Managing
My Life: My Autobiography by Alex Ferguson (1999). Updated paperback
edition published 2000
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THIS much-hyped book was the major event in football literature the year it was published. No sooner had the dust settled on the trophies won in Manchester United's treble-winning season, than this book appeared on the shelves aiming to tap in on the latest wave of people jumping on the ever-growing Red bandwagon.
Ferguson co-wrote his story with the distinguished Scottish journalist Hugh McIlvanney, so the writing is much more accomplished than most cash-in autobiographies - but a fact that grates is that McIlvanney is not credited anywhere on the front of the book. But he has done an excellent job of showing us a lighter and more humorous side to the dour man normally seen constantly checking his watch and fervently chewing gum in injury time.
Much of the first half of the book is taken up with Ferguson's upbringing in the Glasgow district of Govan, where life was tough but rewarding; he shows how the values of loyalty and family responsibility that he learned in his youth have translated to his style of management.
The book was criticised for its lack of detail about Ferguson's politics both in his youth and as a manager; he was a passionate socialist, and was once deputy chairman of the Scottish PFA, but there is not much about this aspect of his background. There is, though, a moving moment when Jock Stein makes Ferguson give a striking miner a five-pound note. And Ferguson pulls no punches when talking about the bitter sectarianism he felt when playing for Rangers; stories began to appear in the press about his wife being Catholic, and Ferguson calls the journalist in question a 'diseased zealot'.
Ferguson also goes into great detail about the drinking culture which plagues football, but more worryingly, he names names: he singles out Paul McGrath as one of the main culprits. Ferguson is being a little unfair here, but the points he makes about the demon drink are certainly valid.
Ferguson's testimony will go down in history along with United's achievement - and I don't think the importance of this book can be underestimated. But if United had not won the treble that year, though, who knows how successful the book would have been then?
Review by Sam Hawcroft