Alex Ferguson: A Leader who Inspired Performance

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Excerpts

About Manchester United MUFC was founded by the employees of Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club. The team initially played with other teams from the company and other local teams. In 1886, the team won the Manchester Cup . In 1889, LYR, which stood for Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, was dropped from the name of the club. In 1892, the club became part of the first division...

The MUFC board considered several candidates for the post of team manager and finally decided on Ferguson. One of the board members said, "There might have been a few names mentioned - probably just whoever was popular at the time - but none of them was seriously considered, it was a unanimous decision from the board to go for Alex Ferguson. He was absolutely the preferred choice of all of us." But MUFC was not sure whether chairman of Aberdeen, Dick Donald (Donald), would let Ferguson go. When some MUFC board members met Ferguson and asked him to join the club, he was ready to accept the offer. He said that he had a deal with Aberdeen that he could leave it if he received an offer from MUFC...

In the first match, with Ferguson as the manager, the team lost 2-0 to Oxford United. In the first season under Ferguson, the club finished in the 11th position in the league. Undaunted, he slowly brought about changes in the club. Ferguson started a strict training regimen, and controlled the diet of the players. He instilled discipline among the players. In the next season, several new players like Brian McClair, Viv Anderson, Jim Leighton, and Steve Bruce were inducted into the team...

Motivator
Throughout his managerial career, Ferguson motivated players, to bring out the best in them, and to help inculcate a winning mentality in them. He treated the players as his greatest assets and even tried to solve their personal problems so that the players would be able to give one hundred percent for the team...

Supportive and Considerate
Ferguson supported the players when they faced difficult times and never spoke ill of them in public or to the media. Though he was said to be short tempered, his outbursts were limited to the dressing room. At public forums and with the media, he stood up for his players and defended their actions...

Ferguson was also infamous for his angry outbursts and was nicknamed 'Furious Fergie'. Many a time if the team was not playing properly, Ferguson, threw teacups and tea urns at the players during half time. According to Neale Cooper, “We were 2-0 down at half-time and we were all petrified going into the changing room because we knew what was coming, He took a swing at this tea urn...

Exhibit I: The Football League in England
Exhibit II: The Football League in Europe
Exhibit III: Top 10 Football Clubs in Europe
Exhibit IV: Titles Won by Manchester United with Ferguson as The Manager
Exhibit V: Young Talent at MUFC under Ferguson

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