Sir Alex Ferguson agreed to join Spurs and 'shook hands with chairman' before changing his mind

[mawspurs]

Sir Alex Ferguson agreed to join Tottenham Hotspur and even engaged in a handshake with then-Spurs chairman Irving Scholar before changing his mind at the last minute.

Back in 1984, the highly-rated Ferguson was being tracked by a number of clubs following an unprecedented amount of success with Scottish side Aberdeen, including a host of top flight teams from England.

Source: Sports Bible

 

[Chedozie]

Bullet dodged.

 

[Dakes]

Sir Alex Ferguson agreed to join Tottenham Hotspur and even engaged in a handshake with then-Spurs chairman Irving Scholar before changing his mind at the last minute.

Back in 1984, the highly-rated Ferguson was being tracked by a number of clubs following an unprecedented amount of success with Scottish side Aberdeen, including a host of top flight teams from England.

Source: Sports Bible

We eventually got our serial winner from the Scottish League. Better late than never.

 

[timfrancis]

I think Irving Scholar mentioned this in his book.

 

[Roberts84]

It was well known at the time I thought. If he had joined us and played the football Utd did for the first few years when he joined them he would’ve been sacked well before any success came our way

 

[Led's Zeppelin]

It was well known at the time I thought. If he had joined us and played the football Utd did for the first few years when he joined them he would’ve been sacked well before any success came our way

They were on the verge of sacking him too.

I think it was an FA Cup win against Oxford Utd that bought him a bit of time, and the rest is....

 

[WorcesterTHFC]

They were on the verge of sacking him too.

I think it was an FA Cup win against Oxford Utd that bought him a bit of time, and the rest is....

I thought it was a 1990 FA Cup tie against Forest that United just barely managed to win that changed everything for Fergie and his team.

 

[Led's Zeppelin]

I thought it was a 1990 FA Cup tie against Forest that United just barely managed to win that changed everything for Fergie and his team.

You could be right...I'm only going from memory which is hardly 100%


Edit...yes, you're right, it was Forest, not Oxford.

Same difference!

I know the Utd. fans wanted him out and it was widely expected that he'd be gone soon.

 

[carmeldevil]

"Lads, it's Manchester"

 

[TonyK]

Yeah, think it was a late Mark Robins goal against Forest that kept old whisky chops in a job.

 

[Buggsy61]

I was at the game at Old Trafford in 1989 when we won 1-0 (Lineker) and he was close to getting fired then - there were Ferguson out banners and the Stratford End was calling for his head. A very toxic atmosphere.
Who knows what would have happened if he had followed through on his pledge and came to us.

 

[Roberts84]

I thought it was a 1990 FA Cup tie against Forest that United just barely managed to win that changed everything for Fergie and his team.

Mark Robins scored in a 1-0 win I think and it kept fergie in a job

edit: sorry I’ve seen someone else has posted it