The Meaning of Sir Alex Ferguson

When was the last time a picture of a soccer coach appeared on the front of the Financial Times and the New York Times on the same day? The answer is never, I would guess. But on Thursday morning, staring out from the front pages of the two newspapers I get delivered, there were the ruddy features of Sir Alex Ferguson, who, until his retirement on Wednesday, had been the manager of Manchester United, one of the most successful sports teams in the world. In a league where most managers last a year or two, Ferguson’s twenty-seven-year tenure was remarkable and unique. In modern American sports, there’s no real comparison, either. Bill Belichick’s thirteen-year run at the New England Patriots probably comes closest.

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