Coaching Icons: Sir Alex Ferguson Quiz

Answer: East Stirlingshire

East Stirlingshire gave Ferguson his first route into management in June 1974. The club was in serious difficulty when it appointed Ferguson, sitting in Scotland's second tier with no goalkeepers and no money. St Mirren convinced Ferguson to join them in October 1974 and by 1977 the club had moved from Scotland's Division Two to the top of Division One, with a team whose average was 19. Ferguson was sacked in 1978 as a result of falling out with the club's directors.

Fergie never managed Ayr, but he did play for them in the last season of his playing career, scoring nine goals in 24 appearances. Ferguson spent the first three years of his playing career at Queen's Park, netting 15 times in 31 games.

Answer: 3

Fergie's first league title win with the club came in 1980, when the Dons beat Celtic to the title by one point. Then, in 1984, the club won the league again, beating Celtic to the title by seven points. In 1985, the Dons won a third title under Ferguson's guidance, losing just four games in the league throughout the campaign.

Answer: 11th

Manchester United were 21st (out of 22 teams) when Ferguson first arrived. The team had some experienced players such as Norman Whiteside and Bryan Robson, but the players had poor fitness levels. While Fergie lost his first game against Oxford United, results eventually picked up for the new boss and the team managed a mid-table finish. Amongst the team's best performances that season were a win against arch-rivals Liverpool at Anfield and a home victory against Newcastle United.

Answer: 1990 FA Cup

There was genuine discontent amongst the United fanbase when the team finished 11th in 1988-89, Ferguson's third season in charge. United reached the 1990 FA Cup Final after winning a replay with Oldham Athletic by a 2-1 scoreline. United also needed a replay in the final, eventually defeating Crystal Palace 1-0 due to Lee Martin's goal. Journalists and the media believed Fergie would be sacked if he failed to deliver a trophy in his third full season, although the board at the time dismissed any idea that Ferguson's job was in danger.

United then won the 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup, but most of the dissenting voices had disappeared at that stage. Nottingham Forest won the 1989 League Cup while Leeds United won the First Division in 1992.

Answer: 1967

After a slow start to the 1992-93 season, the team was galvanised by the arrival of forward Eric Cantona from Leeds United. After a late victory against Sheffield Wednesday in April 1993, the team reached the top of the Premier League table where they would remain until the end of the season. Eventually, Ferguson's side finished ten points clear of second-placed Aston Villa and the club had won its first league title since Sir Matt Busby led United to the 1966-67 championship.

Answer: Borussia Dortmund

Dortmund beat United 1-0 in both legs en route to winning the tournament. Juventus were the beaten finalists, losing 3-1 in the final. Monaco knocked United out in the quarter-finals of the 1997-98 Champions League. Barcelona pipped United to a qualification spot in the group stage of the 1994-95 campaign.

Answer: Andy Cole

United were 2-0 down, but a legendary comeback saw them win the tie. Keane's performance in the second leg is considered one of the all-time greatest Champions League performances and his header brought the score to 2-1. Yorke scored the game's equaliser before Cole's 84th minute strike sealed victory for Sir Alex's side. Solskjaer only scored once in the knockout stages that year, netting the 93rd minute winner in the final against Bayern Munich.

Answer: Selling Jaap Stam

Stam spent three seasons at Manchester United, joining from PSV in 1998. He won Premier League titles in 1999, 2000 and 2001 and played a large role in each team. Stam joined Lazio in 2001, with Ferguson saying at the time that he "couldn't refuse" Lazio's financial offer. Ferguson has dismissed claims that he sold Stam as revenge for comments that Stam made regarding United's approach to sign him back when he was at PSV.

Fergie's relationship with the club's board hit an all-time low in 2001, with Fergie concerned that the board was not doing enough to push for another Champions League victory. Fergie acknowledged that his threats of retirement hurt the team during a trophy-less 2001-02 campaign. Veron cost United a British record fee in 2001 but left for Chelsea just two years later after failing to impress at Old Trafford. Keane left the club by mutual consent in November 2005 after a series of rows with Ferguson, but Fergie wished Keane the best in a statement release after Keane left the club.

Answer: Ronaldinho

The summer transfer window in 2003 was a chaotic one. United lost star player David Beckham to Real Madrid and Ferguson tried to replace him with PSG star Ronaldinho. The Brazilian superstar said that the move was "48 hours" away from completion, but he had previously promised Spanish businessman Sandro Rosell that he would sign for Barcelona if Rosell won the Catalan club's presidential election. Rosell did win, and Fergie lost out on his man.

