Glory, Glory Man Utd. Harry Harris
at Old Trafford. Sir Alex won 38 trophies during his 26 – year reign at Old Trafford. Can there be a more fitting tribute than that fact alone? There could be no better epitaph. Nothing gave him more pleasure than lifting the next big prize and forcing Unitedʼs trophy room to fund yet another extension.
And what of The Hairdryer? During a marathon round of interviews following his departure I was asked to explain the origin of the phrase, as, for a change, the interviews following the announcements were as likely to be on news programmes as sports shows. I think it was Brian McClair that first coined the phrase in reference to the feeling of being blasted by the manager for some mistake or other and the rush of hot air that made oneʼs hair stand on end.
In “The Ferguson Effect” a book I penned in 1999 featuring stories from 40 personalities in football and the media who had come across Sir Alex, virtually all of them admitted that they had endured The Hairdryer Treatment at one stage of their lives. Myself included! The players wonʼt miss it, thatʼs for sure!
Above the parochial concerns of the United fans. the man will be remembered for the positive aspects he brought to Old Trafford and to football in the widest sense. Sir Alex delivered Unitedʼs 20th league title, his 13th Premier League title, before announcing his retirement. A fine way to bow out.
It all began on the now demolished Manor Ground in Oxford on 8 November 1986 and came to a close at Unitedʼs final game of the season at The Hawthorns and West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, 19 May 2013, whereas he would have preferred the curtain to close at Wembley in the Champions League Final.
It seems a lifetime ago when Sir Alex took over from Ron Atkinson in 1986, and of course it is, there have been few longer managerial reigns in football and certainly none as successful. If it wasnʼt for Sir Alex, David Moyes and Arsene Wenger, the average reign of a Premier League boss, currently one year and three months, would be considerably shorter.
But if you want history, tradition and silverware, then look no further than Sir Alex at Old Trafford; two Champions League crowns, the UEFA Cup Winnersʼ Cup, 13 Premier League League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, an Inter – Continental Club cup and a World Club Cup. World champions twice or “once more than England” as the United fans are fond of singing.
When the overnight speculation reached a crescendo that Sir Alex was about to retire and in the hours before the big announcement the next morning, I was inundated with media calls to talk about the issue, and of course, my article a year ago, an interview with the Wigan chairman and owner Dave Whelan was much quoted. The Wigan chairman had given me an interview for my ESPN column making it perfectly plain that he was sure that 2012 – 13 would be Sir Alexʼs final season in charge of Manchester United and of course it proved to be spot on.
When the big decision was announced, it was done so via Twitter, a medium that Sir Alex had been highly dubious about, indeed he would rather his players didnʼt use it, as it was always open to abuse; he warned his players about the excesses of the medium. How ironic, indicative of the changing age of football. that United tweeted: “Sir Alex Ferguson retires. thankyousiralex”. A club statement read: “The most successful manager in English football history will bow out after the West Bromwich Albion game on 19 May and join the football club board.”
Sir Alex immediately commented, “The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time. It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so. The quality of this league winning squad, and the balance of ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level whilst the structure of the youth set – up will ensure that the long – term future of the club remains a bright one. Our training facilities are amongst the finest in global sport and our home Old Trafford is rightfully regarded as one of the leading venues in the world. Going forward, I am delighted to take on the roles of both director and ambassador for the club. With these activities, along with my many other interests, I am looking forward to the future. I must pay tribute to my family, their love and support has been essential. My wife Cathy has been the key figure throughout my career.”
The announcement was made while US markets were closed, and the club and shareholders waited eagerly to discover what, if any, impact, it would have on the share price. When trading began shares fell by 4.5% at the height of their decline. Hardly a surprise as the club has warned institutions and individual investors in its prospectus ahead of its stock market flotation that its business was dependent on its ability to attract and retain players, and naturally that largely depended on the success rating of the team, which in turn was dependent on the quality of their manager. “Any successor to our current manager may not be as successful as our current manager,” the prospectus stressed.
The US based ownership remains unpopular with the United fan base, and it has been a tricky juggling act for Sir Alex to keep the fans happy enough to diminish the protests against the highly leveraged takeover; the best way of quelling disquiet was the steady stream of trophies despite restrictions on the transfer budget inevitably a consequence of the interest repayments on the loads.
The club still runs smoothly enough despite a debt of £370m and finances that remain tightly controlled by the Glazer family. The Americans bought the club for £790m in 2005 in a controversial deal that loaded the club with debt. One of Fergusonʼs greatest achievements has been to maintain, and indeed accelerate, Unitedʼs trophy haul despite annual interest payments of up to £70 million, restricted activity in the transfer market and the forced sale of stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo.
ʼGold Traffordʼ is a phenomenal money-making machine with global commercial enterprises, and the Glazers have expanded the commercialisation and revenue streams to a degree that has off – set some of these interest repayments. In addition the Glazers have refinanced the loans dispensing with the more expensive and potentially damaging PIK loans. Nevertheless any managerial successor would be entering a club where the priority was not neccessarily acquiring the best players but the most cost effective.
Despite constant speculation about Middle East or Chinese takeovers amounting to close to £2 billion, the Glazers have never been inclined to sell their prize sporting asset and, instead, opted for a flotation on the New York stock exchange, having abandoned a similar plan in England, and the Wall Street initiative saw the Glazers sell 16.7 million shares, equal to a 10% stake in the club. Since the flotation in August 2012, Manchester United shares have risen 34%.
The timing or Sir Alexʼs retirement created all sorts of conspiracy theories. Was it because Jose Mourniho was touted for the Chelsea job and the United board wanted him... was it because David Moyes contract was coming to an end at Everton... was it because of ill health and talk of missing the new season because of a summer hip operation. Was he pushed? The last theory was born out of the managerʼs persistent denials of any thoughts of retirement. But he might well have learned from his original plan to retire in 2001 before he backtracked explaining it had been a terrible mistake. By announcing his retirement then, in advance, it had an adverse effect on a season in which they surrendered the title to Arsenal.
Yet, just weeks before his retirement, in March, as he prepared to face Real Madrid in the Champions League, he wrote in his programme notes: “This is what it is all about – a packed Old Trafford, the floodlights on, the pitch glistening and two of the greatest and most romantic clubs in the game about to do battle. People ask me why I donʼt retire after so many years in the game, but how could anyone with an ounce of passion for football in their soul voluntarily walk away from the opportunity to be involved in this kind of occasion?” He has repeated similar sentiments a few times since that statement, insisting he was good for a few more years. He certainly put people off the scent if his intention all along was to quit.
After that gut – wrenching defeat Sir Alexʼs loyal assistant Mike Phelan pointed out that his Boss was “too distraught” convinced Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakirʼs decision to send off Nani for a high foot had robbed them of victory. Sir Alex would have liked to have departed with a third Champions League trophy and to win it at Wembley where Sir Matt Busbyʼs United triumphed against Benfica in 1968, as he