Page 107 - Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

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FROM the moment Manchester United became a Plc in 1990, I was certain the club would be bought and
taken into private ownership. Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB were the largest of the private bidders before

Malcolm Glazer first took a stake in 2003. With our history and our aura, we were too big a prize to
be ignored by individual investors. The only surprise to me, when the Glazer family moved in to take
control, was that there had not been a host of wealthy suitors.
Once the Glazers had seized their opportunity, Andy Walsh of the United supporters’ group called
me to say: ‘You have to resign.’ Andy’s a nice lad but there was no temptation for me to agree to that
request. I was the manager, not a director. Nor was I one of the shareholders who had sold the club.
The takeover was not down to me in any way.
‘We’ll all be behind you,’ Andy said. My reply was: ‘But what do you think would happen to all

my staff?’ The moment I left, most of my assistants would have been out as well. Some had been with
me for 20 years. The impact made on others when a manager changes his position is sometimes lost
on those outside the circle.
It was a worrying time, I admit. One of my concerns was how much money we might have to invest
in the team. But I had to be confident both in my own ability to spot good players and the structure of

the organisation. The Glazers were buying a good solid club and they understood that from the start.
My first contact was a phone call from the father, Malcolm. Two weeks later his sons Joel and Avi
came over to set out their position. They told me there would be no changes to the way the football
side was run. In their view, the club was in good hands. I was a successful manager. They had no
concerns. They were totally behind me. All the things I wanted to hear from them, I heard that day. I
know there is always an element of window dressing. People tell you everything is fine, then make a
million alterations. People lose their jobs; there are cutbacks because debts need to be repaid. But

United stayed solid under the new ownership, irrespective of the borrowings people talked about and
the interest payments incurred.
Over the years, several supporter groups challenged me to define my stance in relation to the club’s
debts and my answer was always: ‘I’m the manager. I’m working for a club owned by people in
America.’ That was my standpoint. I never thought it sensible to upset the management side of the club
by adding to the debate on models of ownership. If the Glazers had taken a more confrontational path,

then it might have been different – if, for example, they had instructed me to get rid of one of my
coaches. Any changes that might have undermined my ability to run the club would have altered the
whole dynamic, but there was never that kind of pressure. So do you throw down your tools because
some supporters want you to walk away from a lifetime’s work?
When I first joined United, there was a group of supporters known as the Second Board. They
would meet in the Grill Room and decide what they thought was wrong with Manchester United. Back