SIR ALEX FERGUSON sensationally quits as Manchester United manager just days before their triple winning season.
In a stunning turn of events after the 1997/98 season, Ferguson resigned from his post at Old Trafford before taking it up again.
2
It came after the United The then board, comprising then-chairman Martin Edwards and Sir Roland Smith, chairman of the club’s PLC board, expressed doubts about Ferguson’s focus.
The inside story, revealed by The timeswas the season after United lost the league title by one point to Arsenal, having won four of the previous five seasons.
Ahead of the new season, Edwards and Smith told Ferguson: “We are concerned about your focus.”
Their fear of this came from talking about Ferguson enjoying his “celebrity status” and his passion for horse racing.
Ferguson, stunned by the question, immediately wondered if they were trying to force him out of the club – which he was assured was nothing of the sort.
Transfers were also a hot topic within the club’s hierarchy, with Ferguson pushing for Dwight Yorke’s signing despite doubts from assistant Brian Kidd and other members of United’s board.
Following the meeting, Edwards wrote a letter to Ferguson on his return to pre-season preparation, outlining all of the board’s concerns.
Edwards then revealed that within hours Ferguson burst into the office furiously, declaring that he would resign: “The language Alex used was a bit fruitier, but that was the gist of it.
FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS – BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS
“Well, if that’s how you feel, Alex, we’ll have to accept it,” Edwards replied, confident he’d call the former Aberdeen manager a bluff.
Fortunately for United, the bluff worked and Ferguson withdrew his application later in the day.
Gordon Strachan described Ferguson as “driven by rage”, and after bumping heads at the start of the season, Ferguson was full of it.
And it paid off, as United won an unprecedented treble that year – a feat yet to be repeated in English football.
United also won the next three Premier League titles, another feat yet to be repeated by any club or manager other than Ferguson’s United.
2