Fergie talked the Oldham Chronicle of all people about the landmark:
“When you look at the modern-day game it is an achievement. I haven’t given it a lot of thought, though obviously it is something I am proud of. I had a difficult start and it took time to put my own ideas into practice.”
Sir Alex believes that the Championship win in 1993 was a major turning point,
“That was the opening of the door and the key to our future success. Once we did that the path became clear. It wasn’t only a millstone around my neck, but also the players, club officials and supporters because it had been such a long time coming.”
Fergie’s favourite match?
“The European Cup final is the match which stands out as we came from nowhere to snatch victory.”
And how long does he intend to continue?
“You never know what will happen once you are in your sixties, but I still have an appetite. We recognise the ageing of the squad and try to address that by bringing in younger players - and that is an ongoing process.”
The Telegraph are honouring Fergie’s achievement with a look back at his time at the club, today David Miller looks at the unique character that has brought so much success.
‘It was to be expected that the former apprentice welder from Govan shipyards would adapt more readily to becoming a racehorse owner than to acquiring the manner associated with a knight of the realm. By any measurement, however, Sir Alex Ferguson is, in the literal sense, extraordinary.
‘His moods are extreme: volatile and passionate on the one hand, honest and loyal on the other. Ferguson is unique in that, wilfully pursuing attacking football in the style of Busby, and Bill Nicholson at Tottenham, he has in his 19 seasons won eight League titles to Busby's five in 24 seasons: though Busby's men were second seven times and balked by the Munich horror.
‘Busby was an elegant international wing-half for Manchester City, Ferguson an all-elbows centre-forward with six clubs. Acerbic leader of the Scottish footballers' union, he lacked Busby's urbanity yet came from similar, rock solid, family- orientated stock.
‘There is a lingering sense that for all his fame he has never wholly cast off an inferiority complex, yet beneath the intermittent rages and occasional excesses there is concealed the same benign attitude as Busby's, if rather more selective.
‘Analysing the League/FA Cup Double side of 1994 - which he regards as the finest of all his teams - he says: "They had physical strength, courage, toughness of mind, speed, power and determination. They were winners... and bad losers... a combative drive which I cherish." He was, and remains at 62, a hard man.
‘It would be simple to put the case that Ferguson has been at times fortunate in the extent of his teams' titles and his own fame, particularly in those somersault, injury-time events that turned incompetent, imminent defeat into stunning Champions League victory in 1999, endowing a knighthood.
‘Yet that would be to overlook the man's unswerving objective of entertaining play, of development and faith in young players, of devotion to Manchester United's cause, even at a time in the Eighties when George Graham at Highbury was earning three times Ferguson's salary.
‘Ferguson's hands-on management was fanatical in its detail, more so even than Nicholson's or Bob Paisley's at Liverpool, equalled perhaps only by his mentor, Jock Stein. Ferguson may not be the most popular manager of all time but there is unlikely ever to be one with such a combination of dedication, motivation and ambition to entertain.’