Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson (born Alexander Chapman Ferguson December 31, 1941 in Govan, Glasgow) is a Scottish football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United F.C. He has won more trophies than any other manager in the history of English football and been in charge of Manchester United for over 1,000 matches.

Playing career

He began as an amateur at Queen's Park, making his debut at 16 as a striker. He described his first match as a "nightmare"{{ref|nightmare}} but scored Queen's Park's goal in a 2-1 defeat against Stranraer. Although he scored 15 goals in his 31 games for Queen's Park, he could not command a regular place in the side and moved to St Johnstone in 1960.

Related Topics:
Queen's Park - Striker - Stranraer - St Johnstone - 1960

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Although he continued to score regularly at St Johnstone, he was still unable to command a regular place and regularly requested transfers. Although he was out of favour at the club, their failure to sign a forward led the manager to select Ferguson for a match against Rangers, in which he scored a hat trick in a surprise victory. Dunfermline signed him the following summer (1964.)

Related Topics:
Rangers - Hat trick - Dunfermline - 1964

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The following season (1964-65), Dunfermline were strong challengers for the Scottish League and reached the Scottish Cup Final, but Ferguson was dropped for the final after a poor performance in a league game against St Johnstone. Dunfermline lost the final 3-2 to Celtic, then failed to win the League by one point.

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In 1967, he joined Rangers for £65,000, then a record fee for a transfer between two Scottish clubs. He was blamed for a goal that they conceded in the 1969 Scottish cup final{{ref|blame}}, and was forced to play for the club's junior side instead of the first team{{ref|junior}}. According to his brother, Ferguson was so upset by the experience that he threw his losers' medal away.{{ref|losersmedal}}

Related Topics:
1967 - 1969

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The following October, Nottingham Forest wanted to sign Ferguson{{ref|signforest}}, but his wife was not keen on moving to England at that time so he went to Falkirk instead. He was promoted to player-coach there, but when John Prentice became manager he removed Ferguson's coaching responsiblities. Ferguson responded by requesting a transfer and moved to Ayr United, where he finished his playing career.

Related Topics:
Nottingham Forest - Falkirk - John Prentice - Ayr United

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