Page 148 - Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

twenty-three

SHE always waited up for me. Even if I came through the door at two or three in the morning, Cathy
would be there to greet me. ‘Why don’t you go to bed?’ I would say to her over the phone as we
travelled home. ‘No, no,’ she would say, ‘I’ll wait till you get back.’ For 47 years she maintained this
line.
I could go about my work in football knowing family life was completely taken care of. Cathy is a
remarkable person. David Gill was a genius to persuade her to unveil a statue of me at Old Trafford.

There is no way I could have coaxed her into the light like that.
The truth about Cathy is that she has never changed. She’s a mother, a grandmother and a
housewife. That is her life. She doesn’t court friendships. It’s not that she discourages them, more that
she prefers the company of family and a few close friends. She almost never went to the football.
When I married her we would go to dances at weekends, with friends from Glasgow. She was always
comfortable in Glaswegian company. But after our move to United, she wasn’t a social animal at all.

She displayed no inclination to go out on the circuit and I would go to most functions and dinners on
my own.
A house with gates is useful for when Tory politicians come canvassing. Cathy would hear the
local Conservatives announce themselves through the Tannoy and say, ‘Sorry, Mrs Ferguson is out,
I’m the cleaner.’ In all respects she is faithful to her roots.
When I stopped playing at 32 and had pubs in Glasgow and managed St Mirren, my day started at
Love Street, where I would be until 11 o’clock, and then to the pub, until 2.30 p.m. Sometimes I

would go home and sometimes directly to Love Street for training. Then it was back to the pub, then
home.
So the children seldom saw me at that very early age. Cathy brought them up. By the time they
reached manhood, they were closer to me, but have always had the utmost love and respect for their
mum.
Going to Aberdeen was a blessing because I didn’t have the pubs and there was more of a family

life for the five of us. I was there all the time unless we had a game. Darren was a ball boy and Mark
would go to the games with his pals. Cathy would take Jason, who wasn’t hugely interested in
football at this stage.
But at 13 or 14 he took up playing and ended up representing Scotland Boys Club against Wales.
He wasn’t a bad player. He was a late developer who was interested in books. He’s a very clever
boy. When we moved to Old Trafford he stayed in Aberdeen to continue his studies. Then he joined
us in Manchester, where he played for our B team a few times.

Darren was always a natural, with a left foot of great quality. Mark was a very good player who
appeared for Aberdeen reserves a few times. He went to college and polytechnic in Sheffield for a