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SIR ALEX FERGUSON
SIR ALEX FERGUSON Sir Alex Ferguson (born Alexander Chapman Ferguson, December 31, 1941 in Govan, Glasgow) is a Scottish football manager, currently managing Manchester United F.C.. He has won more trophies than any other manager in the history of English football and been in charge of Manchester United for over 1000 matches. He has previously managed East Stirling and St. Mirren, before a highly successful period as manager of Aberdeen. He was briefly the manager of Scotland before becoming the manager of Manchester United F.C.. He is also the owner of a top international race horse, Rock of Gibraltar . Sir Alex Ferguson's first big success in management came with Aberdeen when they won the Scottish Premier Division championship, Scottish FA Cup and European Cup Winners Cup treble in 1983. He was appointed manager at Old Trafford on November 6 1986 as replacement for Ron Atkinson who had been sacked after five years in charge despite winning two F.A Cups and putting together an impressive side containing players like Bryan Robson, Norman Whiteside and Gordon Strachan. When Ferguson took over, the club was second from bottom in the old First Division and relegation looked a real possibility. As the season went on, Ferguson rejuvenated the club's fortunes on the pitch and they climbed up the table to finish 11th. Their only away win of the league campaign was against runners-up Liverpool and that victory effectively cost the opposition their defence of the league title. The 1987–88 season saw some major signings at Old Trafford, including Steve Bruce, Viv Anderson, Brian McClair and Jim Leighton. Alex Ferguson did a lot to bolster the club's position and they finished runners-up to Liverpool by nine points. But United's best chance of success was in the FA Cup where they blew it in the 5th Round, missing the chance to convert a last minute penalty into an equaliser against Arsenal. Alex Ferguson sought to add to the ranks for 1988–89 by re-signing Mark Hughes, the 24-year-old Welsh striker who had left Old Trafford for Barcelona two years previously, but the player had never settled in Spain and had spent the 1987–88 season on loan to Bayern Munich in West Germany. During the season he also added Mal Donaghy and Mike Phelan to the team, but their league form slipped during the final phase of the season and they finished 11th. The 1989–90 season began on a high for United and it ended on a high. It was just a shame about what happened around the middle of the season. On the opening day of the 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. The squad had also been boosted by the addition of Paul Ince , Neil Webb , Danny Wallace and Gary Pallister . But in September, United suffered a humiliating 5-1 away defeat against neighbours Manchester City who had just been promoted back to the top division after a two year absence. Over the next three months things went downhill, and by the turn of 1990, Manchester United were 15th of 20 in the First Division and there were calls from the press and from the club's supporters for Ferguson to be sacked. But Ferguson later revealed that the club's board of directors had never discussed the possibility. Although naturally disappointing at the lack of success in the league, the board understood that Ferguson's chances of success had been sabotaged by an injury crisis amongst the players and they were pleased with the way he had reorganised the club. 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 everyone was predicting for United to lose the game and for Ferguson to lose his job. But United won the game 1-0 and made it all the way to the final despite never being drawn at home. In the final United drew 3-3 with Crystal Palace, with Mark Hughes scoring twice and Bryan Robson scoring once. United won the replay 1-0 with a goal from defender Lee Martin , who nearly didn't play because the manager feared that he was physically unfit to withstand the challenge, and United would be England's representatives in the 1990–91 European Cup Winners Cup - the ban on English teams playing in Europe following the Heysel Stadium disaster was now lifted after five years. United finished 13th in the 1989–90 league season but everyone was confident they could finish much higher in 1990–91. 1990–91 brought more success for Manchester United. Their league form was improved but still inconsistent, so they finished sixth, but they fared much better in cup competitions. Although they lost their defence of the FA Cup to Norwich in the fifth round, they reached the finals of both the Cup Winners Cup and the League Cup. In the League Cup final they underestimated the opposition, Second Division promotion challengers Sheffield Wednesday, and lost 1-0 to a team managed by former United manager Ron Atkinson. The goalscorer on that day was John Sheridan, a lifelong Manchester United supporter. United were drawn with Barcelona in the Cup Winners Cup final at Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Mark Hughes, who had spent a season at Barcelona in the 1980's but failed to settle, scored twice against his old club to secure a 2-1 win for United. It was a fine way to mark the return of English clubs to European football, and confirmed Mark Hughes' status as one of Manchester United's greatest strikers ever. In 1991–92, Manchester United won their first ever League Cup but lost out on the league title to Leeds United. The key player in the Leeds team was Gordon Strachan, who had been sold to Leeds from Manchester United three years earlier and taken them to the league title just two seasons after winning promotion. 1992–93 saw Manchester United become members of the new Premier League and from the outset they were firm favourites to be champions. But after a slow start to the season (they were 10th of 22 at the beginning of November) it looked as though they would miss out on the championship again. But then Alex Ferugson paid Leeds United £1.2 million for their brilliant 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 up winning the title with a 10-point gap over runners-up Aston Villa. The 26-year wait was over, and it officially ended without United kicking a ball - their nearest rivals Aston Villa had suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat to Oldham Athletic which did much to keep the Latics safe from relegation. 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 F.A 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/F.A Cup double. 