I have been pondering over this piece for hours. Given that
this, football’s greatest managerial reign, was always going to reach an end,
you could say I have been thinking about it for years.
I have deliberated how I should best express my shock, describing
my sadness at the news and fears surrounding the future progress of the club.
The most fitting moments I should choose when reminiscing over his 27 years of
service that has seen him transform Manchester United from a team locked in
mid-table uncertainty to the most successful British team ever and a globally
recognisable brand.
I wanted to touch upon the changes that have occurred in
football over the last 27 years and how there has been only one manager to see
it, and succeeded through it, all. From all the icons that have graced, and
departed, the Theatre of Dreams, to the vast number of managers our rivals have
recruited during that time. Since 1986 there have been 24 Real Madrid, 18
Chelsea, 14 City and 13 Milan managers. At Manchester United, only one.
I wanted to discuss his impact that has seen so many of his
former players excel as managers themselves and the thousands of words of
admiration exclaimed by his peers throughout the decades. His seemingly
endless, astonishing ability to build winning team after winning team in the
face of adversity and through the threat of financial domination by rival
clubs. The nurturer of talent, the father-figure of the ‘fledglings’. The
mentor. The game changer. The master.
There really are no words fitting, no expressions worthy of
the man and the mark he has left on the game we love. In a world where the
sports media has a knack of trivialising the impact of an individual with the
flippant overuse of superlatives, terms like ‘legend’ seem almost embarrassing
to use in this case. There is simply nothing that will meaningfully describe
and embrace the magnitude of this man’s achievements.
As a 27 year old, born month’s before he joined the club, I
have lived only a life with him at the helms. From having my entire existence
defined by moments he and his United have influenced, I am now faced with the
abrupt realisation that his domineering presence at United will be no more.
I have admired Cantona, watched Giggs, Beckham et al blossom,
celebrated the Treble, proudly described Ronlaldo as my player and witnessed United knocking Liverpool off their perch.
The man behind every glorious memory has been ever-present. And now he is going.
And there is nothing more to say.
Sir Alex Ferguson. Thank you for the memories.
