Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed how the
course of English football could have been changed – had he
accepted an offer to manage Arsenal.
Ferguson, then at Aberdeen, was approached by the north London
club as the potential successor to Don Howe in the summer of 1986.
Ferguson was coaching Scotland at the World Cup in Mexico at that
point and regards only a delay in his decision as putting an end to
the move.
The Manchester United manager has spoken
for the first time about the affair in Rangers' match programme for
their Tuesday night meeting with Dundee United. The game marks
Walter Smith's last at Ibrox as the Rangers manager; Ferguson
wanted Smith to assist him had he accepted Arsenal's advances.
"I was offered the Arsenal job and I wanted to take Walter with
me," Ferguson said. "I had got to know Walter well by that stage
and when I took over the Scotland job in 1985 when Jock Stein sadly
passed away I made Walter my assistant with the national team.
"I thought I would sound him out when we were on Scotland duty
together. We were going to play in Israel and I didn't know that
Walter was going to Rangers at that time. So while we were in Tel
Aviv I told him that I had been offered the chance to go to Arsenal
and I asked what he thought."
As it transpired, Smith was to move to Ibrox, initially as the
assistant to Graeme Souness. Ferguson said: "He [Smith] was
positive about it [Arsenal], saying they were a big club and that
kind of thing.
"So I said to him: 'Do you fancy coming with me?' Then he
dropped the bombshell that he was going to Rangers. I said: 'When
did this happen?' and he told me it was a long story but he would
fill me in later.
"Of course I later learned that Graeme Souness had been lined up
to take over and Walter was going to Ibrox with him.
"The thing about the Arsenal offer was that they wanted an
answer right away but I couldn't give them one because I was going
to the World Cup in Mexico with Scotland. So the Arsenal thing fell
by the wayside. Walter went to Rangers and then later that year I
went to Manchester United."
Ferguson explained that he had aspirations of moving south at
the time of Arsenal's approach, after a highly successful time in
Aberdeen.
"I had started to get itchy feet," he said. "I felt I had
achieved everything I could with Aberdeen. I was a young man and I
felt the challenge of England would be good for me.
"Of course I was offered the Rangers job in 1983 but I just felt
having done so well with Aberdeen and having such a great
relationship with the chairman, Dick Donald, and vice-chairman,
Chris Anderson, it would have been a kick in the teeth to them to
go to Rangers.
"So I felt the best thing would be to go to England and I always
remember Dick Donald telling me that the only club that would
satisfy me was Manchester United. Amazingly I was there five or six
months later and I had no inkling about it."
Ferguson and Smith were to be united in 2004, when the latter
assisted the former for a spell at Old Trafford. At that time
Carlos Queiroz had left United for Real Madrid but was to return
for the start of the following season.
"I knew I was going to be bringing Carlos back because he was
having a hard time at [Real] Madrid," Ferguson said. "I explained
this to Walter in the January but I felt I needed someone in that
run-in, someone I could depend on.
"I went to Glasgow to see him and he was delighted because he
wanted to work. He did a smashing job and the players loved him
and, of course, we won the FA Cup that year."