Alex Ferguson an Ibrox icon? Strange one that, especially after how he was treated by that club in the aftermath of the 4-0 Scottish Cup loss to Celtic in 1969
Eric Knott 
(Photo by Phil Cole/Getty Images)
The papers have been awash over the last few days with stories of Alex Ferguson visiting the Ibrox training centre at Auchenhowie.
The Record have been keen to point out the support he is offering Russell Martin, alongside Rangers 1872 legend and former teammate of Ferguson’s, John Grieg.
Today, the Record labelled Ferguson as a Rangers 1872 icon.
Which, considering his history at that club, is a strange label to give him.
Look, I understand Ferguson is in his 80’s now, and any major football rivalries and grudges he may have had in the past have long since been put to bed.
Life is too short and all that.
Regardless of what went on at Ibrox in the dark and distant past, its clear he’s maintained his friendship with John Grieg.
But make no mistake, there was a serious, and deeply ingrained grudge when it came to Ferguson’s experiences at Ibrox.
Ferguson was only at Ibrox for two years.
And although he was from Govan, and had hoped to be successful at Ibrox, he gave much more of his career to the likes of Dunfermline Athletic and Falkirk.
When Rangers 1872 lost the 1969 Scottish Cup final to Celtic 4-0, Ferguson was made the scapegoat for that loss.
He was blamed for a goal conceded in the Final.
In that game, he was designated to mark Celtic captain, Billy McNeill.
And when McNeil scored, Ferguson was blamed for the goal.
Ferguson was then subsequently forced to play for the club’s junior side instead of for the first team.
According to his brother, Ferguson was so upset by the experience that he threw his losers’ medal away.
Ultimately, it was what ended his career at Rangers 1872.
But it was clear that the Ibrox hierarchy at that time were looking for reasons to move him on.
In his documentary back in 2021, Sir Alex Ferguson: Never give in, Ferguson opened up on why he was so bitter about how his career at Ibrox ended.
He felt the hierarchy at the club discriminated against him and his wife because his wife Cathy Holding, was a Catholic.
Ferguson stated that he assumed he was dropped from the Rangers 1872 squad after the 1969 Cup Final because of his wife’s religion.
And that effectively, him being made the scapegoat for the heavy loss to Celtic was just an excuse for the Ibrox hierarchy to carry out that move.
He also opened up on the fact he was questioned about his wife’s faith by a Rangers 1872 director.
Ferguson was asked if he was married in a Catholic chapel, and when he replied and said he was married in a registry office, he was told that was okay.
Regardless, it was none of that director’s business.
And it should have had no bearing on his contribution as a footballer to the Rangers 1872 team.
But it did.
In the end it signalled the curtailment of his Ibrox dream.
Ferguson admitted that he left Rangers 1872 reluctantly.
He was upset by how newspapers would refer to him as an “ex-Rangers player” after he had left.
He said he rarely attended gatherings of their former players.
It would also appear that Ferguson departed Ibrox feeling pretty bitter about his experiences and the way he was treated there, especially towards the end of his time at the club.
Its just another story in a long line of stories about a club steeped in religious bigotry, Sectarianism, and hatred of Catholics and the Catholic religion.
Something that is still alive and kicking today, and appears to have infected the Newcastle support during their visit to Celtic Park last Saturday.
I guess that’s what happens when you affiliate with a support as dire as the Ibrox support.
Hatred is as infectious as love is, and the Ibrox support certainly know how to infect others with their hatred.
Alex Ferguson decided to cut himself off from that kind of environment back in 1969.
To Ferguson, the love of his wife and his family was far more important to him.
He went on to spend 4 years at Brockville with Falkirk, scoring 37 goals in the process.
He became player coach at Falkirk, until the arrival of John Prentice as Manager.
Prentice removed him from his coaching responsibilities, which irked Ferguson quite a bit.
He decided to leave Falkirk via a transfer request, and moved to Ayr United, where he finished out his playing days in 1974.
That grudge that Ferguson bore towards Rangers 1872 simmered beneath the surface until 1983.
As manager of Aberdeen, he faced Rangers 1872 in the Scottish Cup final.
Ferguson’s team ran out 1-0 winners.
While his players were celebrating their win over the side who were their arch rivals in the 1980’s, Ferguson was asked his opinion on the win by an unsuspecting reporter.
The response the reporter got was definitely not what he expected.
Ferguson lost the plot.
He let rip on his Aberdeen players, branding their performance against his old club a disgrace.
I’ve attached the YouTube video of that interview, so you can see it for yourself.
YouTube: Sir Alex Furious after Aberdeen Scottish Cup Win vs Rangers- Sir Alex Ferguson Never Give In (2021)
At the time, it all seems very strange.
But there was a reason for it, which Ferguson opens up on in his 2021 documentary.
