Book #40 for 2024: My Autobiography by Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography by Alex Ferguson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sir Alex Ferguson is most famous for having managed Manchester United for many years, and this book was published just after he retired from managing the club, having led them to 20 league titles.
I managed to pick up his autobiography cheaply in a secondhand shop, and enjoyed this. Not surprisingly, there is a lot about football matches from while he was managing Manchester United, but there were some good chapters about his family, including one story about how they talked him out of taking early retirement.
The book jumps around a lot in time, and many chapters are principally about different signings Mancester United, so at times the narrative feels a little non-linear, but the way it is set out does make sense, and I was able to understand why he'd done it. The last chapter provides a good summary of how he felt about finally getting that 20th League title.
I noticed that Ferguson is quite critical of some people in his book. He has few good things to say about David Beckham, portraying him as someone who possibly thought himself too big for the club he played for. The book does downplay the much-publicised incident where he kicked a football boot in frustration, hitting Beckham above the eye and requiring first aid.
He is also quite scathing about his former player Roy Keane, perhaps not surprisingly because at one point Keane made a very public tirade about everything he didn't like about his team mates.
Overall, I enjoyed this book; it felt like a good way to get an idea of what he is like in real life, and his passion for Manchester United.
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