Sir Alex Ferguson aka Fergie

The most successful manager in British football history, Sir Alex Ferguson shocked the world when he announced his decision to bring an end to a glittering career at the end of the  2012/13 season, after leading Manchester United to their 20th top flight title.

The Scottish legend lifted over 30 trophies as manager at Old Trafford, since joining in 1986.

"Scottish connection"

Alexander Chapman Ferguson was born in Govan, the shipbuilding district of Glasgow, at the end of 1941.

The world was undergoing a difficult period, as World War II was underway and Glasgow was under constant threat of new German bombings, after the Clydebank Blitz of March, in which the city suffered waves of high-explosive bombs, incendiary bombs, while land-mines were dropped over a nine-hour period.

As if inspired by the history of his homeland and by his working-class roots , Ferguson grew up with a strong sense of independence and strength of will, capable of moving mountains and leading his players to glory.

Since a very young age, the Scotsman was passionate about football and began to follow his favourite team Glasgow Rangers.

In 1967 Ferguson wore the Rangers shirt for the first time

Playing Years

After failing to claim a regular first team place at QPR, despite scoring a respectable 11 goals in 32 games for the club, at the age of 19 Alex Ferguson decided to try his luck at St. Johnstone. His luck didn’t change much for his new club though, and he was often left out of the starting line-up.

He went on to play for Dunfermline Athletic, Falkirk and Ayr United, before joining his boyhood heroes Glasgow Rangers, in 1967.

Towards the end of his playing career, in 1969, Nottingham Forest tried to sign Ferguson, but after consulting with his wife, he preferred to move to Falkirk, as he did not want to leave his country for the "distant" England.

'Furious' Fergie

At the age of 32, after hanging up his boots as a player, Sir Alex Ferguson began his management career with a part-time job in June 1974 with East Stirlingshire FC. But it was only when he moved to the St. Mirren FC that he started his full-time management career and he led the Saints’ team to the Scottish First Division title in 1976-77.

His success at St. Mirren took him to Aberdeen, where he began a journey of success. He gained the respect of fans and players at the club and went on to break the Glasgow stranglehold on the Scottish Title, as well as leading Aberdeen to European glory, as his management skills and successes were being identified and recognized by all.

His achievements at Aberdeen led Jock Stein to make Fergie his assistant coach of the Scotland national team, a position he kept until Stein's tragic death, as he suffered a heart-attack in a decisive match against Wales, in Cardiff.

With late Scotland boss Jock Stein

Scotland endured a frustrating tournament under Ferguson, who retained his position as Aberdeen boss.  In an even first match Denmark beat the Scots 1-0, although a Roy Aitken goal that looked legitimate was disallowed. They then lost 2-1 to West Germany and the best they could do was hold Uruguay to a goalless draw.

Ferguson led Aberdeen to their first league title since 1955, and the first time in 15 years that the title hadn't been won by the old firm (Rangers and Celtic).

His success cemented his reputation and helped him gain the respect of players. But he was also known as a strict disciplinarian, and developed the nickname 'Furious Ferguson'

At Aberdeen Ferguson began to achieve sucess.

With Peter Schmeichel lifting the Champions League trophy in 1999, disputed in Barcelona

Loyal players

The Scotsman's strong and domineering personality led to clashes with star players, with the boss being several times falling out with key players such as Paul Ince, Jaap Staam and most notably David Beckham.

In 2007, tensions between Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson were exposed, after a dressing-room incident between the two in which Ferguson accidentally kicked a football boot against the player's face, following Manchester United's 2-0 defeat  to arch rivals Arsenal.

However, Fergie has also retained players' loyalty, namely Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, who spent all of their playing career at Manchester United. Even superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo have retained an affection for Alex Ferguson and some football experts believe his strict discipline has helped to prevent well-paid footballers going off the rails.

Ferguson's most memorable  game was arguably the 1999 final, when Manchester United came from behind to win in stoppage time over Bayern Munich, as Ferguson said after the game: "I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Football. Bloody hell."

Ferguson won 38 titles with United, out of 49 titles in total throughout the whole of his career. The first of which was with St. Mirren in1976/77.

Final years

In 2005-06, Ferguson's future was seriously questioned, 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.

But the Scot defied critics and built his third team at Old Trafford, this time around the youthful brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. The Red Devils won three consecutive titles from 2007 to 2009, and also claimed a further Champions League title, beating Chelsea on penalties in Moscow in 2008.

Success continued for Ferguson and in 2009, United equalled Liverpool's record 18 league titles, and overtook that haul in 2011.

However, they lost the title to rivals Manchester City, in 2011-12, on goal difference in bitter circumstances.

In 2012 Sir Alex was honoured by the club with a statue which immortalises him at Old Trafford.