THE
STORY OF
MAn UTDn the wake of Ron Atkinson’s departure in 1986 Manchester
United were only ever interested in one manager to succeed
him: Alex Ferguson.
Over the previous two decades United had often failed to
secure their first choice candidate for the dugout and had
been forced to compromise, but in the autumn of 1986 they
were determined to draw Ferguson away from Aberdeen to
become their new manager.
At Pittodrie, Ferguson had spectacularly broken the
Glaswegian monopoly of Scottish football, winning three
Scottish titles, four Scottish Cups, one Scottish League Cup
and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983 after beating
Real Madrid in the final.
“My thinking was: If he can do that at Aberdeen, what
can he achieve at Manchester United?” said the club’s
chairman Martin Edwards. “He was young and ambitious
and had a reputation for being a strong manager. You could
see his fire and enthusiasm.”
Ferguson had already turned down approaches from Rangers,
Arsenal and Tottenham, but he could not resist the allure of United
when they made contact and met him on Guy Fawkes Day in 1986.
“When the opportunity came to join Manchester United I could no
longer stay in my safe house in Aberdeen,” Ferguson has said. “I felt I
had not achieved enough, and once you stop striving in football it’s
time to chuck it all in, and so I was ready.”
Ferguson walked in to a struggling club stranded in the relegation
zone and already out of the League Cup after an embarrassing 4-1
defeat to Southampton in the third round. He also had to contend
with a disjointed squad of players, with too many of them not fit
enough, not committed enough, or simply not good enough.I
Right United
chairman
Martin Edwards
and Alex
Ferguson
announce the
signings of Viv
Anderson and
Brian McClair in
July 198738 The Story of Man Utd FourFourTwo.com