He stated that all of that pent up anger towards his old club came to the fore that afternoon.
Ferguson went into that Cup final wanting to pulverise them.
In his own words in his documentary, he wanted to ‘put the knife in them’.
He wanted his Aberdeen side to put 4 or 5 goals past them.
The fact they only beat them 1-0 bitterly disappointed Ferguson.
And it shows in that interview on the Hampden turf 42 years ago.
So, when I read in the Record today that he is considered an Ibrox icon, I was scratching my head.
I doubt Ferguson himself sees it that way.
But as I said, he’s in his 80’s now, age and time has probably softened his attitude towards his old club.
He is probably offering advice and words of encouragement to Russell Martin because he recognises what a shit position he finds himself in.
Because Ferguson knows better than anyone what its like to be in a shit position at Ibrox.
Therefore, he probably feels that its his duty to help Russell Martin in any way that he can.
All these years later, Ferguson knows he can walk into Auchenhowie as one of the greatest football managers ever to have lived.
He knows he will command respect regardless of the way his own career at Ibrox ended.
In fact, I’m pretty sure he takes great pleasure in walking in there knowing that nobody has ever, or will ever, achieve what he has in the game.
Ferguson proved in the years following his Ibrox departure that he would ‘Never give in’.
His experiences there moulded him into the man he became.
That’s why he walks in there with his head held high.
They shafted him.
But in the end, he had the last laugh.
That’s why he feels empathy for Russell Martin.
He knows the man is on a hiding to nothing there.
So he’s giving him all the support he can get in the run up to tonight’s Champions League qualifier.
It probably won’t matter a damn.
Martin has not prepared well in terms of a pre-season for tonight’s game.
Ultimately, that could prove his undoing.
When the msm uses the term ex-*angers nowadays,I’m always confused as to whether they’re referring to the player or the klub!
Is it just me?
No doubt Ferguson will be up there with the all time greats, and it’s a disgrace, being asked your wife’s religion, did he ever dicuss or mention publicly, that was the reason, his wife being a Catholic, that led to him having to leave the club he supported as a boy.
He discussed it openly on the documentary mentioned in the article.
Don’t forget that while still the Man Utd boss , and I mean BOSS…he is on record as admitting to trying to help theRangers by selling them 2 players ‘ on the cheap ‘ as he didn’t want Celtic to win the league ? This was the mark 1 version he was trying to aid . It also tells us that he was all powerful then as his club Man Utd , the FA in englandland , the poodle authorities in wee Scotland and possibly UEFA , all turned blind eyes at his illegal ,unethical practices . What sort of a person would go on record and wilfully admit to such a shoddy , immoral and corrupt and shameless act in favour of one clumpany in Scotland and screwing the crap out of the rest in his native country ? Don’t get fooled by his kid – on neutral persona ….it’s all a ruse and ploy to trick those wearing blinkers .
Now that they’re no longer the world’s most successful club ,anyone or anything is what they need to get a feel good factor . And as usual it’s someone/something with a very limited connection to their Oldco and nothing to do with their current entity
What a horrible little club they were. So glad they died 🐒
Rangers 1872 were an evil club and all of Scotland should be ashamed. It is difficult to comprehend how their policies were just accepted and it says an awful lot about the country.
Oh yes Sir Alex is a huns Legend when it suits that horrible club. They will grab on to anything even anything they despise if they think it will benefit them and assisted
by the Scottish media.
Last but not least. At age 75 Ive ever held respect for the medias view on Fergie. At one Celtic v Rangers (not sevco at the time) he head butted Caesar. If that was a South American player head butting or spitting on an opposing player Sin Die would be getting called for and not awarding a knighthood or adulation. Lowest of the low.
Fergie’s rant against his Aberdeen players after winning the 1983 Cup Final, was even more perplexing, considering his team had won the ECWC only days before. I absolutely hated that Aberdeen team, and their manager. One player that I particularly detested was Mark McGhee. I rapidly changed my mind when he signed for Celtic. What a signing that was. Scored one of my favourite goals of all time. The equaliser in the 1988 Scottish Cup semi-final. What a day that was.
Hail Hail.
St Stivs, you seem to have either missed this comment from the prior thread or are ignoring it but could you kindly answer it please, since you seem to know so much about the Celtic PLC’s financial operation?
Thanks in advance.
‘ StStivs, what you’re saying is the operating expenses are itemised in the accounts but you can’t itemise them?
I’m asking you because you’re the finance man while I am not.
So are the operating expenses itemised in the accounts or not?
For I simply cannot see where they are and I’ve been checking every year.
And, if they are not being individually itemised, with each penny publicly accounted for, then why not?
It’s a simple question and I would appreciate if you could answer it to the best of your knowledge.
Thanks,
Fergus.’
Have I stumped you, St Stivs?