1994–95 was perhaps Alex Ferguson's most difficult season as Manchester United manager. 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. Unfortunately, the championship slipped out of Manchester United's grasp as they were unable to get the better of West Ham United who held them to a 1-1 draw on the final day of the season. It was all the more frustrating because champions Blackburn (celebrating their first title success since 1914) lost 2-1 in their final game of the season at Liverpool. United also lost the F.A Cup final to Everton, although promising 20-year-old striker Paul Scholes came close to scoring twice only to be foiled by the brilliant Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall. Still, United had finished in the top two of the league for the fourth season running and had reached their third F.A Cup final in six seasons, even if they had endured their first trophyless season since 1988–89. The summer of 1995 brought three major transfer surprises at Alex Ferguson's club. First Paul Ince moved to Inter Milan of Italy in a £7.5 million. Within 24 hours of Ince's departure, long serving striker Mark Hughes was suddenly sold to Chelsea in a £1.5 million deal. And not long after these two transfer surprises, it was reported that Ukranian winger Andrei Kanchelskis was going on the transfer list because he had fallen out with Alex Ferguson. Liverpool and Middlesbrough both expressed interest in signing Kanchelskis, but in the end he agreed a £5million move to Everton, although he did not complete the transfer until after the first game of the 1995–96 season because of a dispute as to whether his former club Shakytr Donetsk should receive £1million of the fee. In the wake of these departures, United were linked with several world class players including Roberto Baggio of Juventus and Italy, Darren Anderton of Tottenham and England and even the Wimbledon striker Dean Holdsworth. But none of the moves ever happened, and United began the 1995-96 season without a major signing. After losing 3-1 to Aston Villa on the opening day of the season, the media swooped upon Ferguson with undisguised glee. They wrote United off because Alex Ferguson's squad contained so many young and inexperienced players. Ferguson felt he could achieve success with such a young squad, and United's form improved dramatically during the first few weeks of the season. Young players like Gary Neville, Phil Neville, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes gelled well into a squad with more experienced players like Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister and Denis Irwin. The return of Eric Cantona from his suspension was also a positive change to the United side. They ended the season as champions with just six league defeats all season, an achievement made all the more impressive by the fact that they had been 10 points behind Newcastle at Christmas. In the F.A Cup final, they were drawn with Liverpool and won 1-0 with a last gasp goal by Eric Cantona - voted Football Writers Player of the Year by the footballing press and made team captain by his club after the departure of Steve Bruce to Birmingham City. The summer of 1996 saw the departure of Steve Bruce, Paul Parker and Lee Sharpe, and the arrival of four major signings. Czech winger Karel Poborsky had put on an impressive performance at Euro 96, but failed to win a place at Old Trafford and was sold to Benfica after 18 months. Dutch forward Jordi Cruyff (son of the legendary Johann) was also signed, but was never a regular player during four seasons as the club. It was the two less well known signings which proved most successful. 23-year-old Norweigan striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær was virtually unknown outside his homeland, yet ended the 1996–97 season as United's leading scorer with 19 goals in all competitions. Norweigan defender Ronny Johnsen also proved to be a key player in the team as well. 1996–97 saw Alex Ferguson guide Manchester United to their fourth Premiership title in five seasons, despite some trials and tribulations along the way. 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 F.A Cup by Wimbledon in the Fourth Round, meaning they would not be in the final for the first time since 1993. They also lost their 4-year unbeaten home record to unfancied Turkish side Fenerbahce. 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 announced his retirement as a player and sent shock waves around the footballing world. 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 £28million on three major signings: Aston Villa's Trinidadian striker Dwight Yorke, PSV's Dutch defender Jaap Stam and Parma's Swedish winger Jesper Blomqvist . Long serving players Gary Pallister and Brian McClair both left the club to seek pastures new for the final few years of their careers. The new signings paid off in 1998–99, which proved to be the most successful season yet in the history of Manchester United. They fought off the competition from rival teams to win a unique treble of the Premiership title, F.A Cup and Champions League. The European triumph was the most incredible of all. With 90 minutes on the clock they were 1-0 down to Bayern Munich at Nou Camp in Barcelona, but in 3 minutes of injury time allowed by the referee, Teddy Sheringham equalised and extra time looked certain. But with just seconds left on the clock, Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored the winning goal and history was made. On 12th June 1999, Alex Ferguson was knighted in recognition for his services to the game. He was now regarded by many as the best manager ever to work in English football. Since the treble success of 1999, Manchester United have won three Premiership titles (2000, 2001 and 2003) and one F.A Cup (2004). Several significant players have departed since then, including Peter Schmeichel, Denis Irwin, Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Jaap Stam and Dwight Yorke. Several new players have also joined the set up, most significantly Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Luis Saha and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Other players like Juan Veron and Fabien Barthez have come and gone. It is now 18 years since Sir Alex Ferguson was appointed manager of Manchester United, and he hopes to stay on for at least a couple of more seasons yet. On 23 November, 2004 Ferguson managed Manchester United for the 1000th time in a Champions League match against Lyon. The breakdown of those matches is as follows: |
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