London
(CNN) -- English soccer's most successful manager --
Manchester United's Alex Ferguson -- is retiring at the end of the
season after more than a quarter of a century at the helm, the club
announced Wednesday.
The 71-year-old Scot has managed the English club, which
is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has millions of fans
around the world, since 1986.
During his 26 years in charge, Ferguson -- a supporter of
Britain's Labour Party who's renowned for dressing down players
with the "hairdryer treatment" -- has won more than 30 trophies,
including 13 league championships.
Ferguson will bow out after the club's last game of the
season, an away match against West Bromwich Albion, on May 19,
according to a statement from Manchester United.
Watch: Alex Ferguson's legacy
Before then he will have one more home game at Old
Trafford Sunday, against Swansea City.
It's not clear who Manchester United will choose to
replace him. Ferguson will join the club's board as a director and
"ambassador," Manchester United said.
"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.
"It was important to me to leave an organization in the
strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so."
The quality of the team, the balance of the players' ages
and its upcoming youth squad will contribute to its continued
"success at the highest level" and "ensure that the long-term
future of the club remains a bright one."
Ferguson paid tribute to the club's "players and staff,
past and present," thanking them "for a staggering level of
professional conduct and dedication that has helped to deliver so
many memorable triumphs. Without their contribution the history of
this great club would not be as rich."
He also expressed gratitude to his family and the club's
many supporters, at home and abroad.
Many fans took to Twitter to voice their appreciation,
using the handle #thankyousiralex. He was knighted by the queen
more than a decade ago for his services to the game.
'Extraordinary
success'
Gavin Hamilton, editor of World Soccer magazine, told CNN
he considered Ferguson to be unsurpassed as a manager in his
time.
"In the modern era, where's he's dealt with the players on
huge salaries and the corporate world that is now football, he has
had extraordinary success," he said.
"He's tough and uncompromising and, I think, completely
dedicated to being a winner."
Whoever takes over at Old Trafford has a hard act to
follow, Hamilton said -- but Manchester United will have been
planning carefully for this moment.
"There will definitely be someone in place, I think -- the
big question now is who that person will be because it's been kept
a secret from everyone until now," he said.
Whoever it will be has a daunting, if exciting, prospect
ahead.
"It's the largest football club in the world, it's the
biggest management job in the world, and on top of that is the task
of following the most successful manager in the club's history,"
said Hamilton.
Bookmakers are already taking bets on who will fill
Ferguson's shoes.
Names at the top of the list include Portuguese manager
Jose Mourinho, formerly of Chelsea and currently at Real Madrid,
and Everton manager David Moyes.
Other names in the mix include Borussia Dortmund manager
Jurgen Klopp, Michael Laudrup of Swansea City and former Manchester
United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, currently managing Norwegian
team Molde.
Health
concerns?
Fans' thoughts are bound to turn quickly to the 2013-2014
season, starting in September, as Manchester United prepares to
defend its domestic title and attempt another win in Europe.
As recently as last week, Ferguson suggested that he was
fully involved in those future plans, promising the club would be
"competitive" in the summer transfer market.
Speaking to Inside United, the club's official magazine,
Ferguson said: "Hopefully the players we bring into the club in the
next year or so will be of the quality we need."
Manchester United coasted to this year's English Premier
League title with a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa in April, with
four games in hand.
Ferguson is due to undergo hip surgery this summer,
according to UK media reports, but it's not clear how much of a
role health concerns have played in his decision to stand down.
"I think retirement's for young people because you can do
something else. When you get to my age, if your health is good, you
like to work," he told CNN in a 2010 interview.
Sports writer Mihir Bose said he was surprised by the
timing of Ferguson's decision, despite his upcoming surgery, saying
he had expected him to carry on as manager for another couple of
years.
Ferguson -- who was seen as a kind of father figure by
some of the young players he developed -- had "that ability to
reach out to people," said Bose, but he was also a skilled
political operator.
"He could be delightful but he was a man who made sure
that he controlled the agenda," he told CNN. "If you crossed his
path he made it very clear that he controlled everything at
Manchester United."
Those who got the famous "hairdryer treatment" -- loud
shouting directly in someone's face -- included many sports
journalists over the years. Ferguson would also refuse to speak to
reporters if he didn't like what they said.
Despite that thorny relationship, Ferguson will be
remembered as an iconic figure in English football history, said
Bose. The big challenge now is how Manchester United will manage
the transition to ensure continued success, he added.
'A sad
day'
Former Manchester United and Denmark goalkeeper Peter
Schmeichel told CNN he was still trying to make sense of the
news.
"It is a sad day. I'm shocked, I'm sad, I'm disappointed.
It's a day I think everyone who loves Manchester United, everyone
who's worked with Sir Alex -- it's a day that we've been expecting,
but I have to be honest I didn't think it would be now -- I thought
it would be a couple of years down the line."
Schmeichel said he was certain that Ferguson had not been
forced out but had made the decision himself, given his record of
success and changes already happening on the club's board this
summer.
He paid tribute to Ferguson's knowledge, skills and
philosophy as a manager, particularly his ability to bring on young
players.
Internationally known footballers like David Beckham, Ryan
Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Nicky Butt were all created
by Ferguson, Schmeichel said.
"He is the best manager in the world and he's the best guy
as well. He's a really good friend as well."
Ferguson's talent has been in managing players
individually rather than as a group, Schmeichel said.
"The end result is that everyone plays really well for the
team," Schmeichel said. "Yes, he can be hard, he can be tough ...
In a way he becomes your second dad. He has to educate you in life,
he has to prepare you for what comes next in life after
football."
Huge
revenues
The Old Trafford club is owned by the American Glazer
family, who oversaw the club's listing on the New York Stock
Exchange last August.
For the 2011-2012 season, United increased revenues by
£14.2 million to £117.6 million, the highest of any club in the
Premier League.
"Alex has proven time and time again what a fantastic
manager he is but he's also a wonderful person. His determination
to succeed and dedication to the Club have been truly remarkable,"
Joel Glazer said.
David Gill, who will step down as chief executive of
Manchester United in June, said it had been a "tremendous pleasure"
to work alongside Ferguson over the past 16 years.
"We knew that his retirement would come one day and we
both have been planning for it by ensuring the quality of the squad
and club structures are in first class condition," he said.
"Alex's vision, energy and ability have built teams --
both on and off the pitch -- that his successor can count on as
among the best and most loyal in world sport."
Ferguson began his career on the soccer pitch, playing for
Scottish clubs Queen's Park, St Johnstone, Dunfermline, Glasgow
Rangers, Falkirk and Ayr United.
But it was when he returned to the game as a manager,
working at East Stirlingshire, St Mirren and then Aberdeen that
people really began to take notice.
He led Aberdeen to three Scottish titles, four Scottish
cups, one League Cup and one European Cup Winners' Cup before
moving to Manchester United in November 1986 following the
dismissal of former manager Ron Atkinson.
It didn't take long for the Scotsman to start turning
things round at a club that was then near the bottom of the
league.
Since then, Ferguson has dominated the English game -- his
string of victories making him, according to the Manchester United
website, "the most successful manager in British football
history."
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/08/sport/football/uk-manchester-united-ferguson/index.html