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A 10 match winning start was considered as good as a title. But then fortunes swiveled and United slumped to fourth position. Even in those days the manager was sacked for bad performance, something that I despise even today. Ron Atkinson was headed for the trial room and Ferguson’s name was in the lottery to succeed him at one of the most illustrious clubs in the world. Ferguson finally took over in November and managed to finish that season as 11^th. He was already used to winning ways with taking Aberdeen out of nowhere to European glory against Real Madrid and expectations were high at the theatre of dreams.

Managing to dish out some discipline at the club on his arrival, Fergie started out on his mission to rebuild from the next season. Players like Steve Bruce and Brian McClair were signed and they turned out to be superstars. The performances on the pitch changed and they finished 1987-88 in second place, behind Liverpool. Next season was not as happy, with United finishing 11^th again and crashing out of the FA Cup against then big-guns Nottingham Forest. The worst was yet to come. 1989 was called by Ferguson himself as the “darkest period in his career”. Even though Paul Ince and Pallister were signed for a lot of money, success was short-lived and Ferguson was about to be sacked unless he won against Forest in the FA Cup. In the dying minutes of the match, an unknown Mark Robins rose high and bundled in a header to make it 1-0 for United. They met Palace in the finals and won it over 2 legs, giving Fergie his first trophy at United. And well, Ferguson lived on.

Trophies were coming at a fast pace. The European Super Cup and League Cup followed, but the one the fans wanted was the League Title. Fergie lost out to Blackburn Rovers in the race for Alan Shearer and United were in 10^th position in November of 1992. January saw him sign the ultimate legend. Eric Cantona, a loose cannon from Leeds United. He quickly forged a partnership with Mark Hughes, who had made a U-Turn to United after a stint at Barcelona. I should remind you that it the league had undergone reform and was now the Premier League. At the end of the season, United had a 10 point lead over Aston Villa and Ferguson handed the club what they were yearning for 26 years, the title of league champions.

Another title and the FA Cup followed in the 1993-94 season and so did the emergence of Roy Keane. Cantona, undoubtedly was the catalyst, with 25 goals in all competitions. He was then banned in the next season for the famous ‘kung-fu’ attack on a Crystal Palace supporter. No trophies came in that season due to last day losses, even though Andy Cole was signed to provide cover for Cantona. The 95’ season saw stars like Paul Ince and Mark Hughes sold, but the brighter side was the emergence of ‘Fergie’s Fledglings’, the group of Gary and Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs and of course, David Beckham. Alan Hansen famously declared on TV, “You can’t win anything with kids.” He had to eat his hat at the end of the season, with United doing another league and cup double.

Titles were now regular with the 96-97’ season also seeing United as champions. They also reached the semis of the Champions League. At the end of the season, Cantona, by then an absolute legend, suddenly retired from the game. 1997-98 saw the emergence of Ferguson’s most high profile rival, Arsene Wenger, who won the title with Arsenal.

1998-99: A season no United fan would ever forget. The fledglings were rising towards superstardom and this season confirmed that status. Jaap Stam, Blomqvist and Yorke joined the reds and they went on to win the league, cup and Champions League to record the first treble. Highly breath-taking encounters were part of this season, the highlight matches being the 3-2 win against Juventus, the penalty save by Schmeichel in the last minute against Arsenal which was followed by Giggs’ most memorable goal of his career and of course the 2-1 victory against Bayern Munich when they scored twice after 90 minutes courtesy Sheringham and Solksjaer.

The new millennium brought a hat-trick of titles and a man named Ruud van Nistelrooy. Millions of pounds were splashed and United were winning almost everything until the arrival of Jose Mourinho to Chelsea. This brief spell was followed by another hat-trick of titles in 2006, 2007 and 2008. ‘The lad called Ronaldo’ is also an unforgettable player who became a megastar in those years, which also included a win against Chelsea in the Champions League.

An unbelievable career still continues at a club he almost left, only to be coaxed out of retirement by his wife. 11 league titles, 2 European Cups and numerous other trophies including FA Cups, League Cups and the Club World Cup make Ferguson the emperor of Old Trafford and the greatest manager to ever live.