May 8 – Goodwill messages are continuing to pour in for Sir Alex Ferguson, one of world football’s most iconic managerial figures who is recovering in hospital after undergoing emergency surgery for a brain haemorrhage.
David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo are among those to have offered support to British football’s most successful manager who won a total of 49 trophies – 38 of them at Manchester United during a 26-year reign.
Several other current and former United players also paid tribute to Ferguson as did United’s Premier League rivals, other managers, fans, politicians and governing bodies.
The 76-year-old was United manager from 1986 to 2013, winning the Champions League twice, the Premier League 13 times and five FA Cups. He was knighted in 1999, the year United achieved a treble by winning those three trophies in one season. He built his managerial reputation in his native Scotland with Aberdeen, winning three Scottish League titles and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
United said in a statement on Saturday that Ferguson’s surgery had gone “extremely well”, but that he would need a period of intensive care to aid his recovery. Subsequent reports over the weekend said Ferguson, who retired in 2013, was awake and talking to family and friends following news of his surgery which rocked the football world.
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