Sir Alex Ferguson’s birthday, one of the greatest managers of all time
2 min read
The legendary Scottish manager, Alex Ferguson is celebrating one more year of life on this last day of 2020, which creates the perfect opportunity to review the career of this living legend of world football.
Although Sir Alex Ferguson is well known for his long career as a Manchester United manager, the Glasgow-born coach had a good playing career where he stood out in the league of his country as an important scorer.
His career began at Queen’s Park FC, went through St Johnstone FC and it was at Dunfermline Athletic FC where Alex Ferguson really stood out and caught the attention of one of the giants of Scottish football and the team he was a fan of since he was a child, Rangers FC.
As a manager, Ferguson started at East Stirlingshire FC and later at St Mirren, where he made the club a strong rival with a squad full of youngsters mostly aged 19-20. Interestingly enough, St Mirren is the only club that can “boast” of having sacked Alex Ferguson. In 1978, Ferguson signed with Aberdeen where he would break the hegemony of Celtic and Rangers, winning 3 Scottish Leagues in addition to many other titles at local and international level, including a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup against Real Madrid.
After a brief stint with the Scotland national team, in 1986, Alex Ferguson arrived at Manchester United in a very difficult time and in fact, the arrival of the Scotsman did not change things immediately. He needed a few seasons to form the team that he wanted and he achieved it using a formula that worked for him earlier in his career, which was to bet on young players.
From there came that famous generation with Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, the Neville brothers or Nicky Butt that brought together some international football stars and took Manchester United back to the glory days. 27 years and 1,500 games after his arrival, Ferguson lifted 2 UEFA Champions Leagues (one in almost miraculous fashion), 13 Premier Leagues, 5 FA Cups, 5 Football League Cups, among other national and international trophies.
In the end, a historical manager who changed the destiny of many clubs and players during his career. Happy Birthday, Alex!
