Fergie ends United affair for sake of wife

Manchester United 2 Swansea City 1

Alex Ferguson brought an end to the most successful career in British football management history for one reason — love.

In the aftermath of his final home game as United manager, Ferguson finally ended days of speculation by explaining the reasons behind his decision to retire, at the age of 71 — namely, his wife of 47 years, Cathy.

“Around last Christmas,” said Ferguson when quizzed when and why he had decided to bring an end to his 26-and-a-half years at the Old Trafford helm.

“Basically, things changed when Cathy’s sister died. She is isolated a lot now and I think a lot of the time, for 47 years, she has been the leader of the family, looked after our three sons and sacrificed herself for me.

“Now she has the grandchildren, and they all dote on her, but now she has lost her best friend — her sister — so that was important.

“I think it is also important to go out as a winner. That is really important at this club, it is all I ever wanted to do here. Be a winner.”

It was a touching, human moment from a manager who may have divided opinion for the last quarter of a century but who could never be questioned for his drive to succeed and an indomitable work ethic forged in his working class upbringing in Glasgow.

Rumours had circulated since the start of last week about potential reasons for Ferguson’s retirement, ranging from ill health and the hip surgery he requires in the summer to the conspiracy theory possibility that he may have been pushed out by dark forces within the club.

However, the real explanation was far more straightforward and one which, given Ferguson’s almost fanatical emphasis on loyalty and family, seems all the more fitting.

“It was very difficult to keep it a secret,” he added.

“There were some times when we almost blurted it out to the family. We told our sons in March, but my brother didn’t know until Tuesday night. I wanted to tell the players first really, the players and the staff.

“But unfortunately, there were rumours going around on Tuesday. So all that started to speed it up a bit.”

The rumours may well have leaked out of the United marketing department, who became heavily involved in preparations for the game at the start of the week when it became known this would be Ferguson’s last at Old Trafford.

If that was the case, those moles will have regained some standing in Ferguson’s eyes with the way they put together his retirement party. From the pre-match build-up, when red flags were issued to the 75,000 crowd and a mosaic spelling out Champions handed to fans in the stand bearing Ferguson’s name and the PA blared out Andy Williams’ song The Impossible Dream, this was a fitting farewell.

Ferguson strode through a guard of honour made by both sets of players before wandering to his bench to almost deafening acclaim from the stadium and, in a fitting gesture, midfielder Paul Scholes, who also announced his retirement yesterday, took his starting place for the first time since January.

The 90 minutes that followed were entertaining enough but, in the overall scheme of footballing things, irrelevant.

Javier Hernandez slid in to give United a late first-half lead before Michu deservedly levelled for Swansea early after the restart.

It hardly mattered that United barely looked capable of finding an equaliser until — and how fitting is this? — very late in the game. Defender Rio Ferdinand, a Ferguson loyalist for a decade, appeared six yards out to drive in his first league goal in over five years and to make sure Ferguson’s last home game ended like so many before.

“The last-minute goals. I love them,” smiled Ferguson when asked what he will most miss about the game.

“It is hard to look back, I have never done that, but I have plenty of time to do that now. The most important achievement, without doubt, was winning the first league. Once we did that, a door opened.

“We just grew and grew after that and saw some fantastic changes. There have been some great players and it has been an honour to manage them, different personalities and different cultures. It has been a fantastic challenge of management.”

Those challenges now await Ferguson’s successor David Moyes and, as he addressed the crowd on the field after the game, the veteran was quick to call for United’s followers to show the same support to his countryman as they had to him.

“My retirement doesn’t mean the end of my time at the club,” Ferguson told them. “I’ll now be able to enjoy watching them, rather than suffer with them.

“But, if you think about it, the last-minute goals, the comebacks, even the defeats, are all part of this great football club of ours. It’s been an unbelievable experience for all of us, so thank-you for that.

“I’d also like to remind you that when I had bad times here the club stood by me. All my staff stood by me, the players stood by me, you stood by me, and your job now is to stand by our new manager. That isimportant.”

True to type, Ferguson was preaching loyalty to the last.