Football: Alex Ferguson's managerial career

After tranforming St Mirren from a team in the lower half of the second division to first division champions in 1977, he fell out with the club and was sacked in 1978. In June of that year he became manager of Aberdeen Photograph: Action Images Photograph: guardian.co.uk In 1983 Aberdeen won the Scottish Cup and then Ferguson got his first taste of European success when Aberdeen beat Real Madrid 2-1 to win the Cup Winners' Cup. Later in that year Aberdeen took on Manchester United in the testimonial match for United defender Martin Buchan with Fergie pitting his wits against Ron Atkinson who he would replace as United manager three years later Photograph: Bob Thomas/Getty Images Photograph: Bob Thomas/guardian.co.uk In 1986 following a poor run of results Ron Atkinson was sacked by United and Ferguson was appointed as manager in November. His reign didn't get off to a good start though as United lost 2-0 to Oxford in his first game in charge Photograph: PA Archive/Press Association Images Photograph: guardian.co.uk The first few seasons did not go well at United with lacklustre performances and mid table finishes in the league. Ferguson has described December 1989 as "the darkest period [he had] ever suffered in the game." Following a run of seven games without a win, United were drawn away to Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup and it was expected that United would lose and Ferguson would be sacked. United won the game 1-0 thanks to a Mark Robins goal and the game is often cited as the match that saved Ferguson's Old Trafford career Photograph: PA Archive/Press Association Images Photograph: guardian.co.uk That victory seemed to spur Fergie and United on and they made their way to the 1990 FA Cup final which they won 1-0 in a replay against Crystal Palace thanks to a goal by Lee Martin Photograph: Popperfoto Photograph: guardian.co.uk And Ferguson gets his hands on his first piece of silverware at Manchester United, the FA Cup in 1990 Photograph: Ben Radford/Allsport Photograph: Ben Radford/guardian.co.uk In 1991, following a 2-1 victory over Barcelona, the United manager gets his hands wins his first piece of European silverware, the Cup Winners' Cup, for the club Photograph: Neal Simpson/Empics Sports Photograph: Neal Simpson/guardian.co.uk In 1992 Ferguson made one of the most inspired and important signings of his career when he brought Eric Cantona from Leeds United to Old Trafford for £1.2million Photograph: Malcolm Croft/PA Archive/Press Association Images Photograph: Malcolm Croft/guardian.co.uk Cantona proved to be an inspiration at United and formed a strong partnership with Mark Hughes, firing United to the top of the table and ending their 26 year wait for a league title Photograph: Rui Vieira/Empics Sport Photograph: Rui Vieira/guardian.co.uk After finally breaking their 26 year wait, there seemed to be no stopping United and they won the title in the following year and also beat Chelsea 4-0 to win the FA Cup, giving Fergie his second League and Cup double following Aberdeen's triumph in 1985. With United missing out on the 1994-95 title and then losing their first match of the 1995-96 season, the media swooped upon Ferguson with undisguised glee. They wrote United off because their squad contained so many young and inexperience players, with Alan Hansen saying "you can't win anything with kids." United's performances improved and they won a league and cup double Photograph: John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images Photograph: John Peters/guardian.co.uk United then played Liverpool in the FA Cup final which they won thanks to a late Cantona goal which gave Ferguson his second double for United Photograph: Bob Thomas/Popperfoto/Getty Images Photograph: Bob Thomas/guardian.co.uk In 1999 United and Ferguson went one better by becoming the first English club to win the treble. After winning the league title, United beat Newcastle 2-0 in the FA Cup final and then went to Barcelona to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final. In one of the most dramatic comebacks in history, United were 1-0 down with 90 minutes on the clock but during the three minutes of injury-time Teddy Sheringham equalised and then with just seconds left, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored the winning goal Photograph: Tom Jenkins Photograph: guardian.co.uk Ferguson has said that the 2002/2003 title victory is one of his most satisfying Photograph: John Peters/Manchester United PLC Photograph: John Peters/guardian.co.uk In May 2008, 25 years since Ferguson won the Cup Winners' Cup with Aberdeen, a 2-0 victory over Wigan gave him his 10th League title with United Photograph: Tom Jenkins Photograph: guardian.co.uk Ten days after their league triumph, United were in Moscow for the Champions League Final against Chelsea. It was an absorbing match which finished 1-1 and went to penalties, which United won. It was the second time Ferguson had won the Champions League Photograph: Tom Jenkins Photograph: guardian.co.uk In a managerial career spanning 36 years, Ferguson has won an incredible 44 trophies, including 11 Premier League titles and 2 Champions League titles Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Reuters Photograph: Nigel Roddis/guardian.co.uk Although the team had a slow start to the 2008–09 season, United won the Premier League with a game to spare, making Ferguson the first manager in the history of English football to win the Premier League three times in a row on two separate occasions. Ferguson has now won 11 league titles at Manchester United - and this one put them level with Liverpool on 18 titles overall Photograph: Tom Jenkins Photograph: guardian.co.uk