Sir Alex Ferguson: His brilliant career
Sunday 6 May 2018 06:12, UK
Sharon Marris, News Reporter
Sir Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager in British football history, winning dozens of honours in his career, including 38 titles at Manchester United.
He was born at his grandmother's home in Govan in Glasgow's south-west on 31 December 1941 and grew up in one of the city's tenements, which has since been demolished.
His playing career began with Scottish club Queen's Park in 1958, as a 16-year-old striker whilst working as an apprentice at the Clyde Shipyards.
In 1967 he signed with Glasgow Rangers before spells with a number of other Scottish clubs.
He retired as a player in 1974 and began his managerial career at East Stirlingshire before going to St Mirren, where he won the Scottish first division title in 1977.
The following year he moved to Aberdeen where he won three Scottish titles, four Scottish FA Cups, one League Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983, where the team beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the final.
He had taken over the unfashionable team and turned it into a major force in the Scottish league, previously dominated by Glasgow teams Celtic and Rangers.
He managed Scotland in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico following the death of Jock Stein, although the team failed to make it past the group stage.
Later that year, he became Manchester United manager, the position that would consolidate his fame in the football world.
There he won 13 Premier League titles, taking the club's haul of English championship crowns to a record 20.
By the time he retired in 2013, the club had also won two Champions League crowns, five FA Cups and four League Cups.
The team's first title under Ferguson was the inaugural Premier League title in 1992/93, which was also Manchester United's first title for 26 years.
He also famously won the treble in 1999 after securing the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in one season.
It was that year that he was also given a knighthood for services to the game.
As well as his own career, he has lent his support to a number of sporting charities and facilities aimed at helping youngsters achieve in sport, especially in the city where he was born.
He made frequent visits to his old school Govan High, including helping to celebrate its centenary.
Also in 1999, Sir Alex was given the Freedom of Glasgow (he was also given the freedom to three other cities or boroughs during his career).
At the time, the city's Lord Provost Sadie Docherty described him as "a Govan and Glasgow legend".
In 2013, at the age of 71, he announced his intention to retire, saying: "The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about. It is the right time."
Many of those who played under him have gone on to become football managers themselves, perhaps inspired by his blend of determination, ruthlessness, warmth, wit, courage and loyalty.