Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the biggest soccer legends ever, with his time at Manchester United being one of the greatest teams ever. Widely loved by Red Devils fans, the manager is often considered to be the greatest coach ever.
Sir Alex Ferguson is also renowned as a tough manager, often dishing out his infamous ‘hairdryer treatment’ on players that perform poorly. Despite being such a harsh manager, the Scotsman regrets backing off once during his time at Rangers.
Sir Alex Ferguson revealed interaction with Rangers director
After his wife, Lady Cathy Ferguson, passed away yesterday, a moment of regret for Sir Alex Ferguson involving her has gone viral again. The story was recounted in his new documentary, Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In.
At one point, he shared his time as a player for Rangers, just having signed for them. He revealed that he was a lifelong fan of them and thus it was his dream to play for them.
He then opened up about an incident involving his late wife and one of the club’s directors. During those times in the Scottish city, there was a divide between Protestant and Catholic factions. It was further represented by Rangers representing the Protestants and their rivals Celtic representing the Catholics. This created a big rivalry still existing today.
Sir Alex then shared how the club director made a jibe towards his Catholic wife, saying, “When I signed for Rangers, one of the directors asked me about Cathy. He says, ‘I have to ask you a question about your wife. I believe she is Catholic, were you married in a chapel?’. I said, ‘No we got married in the registry office,’ and he says, ‘Oh, that’s OK’.”
He then said that he regrets that moment, as he believes he should have jibed back for the insult to his wife. But due to his transfer at Rangers, he opted not to.
“I should have told him to f*** off. I really should have but having supported Rangers as a boy and having the opportunity to go out and play for Rangers, you are prepared to take nonsense.”
The moment remains a regret to this day, as he feels he should have protected his wife for being a Catholic. “I let myself down there and I let my wife down – that was the most important thing – because she was a devout Catholic.”
Clearly, Sir Alex would have done so if he was not a Rangers player. The manager never took any insults or slights, as evidenced by how he dealt with journalists during his United days. He was also harsh with his own players, as David Beckham shared an incident involving a boot.
SAF told how he met wife Cathy in his documentary
Sir Alex Ferguson also shared the story of how he met his wife in the same documentary.
The two met when Alex was 22, while they were both working for the Remington Rand typewriter factory in Hillington, Glasgow. He was just an apprentice in toolmaking at the time. But he was also an amateur football player for Scottish club St. Johnstone.
He recounted the story, saying Lady Cathy at first thought he was a gangster or boxer due to a plaster, “I was 22. I had this friend and she said to me ‘There’s a really nice girl that’s just started’. I had suffered an injury at football and I had a plaster on my face. She thought I was either a gangster or a boxer. We got really close and I really loved her.”
Ferguson and Cathy then got married in 1966. They had three sons Darren, Jason and Mark. She was regarded as his pillar, often helping him to make career decisions. She is the reason Sir Alex chose United over Tottenham during his early managerial days. She then convinced him to stay in 2003, despite many hurdles. Ten years later, Sir Alex would retire following his wife’s advice. There is no doubt that without her, Sir Alex would not have become the legend he is today and Manchester United as well would not have much success.
Following her death, United decided to respect her by lowering their flags at Old Trafford to half mast. Furthermore, both their men and women teams wore black armbands, with the men’s team against Brentford tonight.
Our thoughts are with Sir Alex Ferguson and his family at this time, at the loss of Lady Cathy Ferguson.
