Sir Alex Ferguson was one of football’s most successful managers, but things could have turned out very differently for the legendary Manchester United boss after an explosive fall out with his dad
17:00, 31 Dec 2025
Sir Alex Ferguson was once jailed over a punch-up
Manchester United icon Sir Alex Ferguson was once thrown in jail after a drunken brawl when he fell out with his family and “went off the rails”.
Sir Alex, who turns 84 today, Wednesday, December 31, transformed United’s fortunes after he joined the club in 1986, leading them to unprecedented levels of success. Having won three league titles and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in a glittering spell with Aberdeen in his native Scotland, he brought that winning formula south of the border.
His honours at Old Trafford include a record 13 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues trophies, five FA Cups and four League Cups. His accomplishments saw United overtake Liverpool as England’s most successful football club at one stage, before his retirement after a final title win in 2013 and the club’s subsequent decline. But the man himself has acknowledged how his career could have panned out very differently after a regrettable incident in the 1960s.
Sir Alex Ferguson when he signed for Glasgow Rangers after spells at Dunfermline Athletic, St Johnstone and Queen’s Park(Image: Getty Images)
Sir Alex was a forward playing for St Johnstone at the time and revealed how he turned to drink while struggling with being out of the first-team. He was on a part-time contract with St Johnstone and combined working in a Govan shipyard with training at night in Perth.
In a documentary about his life, entitled Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In, the Manchester United legend spoke candidly about the incident and his relationship with his father.
He said: “I was getting despondent about football because I wasn’t a first team player all the time. My career was going down the pan and I went off the rails a bit.
“I was going out in town and I started going out on Friday nights even, the day before a game. My dad would say ‘You can’t go to the dancing if you’ve got a game tomorrow.’
Sir Alex Ferguson made Manchester United a Premier League powerhouse(Image: John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)Sir Alex Ferguson lifts the Premier League trophy for the last time with Manchester United
“That’s when we fell out. It got to a point where he said ‘Go your own way and we’ll see what happens,’ and then we weren’t talking to one another.
“For two years between 1961 and 1963 we didn’t talk.
“One night I went out and I got drunk and I ended up in a fight and ended up in jail. I went to court and got fined £3. I was a bit of a black sheep.
“That period has always been in the back of my head and I have always regretted it. Here’s me with the background and upbringing I had and I surrendered.”
Sir Alex Ferguson helped Manchester United win their 20th top flight league title in 2013(Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)Sir Alex Ferguson turns 84 today(Image: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
Ferguson then bagged a hat-trick against Rangers, which healed the rift with his dad and proved a turning point in his career.
“It was the most important game of my life,” he added. “I wanted to go home and see my dad because I knew he would be proud. I said ‘What do you think dad?’. He said ‘It was alright, okay,’ and then he starts ‘That’s the boy I had.’
“We were back pals. That changed my life, it was the biggest break of my life and it was the one that mattered to me.
“It was the most important game of my life.”
