Sir Alex Ferguson Only Missed THREE Man United Matches In Legendary Managerial Career - And Here Are The Reasons Why

Sir Alex Ferguson only managed to miss three Manchester United matches during his legendary 26-year spell at Old Trafford.

The 80-year-old Scotsman secured an incredible 38-trophy haul at United, which included 13 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues and five FA Cups.

Ferguson, who arrived at United in 1986, managed a staggering 1,312 matches for the Red Devils.

However, the United legend missed one match due to his son’s wedding and another was due to his brother’s wife’s funeral.

The third match that the iconic Scot missed was because of David de Gea, with Ferguson scouting the Spaniard when he played for Atletico Madrid.

Eric Steele recalled two of the United matches Ferguson missed, with the former Red Devils coach saying he was “convinced” that De Gea was the right man to replace Edwin van der Sar.

PA

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“I can only remember Sir Alex Ferguson missing two United matches,” he told The Daily Mail.

“He missed a Manchester derby in 2000 for his son’s wedding. The other time? To scout the brilliant David de Gea.

“I joined United in 2008 and, from that moment, we needed to be ready for the day Edwin van der Sar retired.

“I was convinced that a 19-year-old De Gea was the right man to replace him.

PA

“I showed a three-minute DVD compilation to Sir Alex and then we went to watch him play for Atletico Madrid at Valencia on the night United played Scunthorpe in the League Cup.

“Sir Alex knew he was the right signing inside 65 minutes. David showed composure, concentration and reflexes. He made one terrific save that went through a load of bodies.”

Ferguson mentioned the time he missed a United match due to his brother’s wife’s funeral in his 2015 book, Leading.

The legendary former United manager landed the signing of De Gea from Atletico in 2011 in what is believed to be an £18.9m transfer.

De Gea initially endured a tough start to life in England, but the Spaniard has now spent a decade at United and firmly established himself as the club’s No 1.

Topics: Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United, Premier League, England, Football

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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