Sir Alex Ferguson

Alex Ferguson (full name: Alexander Chapman Ferguson) was born in Govan, Glasgow on 31 December 1941. Sir Alex Ferguson has had huge success as manager of Manchester United and was knighted in 1999.His playing career started at Queen's Park in 1958 and included spells for St Johnstone, Dunfermline, Rangers, Falkirk and Aberdeen.Before managing Manchester United he very briefly took the helm at East Sterlingshire in 1974 and then managed St Mirren before moving on to a succesful stint at Aberdeen from 1978 to 1986 which included winning the European Cup Winners Cup with a victory in the final against Real Madrid in the 1982-3 season.Ferguson was briefly in charge of the Scottish national side for ten games including the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He then joined Manchester United where he has been at the helm ever since.An avid horseracing fan Alex Ferguson enjoyed a record-breaking seven Group 1 victories with Rock Of Gibraltar, whom he owned in partnership with Sue Magnier, the wife of significant Manchester United shareholder, John Magnier.However, a long-running ownership dispute linked to stud rights arose between Ferguson and Magnier's Coolmore Stud.The experience did not diminish Ferguson's love of racing. He had a share in Gatwick, who won three valuable handicaps in 2004. Fergsuson also had an interest in horses trained by Ed Dunlop and an involvement with Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, and in 2005 he had his first horse with Mark Johnston, Against The Grain.Apart from horseracing Alex Ferguson's hobbies include golf and snooker.Sir Alex Ferguson has written an autobiography called Managing My Life.