Ferguson reveals he wept alone in his office after telling United players he was retiring

Sir Alex Ferguson retreated to his office at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground on 8 May 2013 and wept after telling his players and staff he was stepping down as manager. The disclosure comes in his new book, Games of My Life, in which the 84-year-old also reflects on the brain haemorrhage he suffered in 2018.

Ferguson writes that he had managed to hold himself together while delivering the news to his coaching staff and squad, but the moment he closed the office door, the weight of the decision overwhelmed him. “I just sat at my desk and cried,” he writes. “I knew then it was over. I’d not be taking this team to Wembley or to European games and I’d not be sending a team out to win a cup or a league.”

The decision to retire had been building since October 2012, when Bridget, the sister of his wife Cathy, passed away. Ferguson writes that the bereavement was a “hammer blow” for Cathy, describing the bond between the two sisters as the closest he had ever witnessed between siblings. Until that point, he had been in good health and still felt energised by the job, having already been persuaded to stay on once before — in 2002, when his family talked him out of an earlier retirement plan.

Ferguson also reveals that he had kept his plans tightly guarded. Even former United chief executive David Gill was unaware until he visited Ferguson one Sunday afternoon in February 2013 to share his own intention to leave the club. The two men’s departures, it turned out, would be announced together.

Four days after informing the squad, Ferguson took charge of his final home match at Old Trafford, a league fixture against Swansea City. He recalls sitting in the dressing room with masseur Rod Thornley during the pre-match warm-up — normally the quietest moment of his matchday routine — and being struck by the thought that he would never experience it again.

Ferguson managed United for nearly 27 years, winning 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups and two Champions League trophies. The largest stand at Old Trafford bears his name.