Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson recalled that returning to Old Trafford for the first time after brain hemorrhage surgery in 2018 was “terrifying.”
What concerned him was not the match result, but the reaction of the spectators who would welcome him.
Although it was a return to the directors’ box rather than the dugout, the applause that day revealed the history Ferguson and Manchester United had built together.
3-line summary
1. Ferguson feared returning after surgery
2. He attended the Wolverhampton match within 4 months
3. The applause changed the meaning of his return
The First Match After His May 2018 Surgery
Alex Ferguson is a former Manchester United manager from Scotland. According to reports by the BBC and Sky Sports, he underwent emergency surgery for a brain hemorrhage in May 2018 and was admitted to the intensive care unit at Salford Royal Hospital. He said there was a period immediately after the surgery when he was unable to speak.
During speech therapy, Ferguson was given exercises to write down birds, animals, and the names of rivers, and he said this helped his voice return. The memory of being unable to speak even when his grandchildren came to visit him in the hospital remained a particularly frightening moment for him.
Less than 4 months later, he returned to Manchester United’s home ground, Old Trafford. The opponent was Wolverhampton, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. This was not a match in which he returned as manager, but the first occasion after surgery on which he attended a team match.
A Standing Ovation in the Directors’ Box
Ferguson said in a BBC Breakfast interview that he felt uneasy and afraid because he did not know how the spectators would react. His recollection that he “didn’t know what the reaction was going to be” shows that, even for someone who had led the team for many years, appearing in public again after a health crisis was a separate burden.
Before the match began, Ferguson and his wife, Cathy, sat in the directors’ box, and the spectators gave them a standing ovation. Ferguson said his wife had almost been moved to tears. He took the applause as the fans’ recognition of the time he had spent at Manchester United.
Old Trafford is also where many of his major achievements were built. According to the BBC, Ferguson led Manchester United for 26 years, from 1986 to 2013, winning 38 trophies. This record includes 13 Premier League titles and 2 UEFA Champions League titles.
The 21 Matches in the New Book and the Scene of His Return
The BBC reported that Ferguson’s new book, 『Games of My Life』, covers 21 decisive matches from his playing and managerial careers. The matches trace his football life from winning the Glasgow schools’ competition in 1955 to his retirement as a manager in 2013.
The scene of his return to Old Trafford carries a different weight from records of trophies or victories. After experiencing the fear that he might lose his speech, he received the fans’ applause at the home ground of the team he had managed for so long. Sky Sports reported that Ferguson said he had minor injuries but was in relatively good health, and that he continued to attend matches at Old Trafford.
References
- BBC, Sir Alex Ferguson on brain haemorrhage and games that shaped his life
- Sky Sports, Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he was terrified about making Old Trafford return
Tags #AlexFerguson #Ferguson #ManchesterUnited #ManUnited #OldTrafford #BrainHemorrhage #FootballManager #PremierLeague #Wolverhampton #StandingOvation #BBC #SkySports