Football managers are the masterminds of the beautiful game. It is indeed an honourable job. They elevate teams and players to levels of success that are unfathomable otherwise. You hear about children dreaming about being the next Messi or Ronaldo but how many kids say that they want to be the next Alex Fergusson or Arsene Wenger? Managers deserve more spotlight than they get and so we here in ice today have come up with an initiative. Introducing “Know thy manager”, a weekly segment where we will be sharing facts and trivia about some of football’s most decorated managers.
Starting off, we have Sir Alex Ferguson, one of the all-time greatest. Fergie took Manchester United, already one of the best clubs in England to newer heights. In a reign of 26 and a half years as the ManU boss, Ferguson boasts 13 league titles, 5 FA Cups, 4 League Cups and 2 Champions League trophies. Manchester united remains the only club to win the treble till date accomplishing the feat under Fergie during the 1998-99 campaign. In honour of his legendary career here are 5 things about Sir Alex Fergusson.
He has 171 career goals
Fergie was half decent on the pitch as he was off of it. In a 17 year long playing career with stints at Dunfermline Athletic and Rangers among others, the Scotsman managed 171 goals from 317 games, that’s almost one goal every other game. Not bad, eh?
He was the first recipient of the Premier League Manager of the month and year awards
The aforementioned titles didn’t exist until Fergie showed his excellence.
Expected of him, right? But did you know..
His career with Manchester United didn’t go off with a flying start
He actually lost his first game in charge of United and had to wait till 7 years for his first league title.
Fergie Time is 79 seconds
A term used by football fans to describe the extra few seconds Manchester United are granted after stoppage time if the results aren’t in their favour. An analysis by BBC suggests that Fergie time is 79 seconds.
When you’re as successful as him, you’ll always have people questioning your means.
He was an owner of a pub
Called the Elbow Room, Fergie actually tried his hands in being a pub owner before eventually becoming a football manager. Talk about right decisions.
