Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed to The Telegraph that the death of his wife’s sister was the key reason he opted to retire from the game.
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When discussing egos at Old Trafford, Ferguson recalls Ronaldo standing in front of the mirror and taking abuse from his team-mates, although it wasn’t something the manager had a problem with.
Ferguson’s retirement, at the age of 71, surprised many and the two-time Champions League victor has now admitted that he had no plans to call time on his coaching career until the passing of his wife Cathy’s twin sister, Bridget Robertson, in 2012. “I knew she was isolated”, Ferguson said. The death of Cathy Ferguson’s twin Bridget in 2012 was the catalyst for change. She did not try to persuade him to do the same in 2013, however.
Fergie knew his time was up, and told his wife he’d be retiring, he got no objections. “I knew she wanted me to do it”, Ferguson said. United have ended the last two seasons without a trophy, finishing 7th (2013/14) and 4th (2014/15) in the Premier League.
They laboured to a seventh place finish under his hand-picked successor David Moyes with Dutchman Louis Van Gaal also so far to convince.
“Even when I knew I was retiring we still tried to put some things in place, with players coming in”, he said.
“The bus was still moving forward”. No one was getting left behind.
In his autobiography, he wrote: “She always waited up for me. Everyone was optimistic about where we were going”.
“My dad left the shipyards at 65 because you had to leave your job at 65”. The 65-year-old teaches part-time at Harvard Business School, and is still involved with United in a directorial and ambassadorial capacity.
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“I’ve travelled a bit and I love watching the team”.
