LEGEND… Secretary of the Fermanagh branch of the Manchester United supporters club, Gabriel Maguire pictured with Alex Ferguson
HE CAME, he saw and he conquered.
This past week has seen a legion of teary-eyed United fans – incuding a sizeable number of Femanagh people – bid farewell to their leader, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Last week, the Glaswegian announced his retirement from a post that he has held for 26 years, and, on Sunday, he took part in his final home game as the Old Trafford club’s manager.
“He’ll be missed, there’s no doubt about it,” mused long-time Manchester United fan, Gabriel Maguire who is the secretary of the Fermanagh Branch of the Manchester United Supporters Club.
“I think he had his mind made up,” continued Gabriel.
“I had met him three times when I was over. They have held branch meetings, where he did a Q and A – he was very down to earth, he was the man for the fans. He never didn’t want to see you, nor would he rush you away. He’d sit down and have a chat. He was very good, straight forward, no panicking.”
And as for his favourite Fergie memory?
“I was in Barcelona in 1999 during the treble winning season, so I’d say that was it – for the fans anyway. And I’d say it was his too. It’s hard to know because he had so many.”
At Old Trafford, the ‘gaffer’ led his charges to a 2 -1 victory over Swansea, before lifting the Premier League cup in front of the faithful spectators.
“It was always going to be captured the way it was by the press. It was one of those occasions. A draw would have probably done them, but I suppose the win made it look better for them.
“I thought the speech was very good.
“He can be quite hard to understand when he’s talking. But I thought he did very well on Sunday.”
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