald Ford.

"Gordon sent me 35 CDs on it, which was brilliant of him!"

- Ferguson

 

Gave Kenny Dalglish Lifts

When Ferguson was at Rangers he gave lifts to a young Kenny Dalglish who was hoping to be signed. When Dalglish was picked up by city rivals Celtic he was forced to play center back and mark Ferguson in a reserve team game.

"We stayed across the road from Ibrox and we were friendly with a lot of the young Rangers lads, one of whom was Alex Miller. I knew Fergie had cost a big fee, because he had such a big car. He used to give us a lift into town."

- Kenny Dalglish

 

Coached Aberdeen

Most football fans know Sir Alex Ferguson as the most successful manager of Manchester United. But, he also guided Scottish club Aberdeen to win the UEFA Winners’ Cup in 1982-83, defeating Real Madrid 2-1 in the finals. Aberdeen became only the third Scottish team to win a European trophy.

"I felt compelled and totally motivated to record a period of my life which has given me enormous satisfaction and sense of accomplishment, a belief that l've done something really worthwhile."

- Ferguson

 

Broke Scottish Transfer Record As A Player

Dunfermline signed Ferguson in the summer of 1964. After a mediocre first season at the club, Ferguson burst through during his second. The 1965-66 season saw Ferguson notch up 45 goals in 51 games for Dunfermline and this performance scripted a dream move for him. Rangers signed him next season for £65,000, then a record fee for a transfer between any two Scottish clubs.

“I once rang him up and was on for 10 minutes about players and he told me about every player, their strengths and their weaknesses. I put the phone down and I said ‘I bet he even knows the Dunfermline groundsman’ so I rang him back and said ‘Hey Alex, I forgot to ask you about the Dunfermline groundsman’ and, by God, he did know his name and where he came from!”

- Neil Warnock

 

Told Alastair Campbell To Get A Masseur For Tony Blair

Ferguson was a big Labour donor and advised Tony Blair on leadership. Sometimes Ferguson provided humorous "advice", to the amusement of those around. The idea of getting a masseur for the election "battle bus" may have been a step too far, he later admitted.

"Tony, so long as you can keep all your key people in the same room at the same time, you'll be fine."

- Ferguson

 

Not The Longest Serving Manager

Ferguson was manager of Manchester United for 26 years and a couple of months. Although this is a staggering stint in context of the modern era, the longest serving league manager in Europe was Guy Roux, who occupied the hot-seat at French team Auxerre for 44 years, finally stepping down in 2005. Ferguson isn't even the longest serving Scottish manager. Willie Maley was Celtic manager from 1897-1940, clocking up 43 years.

 

Jumped Over Walls As A Boy

Ferguson grew up in a poor area of Glasgow where there wasn't much to do apart from play football, fight and jump over walls, known as dykes. Sometimes this was done out of necessity to traverse the shortest route, other times jumping over walls and dykes was a pastime.

"The dangerous ones had names - the king, the queen, the suicide, the diamond, the spiky. You'd go to different areas of Govan to challenge each other into jumping dykes because it was very dangerous. But you do that when you're a kid because you've got no fear."

- Ferguson

 

Ferguson And Rooney

Manchester United, highly impressed with the teenager’s performances, attempted to sign Wayne Rooney at the ages of 14 and 16, but on both occasions the young striker turned the Old Trafford club down, with his commitment to Everton being such that the club was “in his blood,” according to Ferguson. Finally, in 2004, after Rooney signed the deal with United, Ferguson described him as “A remarkable raw talent”, but surprisingly enough, he also labels Rooney as “not the quickest learner.”

"He would rage in the dressing room when I picked him out for criticism. His eyes would burn, as if he wanted to knock my lights out. Coleen, his wife, had her head screwed on. She always struck me as a stabilizing force. Wayne needed to be careful. He has great qualities about him but they could be swallowed up by a lack of fitness."

- Ferguson

 

Inspired Two Football Terms

Sir Alex Ferguson was a coach players used to be afraid of at certain times and his temper was known as the “hairdryer”, for its sound and heat. Former United winger Lee Sharpe has been credited with inventing the term. David Beckham once said: “The fear of getting the hairdryer was the reason why we all played so well. He was a manager you wanted to do well for.” It first entered the Collins English dictionary in 2005 with the definition "the tense final stages of a league competition, especially from the point of view of the leaders". Wikipedia notes the act of "squirming or moving forward and back in one's seat while watching an exciting sporting event".

Ferguson also put his finger on the agony of watching a tense sporting moment and people think he first used “squeaky bum time” in March 2003 when Manchester United clawed back the lead from rivals Arsenal in a tense finale. Now-a-days it has become part of the football argot, especially at the climax of a season and it means “the tense final stages of a league competition, especially from the point of view of the leaders”.

"It's getting tickly now – squeaky-bum time, I call it."

- Ferguson

 

"Fergie Time" Is 79 Seconds

"Fergie time" is the widely held belief by supporters of other teams that, if Manchester United is losing after 90 minutes, the referee will extend injury time long enough for them to equalize or win. The BBC analyzed Fergie time. It found that United were not being given extra injury time when they were losing, although it appeared they got more than other teams. Games went on 79 seconds longer when Manchester United were losing than winning. Manchester United's towering achievement - securing the treble with victory in the 1999 European Champions League - was achieved in Fergie time, when they reversed a Bayern Munich lead, by scoring two goals after the 90th minute.

"Absolutely (other team's were frightened of it). That's why I used to go with my watch. But I never looked at my watch. Honestly. I didn’t know how many minutes but it gets across to the opponents and the referee. It was just a little trick."

- Ferguson

 

Home is called Fairfields

Ferguson lives in a mansion in Wilmslow, Cheshire. It is called Fairfields after the shipyard where his father worked.

 

^{Sources: BBC, Wikipedia, Sports-Nova,}