Fergie Rises
How Britain's Greatest Football Manager Was Made at Aberdeen
When Sir Alex Ferguson retired at the end of the 2013 season he was the most successful football manager Britain had ever seen, having won twice as many trophies as his nearest rival. But that success had not come easily. Thirty-five years previously he had arrived at the rain-swept training ground at Aberdeen F.C. as the recently sacked manager of St Mirren. Already a divisive figure, this Alex Ferguson came with a reputation for trouble and a lot still to prove. Not for nothing, many thought he was a risky choice.
Fergie Rises returns to a time when Ferguson was lucky to get Aberdeen, not the other way around. It's the story of an eight-year revolution that saw the Dons and their ambitious young manager knock the Old Firm off their perch, taste victory in Europe for the first time, and electrify Scottish football. When Ferguson finally left the club for Manchester United, in 1986, fans and rivals were unanimous in believing he had engineered one of the most astonishing upheavals in the game’s history.
The author also examines the personal tragedies Ferguson overcame — the deaths of his father and his mentor Jock Stein — and the rivalries, setbacks and triumphs that shaped a sporting genius.
Michael Grant is chief football writer for The Times in Scotland and has written about the game since the 1980s, covering three World Cups and three European Championships. A former chief football writer for The Herald, he is a regular presenter and guest on BBC radio. As an Aberdeen supporter from childhood, he lived through the astonishing transformation of that club during Alex Ferguson's years as manager.
