alternatehistory.com

"In pubs across the country, the common questions of football are always debated over a pint or two. Who was the greatest ever player? Was it Maradona or Pele? Or perhaps one from the modern era, such as Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Henry? And if an agreement is ever found, the conversation inevitably drifts over who was the greatest manager. After Arsene Wenger of course.

"With both 'doubles' and Champions League titles with Arsenal and Real Madrid alike, Arsene Wenger's crown was widely undisputed, even before Karim Benzema scored the winning goal in the Maracana in 2014 to cap a fairytale career in management. Yet, once the conversation has finished mulling over Wenger's achievements, and shifts to finding the 'best of the rest', there is a tinge of sadness when discussing one of the potential contenders.

"Sir Alex Ferguson, with 7 league titles, 5 FA Cups, and a European Cup capping off a historic treble in 1999, jostles mainly with journeyman Jose Mourinho in the public's eye for this 'crown'. In Summer 2001, Ferguson announced his intentions to retire in 2002, with a thinly-veiled reasoning of wishing to bow out with a final Champions League title in Glasgow.

"His dream was not to be, however, with his side crashing out to eventual finalists Bayer Leverkusen. If it was thought that this would prompt Ferguson to reconsider, with a potential European final at Old Trafford in 2003 and a grip on English football to win back from double winners Arsenal, then any hopes were crushed by the news that Ferguson would seek to stand for Member of Parliament for the Labour Party [1], in a by-election in his home constituency of Glasgow Govan following incumbent Gordon Jackson's sudden heart attack.

"Following his victory by an increased majority, Ferguson became somewhat of a cult figure in Parliament, with a particularly memorable scene during a rowdy debate on the NHS involving him asking the speaker if he needed to temporarily cross the floor to 'give the hairdryer treatment to these misbehaving Tory louts'. A much changed career path then, though in fairness the Scot has always spoken of his time in Westminster up until his retirement in 2010 as some of the best years of his life.

"But amidst these debates a third question always lingers: Could Sir Alex Ferguson, and indeed, Manchester United, have achieved more if he had reconsidered his decision to retire? Was there life in Fergie to be able to yet again rebuild a team many saw as having peaked and on their way out? Or was the eventual dominance of Mourinho's Tottenham Hotspur, and their rival Manchester City, inevitable in a league and footballing world increasingly influenced by what is in the bank rather than who is in the dugout?"

- Extract from guardian.co.uk feature '10 years on from Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement' 17/05/2012



[1] Taken from this article http://bit.ly/1eP35y6 which inspired this AH. Couldn't work out a way to actually get him into parliament so fast without this - apologies to Gordon Jackson here! Weirdly, this turns out to be the constituency IOTL of none other than... Nicola Sturgeon! (Or at least, amalgamated into that one since 2011). But I don't think Fergie's going to have enough butterflies to have any significant impact there :p
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