01 ALEX FERGUSON THE 6 MATCHES THAT SHAPED FERGIE’S RISE TO GREATNESS

EAST STIRLINGSHIRE 2-0 FALKIRK 1974

Fittingly, Alex Ferguson’s first big result as a manager was motivated by revenge.

A year earlier, Ferguson had been a player-coach at Falkirk, in his first venture into coaching. Then John Prentice was appointed as the club’s new boss, and he told a young Ferguson that his services were no longer required. “He found it hard to look me in the eye,” the future manager later recalled. When the disgruntled Scot joined Ayr, a dispute ensued, as Prentice tried to deny him a payment that he felt he was owed.

In the summer of 1974, Ayr boss Ally MacLeod – later Scotland’s manager at the 1978 World Cup – had recommended that East Stirlingshire appoint Ferguson, just 32, as their new manager. He had previously failed a job interview at fellow Second Division side Queen’s Park; “I surrendered to nerves,” he would admit one day.

East Stirlingshire had struggled at the bottom of the second tier in the previous season. When Ferguson arrived, they had only eight players and no goalkeeper. In his first game, however, he helped them to recover from 3-0 down to draw at Forfar. By early October, they were 3rd in the table, thanks to their manager’s unceremonious approach.

“He was a frightening bastard from the start,” said forward Bobby McCulley. His team-mate, Jim Meakin,