Have you realised that there’s an incredible amount of money going through the operating expenses, barely one penny of which is publicly accounted for?
The fact that the operating expenses run so extraordinarily high should see someone pay with their job so, as a finance man, could you kindly explain to us what’s really happening there?
Thanks again,
Fergus
Have I stumped you, St Stivs?
Have you realised that there’s an incredible amount of money going through the operating expenses, barely one penny of which is publicly accounted for?
The fact that the operating expenses run so extraordinarily high should see someone pay with their job so, as a finance man, could you kindly explain to us what’s really happening there?
Thanks again,
————
I havnt been on here all day, just logging in now while listening to the SCOTTISH REPS IN eUROPE.
So, I do not have access to the itemised accounts, but for sure those that are audited will account for everything that comes in and goes out. why those itemised accounts would be in the public domain i am perplexed with , do you know any company that does that ?
We didnt in the 2 multi-national finance departments companies I worked for.
Setting that aside, what cateogry of income do you think is being falsey accounted ?
The opex is NOT extra-ordinarily high in relation to the overall revenues. that is why we report a profit.
The easiest way to falsefy accounts is to report a loss via invoices for services you never actually received, and avoiding tax.
If you suspect Celtic plc are doing that report them to the relevant fraud squad,
more to follow.
If I may – and I have read many many opinions on this – Alex F could be a bluenose, but not a bigot, his mother was a catholic and continued to attend mass after a mixed marriage. His parental grand-parents were also from a mixed marriage. Supporting Rangers ? a convienience of location, two streets away from Ibrox.
He adored McNeill btw, was enthralled by Jock and spent hours at his table in the hotel on the brae, name escapes me.
As a young kd he also said he embarrassed Joe McBride by supporting him at a schools cup final.
I hate this demonisation of him,it is just untrue. Take a moment and find his interview about Michael Collins.
—————-
“During my first job (as an apprentice toolmaker), I would get a shake of the feet at 6am to get up. I knew that if my father came back through the bedroom and I was still in bed I was in trouble. That’s part of me now.”
It was the kind of family that bucked all the stereotypes of the West of Scotland religious and footballing divide. His mother was a Roman Catholic; his father came from a mixed background, had been brought up a Protestant, but ‘had little time for religion’ and supported Celtic. Alex and Martin grew up following Rangers, which their father didn’t have a problem with; although he objected so strongly to the wearing of ‘provocative’ club colours that Martin had to hide his Rangers scarf behind the toilet cistern.
With such parentage, it is hardly surprising that Sir Alex has no time for sectarianism. “A glance at my family tree suggests why bigotry never had a chance of spreading its pollution among the Fergusons’” he wrote in his autobiography. “ Through all its branches, and as far back as we can trace, there have been mixed marriages. That is a common pattern in the West of Scotland. Perhaps it doesn’t always breed intolerance out of the later generations but it certainly did in our case.”
However, he speculates that the reason he and Martin were baptised in the Church of Scotland, despite his mother having the stronger religious convictions, was because Catholics suffered disadvantages in the employment market. Later, he was to be a victim of sectarianism when he fulfilled his dreams of playing for Rangers, and certain people in the club never accepted him because his wife, Cathy, was Catholic.
Being brought up Protestant meant the local Bible school, Shiloh Hall, on Sundays, before moving to the Boys’ Brigade. Sir Alex still has his first Bible from the school and, while obviously not exhibitionist about religion, attributes two early defining moments – meeting Cathy and scoring a hat-trick for St Johnstone at Ibrox (the first player to do that against Rangers at their ground) – to divine intervention. “I do honestly believe that some power somewhere gave me a break and that it was a signal for me to grasp this opportunity and not ever to forget the responsibilities that came with,” he wrote about the latter event.
as another btw, listen to choccy talk about ferguson,
Thanks for your replay, St Stivs, but I’ve never once said nor implied that there’s any fraud in the accounts.
I’m just wondering why any PLC would allow operating expenses to reach such incredible, and totally unfettered, heights.
Now I’ve never worked in finance but in every other industry I have worked in the first cost saving was always on operating expenses whenever possible and I’m very surprised that that’s not the case in the financial world as you seem to be implying.
I’m also quite surprised that someone who claims to have worked in finance doesn’t seem to know that the word is ‘Dividend’ and not ‘Dividen’ as you have been writing repeatedly here for weeks.
Thanks again,
Fergus
working in an American/chinese company.
dividen
fergus . try again.
since you accept the accounts are well, the accounts.
what part of operating expenses were over spent on ? or indeed should be cut back on ?
Have you realised that there’s an incredible amount of money going through the operating expenses, barely one penny of which is publicly accounted for
_——–
fergus. that is false accounting.
Absolutely first class article,thanks for your thoughtful insight Eric.