Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed in his first extensive interview in years that he misses life as a football manager.
The iconic manager, 82, retired at the end of the 2012-13 season after leading Manchester United to their 13th Premier League title in what was his 27th year at the club.
Since his departure, United have struggled to find success, with Manchester City dominating the past decade.
In his first major interview in years, Ferguson spoke to BBC Breakfast about life after retirement.
When asked what life was like, he replied, “Well yeah, I’ve been retired for 11 years now, so you have to find a way to adapt.”
Manchester United icon Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted he misses life as a manager
Ferguson retired after winning his 13th Premier League title in the 2012–13 season
Ferguson still attends Manchester United games and has been seen at a number of European finals, admitting that these are games he can identify with.
Ferguson said he kept himself out of trouble and when asked if he missed life as a manager, he replied: ‘Yes, I do miss it sometimes.’
‘I think the first year after I retired I went to the European final and said to Cathy, ‘This is what I miss’ – the big games, the European games.
‘I went to most of the European finals then because I found something there that I could identify with, something that I would like to do every day.
‘Because these are the big events that United always has to be involved in.’
Ferguson has played in the Champions League final for the past ten years, even though the Red Devils never reached that stage of the competition.
During his time as manager at Old Trafford, United won the Champions League as part of their iconic Treble in 1999 and again in 2008.
United also reached the final in 2009 and 2011, but lost both times to Pep Guardiola’s legendary Barcelona.
Ferguson continues to attend Manchester United matches regularly, both home and away, to this day and has had a stand named after him at Old Trafford since 2011.
Ferguson is regarded by many as the greatest manager of all time after his incredible success
Ferguson has watched Pep Guardiola’s Man City take charge since his departure
He also has a statue outside the stadium, which was unveiled by his late wife Cathy.
Cathy, who Sir Alex described as his “pillar of strength”, died last October at the age of 84.
Sir Alex suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2018, after which he underwent successful emergency surgery at Salford Royal Hospital.
Ferguson also spoke to BBC Breakfast as part of National Playlist Day, which celebrates the power of personalized music playlists for people with dementia.
He said of himself: ‘Luckily I have a good memory. Pray to the Lord and knock on wood, and it will remain that way.’
Ferguson played at Old Trafford for 27 years, having previously coached a number of teams in Scotland including Aberdeen, St Mirren and the national team.
He added: ‘I read a lot, I do quizzes and I think that helps. There are YouTube quizzes with 100 questions and if I don’t get 70 percent then I struggle.’
To this day, United have struggled to replace Ferguson, with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick coming and going since the Scot’s departure.
Erik ten Hag narrowly kept his job thanks to the FA Cup final win over Manchester City, but the pressure is still on as new owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS do everything they can to turn things around and return United to their glory days.