Ferguson also tried to sign Ronaldo Nazario, colloquially known as Brazilian Ronaldo (due to his Portuguese counterpart), but this had taken place in 1994 when he was still in his homeland playing for Cruzeiro.

Answer: November 2004

Ferguson's 1000th game at United came on 23 November 2004 in a Champions League group stage game against Lyon. Ferguson's team won 2-1 on the night.

Answer: Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo established himself as arguably the world's best player during his tenure at Manchester United (2003-09). Ronaldo scored 17 goals in 2006-07, with only Chelsea's Didier Drogba (20) and Blackburn Rovers' Benni McCarthy (18) scoring more.

Answer: Wigan Athletic

United won 2-0 at Wigan's JJB Stadium on the final day to win the league title, scoring 87 points in total. A Ronaldo penalty and a Giggs second half finish sealed the trophy for Fergie's men. Ronaldo's 31 goals in the 2007-08 season tied the Premier League record for most goals in a 38-game season, matching Alan Shearer's effort in the 1995-96 campaign.

Answer: Edwin van der Sar

van der Sar's selection by UEFA was controversial as Ronaldo had won the Fans' Man of the Match award. He conceded the only shot Chelsea had on target in the game. However, he had some big moments including a brilliant one-handed save to deny a Rio Ferdinand own goal, also saving a penalty from Chelsea forward Nicolas Anelka to clinch the title for Ferguson's side.

Ronaldo scored United's goal but also missed in the shootout. Vidic and the United defence kept Chelsea quiet for most of the night. Scholes was promised a place in the team after missing the 1999 final against Bayern Munich through suspension, and played 87 minutes before Ryan Giggs took his place.

Answer: LDU Quito

Ecuadorian side LDU Quito made a good impression during the tournament, defeating Mexican club Pachuca in the semi-finals of the competition. United won the final 1-0 courtesy of a Wayne Rooney goal. Gamba Osaka also put up a fight against the European champions, losing out 5-3 to Ferguson's team in the other semi-final. Corinthians did not participate in the tournament, but did win the 2000 and 2012 editions of the competition.

Answer: Antonio Valencia

Valencia caused problems for the Villa defence all game with runs down the right-hand side and impeccable delivery on crosses, assisting Wayne Rooney's winner. Owen also played a key role in bringing the title to Old Trafford, capitalising on a mistake from Villa captain Richard Dunne to equalise in the 12th minute. Park played 85 minutes before being replaced by Darron Gibson. Carrick and Park were a solid midfield combination for Ferguson's side in the final.

Answer: 89

The title race in 2011-12 is considered one of the finest in the history of the Premier League. Both City and United scored 89 points, but City sealed the title with two stoppage time goals against QPR on the final day to win the title under United's noses. 89 was a new points record for a Premier League runner-up, beating United's old record of 88 in 1994-95, when the team narrowly missed out to Blackburn Rovers. Liverpool broke this record by accumulating a 97 point total in 2018-19, missing out by one point to Manchester City.

Answer: To stand by the new manager

Ferguson was referring to David Moyes, who had been the manager of Everton since 2002. Moyes had been announced as Ferguson's successor three days earlier. Ferguson had earned great respect for Moyes, who had made Everton a consistent top 8 Premier League club on a shoestring budget. Even when Moyes failed at Old Trafford, Ferguson said that his fellow Scot had been "unfortunate".

Answer: 2002

Ferguson was one of the original inductees into the English Football Hall of Fame upon its creation in 2002. He was one of just six coaches to be inducted that year, alongside his fellow Scots Sir Matt Busby and Bill Shankly. English coaches Sir Alf Ramsey, Brian Clough and Bob Paisley were also inducted in the original ballot.

Answer: 58

Sir Alex won 1253 of his 2155 games in management, a percentage of 58.1%. His record at Manchester United was closer to 60%, ending up on 59.7% when he retired in 2013. His weakest percentage came in his brief spell as Scotland manager, winning just three of his ten games between 1985 and 1986.

Answer: 50

The majority of Ferguson's silverware came at Manchester United, where he won an incredible 38 trophies. This included thirteen Premier League titles, ten Community Shield trophies, five FA Cups, four League Cups, two Champions Leagues, a European Cup Winners' Cup medal, the 1991 European Super Cup, the 1999 Intercontinental Cup and the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup.

He won eleven trophies at Aberdeen. This included three Scottish league championships, four Scottish Cups, a Scottish League Cup, the 1980 Drybrough Cup, the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup and the 1983 European Super Cup.

He also won a Scottish league title with St Mirren in 1977.