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| Ferguson to Leave as Manchester United Manager | Ferguson to Leave as Manchester United Manager |
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| LONDON - Manchester United confirmed Wednesday that Alex Ferguson would retire after 26 seasons as manager of the world’s most iconic soccer club, leaving behind a legacy that will be difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to match ever again. | |
| Ferguson has managed Manchester United since 1986, and he will leave after his club won the Premier League this season, dethroning its cross-city rival, Manchester City. The club was knocked out of the Champions League tournament earlier this season. | |
| ‘'The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time,'’ Ferguson said on United’s Web site. | ‘'The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time,'’ Ferguson said on United’s Web site. |
| After Ferguson took over the team in 1986, it went on to win 13 league titles and five Football Association Cups. His one regret was that United only twice won the European Champions League, in 1999 and 2008. | |
| Ferguson is the most successful manager and coach — rolled into one — that the sport has ever seen. ‘'The biggest task in my time?'’ he once said. ‘'Managing change.'’ | |
Rob | A volatile man, given to outbursts inside and outside his Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, he had built and ruthlessly rebuilt his squad of players, always giving youth its chance, aware of the value of experienced players, yet above all else he driven by a simple goal: Winning. |
| Ferguson, knighted in the British custom for outstanding service to his ‘'industry,'’ is 71. He faces hip surgery when this season is done. He will go out at the top of the English league, having steered a less-than-stellar team to the title he seemed to win perennially. | |
| Who replaces him has been subject of much conjecture. It could be José Mourinho, the simmering Portuguese coach who wants to leave Real Madrid, and now questions will asked if he is headed for Manchester United, though he has most recently been linked to another high-profile English club, Chelsea. One possible successor for Ferguson — possibly his own choice — could be David Moyes, a fellow Scot who coaches another Premier League team, Everton, and is built in Ferguson’s mold. Because Manchester United’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, he will face pressure not just from fans, but investors, and possibly even Ferguson. In a statement, Ferguson said he would continue as both an ambassador and director of the club. | |
| It will be nearly impossible for his successor, whoever it is, to match the tenure of a man who walked into Old Trafford on Nov. 6, 1986. Ferguson almost failed at the start, but then got the club into the shape that he required. He made the club and all its players fiercely competitive, no matter if they were the youngest recruit or a world-class star he purchased from another club. | |
| Ferguson’s 27-year stay as a top manager has no match anywhere in global soccer. One who comes close is Jupp Heynckes, a product of the more stable atmosphere of German soccer, who will lead Bayern Munich to Wembley Stadium for the Champions League final on May 25. Bayern will take on another German Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund. | |
| Heynckes, who is four years younger than Ferguson, led a top club 13 different times in his career in Germany, Spain and Portugal, sometimes in different stints at the same franchise. But Ferguson has moved just once as a top coach, from Aberdeen in his native Scotland to the institution of United, which is valued as the second-most valuable sports franchise on earth by Forbes Magazine at $3.2 billion, just behind Real Madrid. | |
| Founded in 1878 by railway workers, Manchester United has long been England’s most famous team, with 19 league titles to its credit overall. In 2012, it raised $4.3 billion in a public offering for its stock. | |
| In announcing his departure, Ferguson said the team faces a bright future. | |
| “It was important to me to leave an organization in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so,” he said in the statement. “The quality of this league winning squad, and the balance of ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level whilst the structure of the youth set up will ensure that the long-term future of the club remains a bright one. | |
| “Going forward, I am delighted to take on the roles of both director and ambassador for the club,” he added. “With these activities, along with my many other interests, I am looking forward to the future.” |