The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 15 Career Regrets

"Ferguson worked very hard and had amazing performances. He even won the league's Golden Boot, but he never won a top championship until he retired. Ferguson gave almost everything for football, but he never won a championship. This is his lifelong regret as a professional player."

--Inscription

Ferguson defeated the super giant Glasgow Rangers team by himself, and immediately became famous and popular in the football world. Dunfermline, another strong team in the Scottish League, immediately extended an olive branch and recruited Ferguson to the team in the summer of 1964.

Ferguson realized his dream of playing for a top team thanks to a chance encounter.

Dunfermline was a top-class team in Scotland and was coached by the famous manager George Stein at the time, but Stan had left when Ferguson joined the team.

Even if Stan is no longer the coach, Dunfermline is still a strong team that can compete for the championship. Ferguson has grown up and become strong enough, with strong attacking power, excellent awareness of grabbing points in the penalty area, and can score goals in various ways. Dunfermline was in hot form in the early stage of the league, winning consecutive games and ranking first in the standings. It was still ranked first in points before the last two games.

Dunfermline is about to win the championship, and Ferguson's pursuit of the championship is about to come true.

This season, the two Scottish giants, Glasgow Rangers and Celtic, performed poorly and withdrew from the championship race early. Dunfermline competed with the equally emerging Colmarnock and Hearts for the championship, and a rare three-way battle emerged in the Scottish league. Dunfermline had always been in a favorable position to win the championship, but they suddenly collapsed in the last two games, losing one and drawing one, and only getting 1 point. Colmarnock, ranked second in the standings, seized the opportunity, won two games in a row, and overtook the points, directly winning the championship.

Although Ferguson played and scored a goal in the match against St. Johnstone, he also wasted many opportunities. His team was unable to maintain the advantage until the end of the game and was eventually tied by the opponent, losing a victory.

For the first time in his career, Ferguson missed out on the league title.

After the season ended, Ferguson was widely criticized. The Dunfermline manager even publicly criticized his poor performance and made him the scapegoat for losing the title. Fans also accused him of poor performance, wasting goals, and directly spitting out goals, which caused the team to lose the chance to win the championship.

Ferguson could not stand these attacks and accusations, and he quarreled with the fans directly. Not only that, Ferguson made a mistake on top of a mistake, and publicly asked the team to help him clear his name in the locker room.

The team coach certainly cannot be offended in the locker room, and Ferguson was severely criticized. Although some teammates stood up to argue for Ferguson, the conflict between the coach and the general became more and more intense.

There was a disagreement between the coach and the general, and there was strife in the locker room. The club chose to stand on the side of the head coach and punished Ferguson.

Ferguson certainly shouldn't have made the conflict public, but he was also disheartened by the club and the coach's actions.

Ferguson was directly abandoned in the subsequent Scottish Cup final and did not get a single minute of playing time. As a result, Dunfermline did not perform well without Ferguson, losing to Celtic 1-2 and still missed the championship.

The Scottish media commented after the end of the season that although Ferguson did not get many opportunities to play in the 1964-1965 season, he scored a lot of goals and maintained a high efficiency. He was not a waste as the coach said and should not be blamed for the consecutive losses.

Ferguson decided to stop the verbal dispute and prepare for the new season. In the following season, Ferguson continued to improve and became a key player in the team with his outstanding performance. Ferguson finally played 51 games in the season, scored 45 goals in various competitions, and became the league's top scorer with 31 goals!

Ferguson was very proud of this. Many years later, he "proudly" told Ronaldo: "I can score more than 30 goals a season, and my scoring rate is higher than yours!"

Despite Ferguson's success, Dunfermline never had the same luck again. Scotland's big clubs began to recover, with Celtic once again taking the league title.

After three seasons, Ferguson played 89 times for the team and scored 66 goals, which is the data of a top striker. Ferguson's reputation gradually became popular and he began to become a hot star in the Scottish League. Naturally, the Scottish giants were unwilling to miss him. In the summer of 1967, Glasgow Rangers invited him to join at a league record price of pounds. Not only that, Ferguson was also selected for the Scottish national team and became an international player.

Glasgow Rangers is one of the two giants in Scottish football and has always been Ferguson's favorite team. He has been a fan of this club since his childhood and has always regarded playing for Rangers as the highest honor.

But in this Scottish giant that Ferguson had always dreamed of, his fate was still bumpy. Not long after Ferguson joined, the head coach Scott Simon, who had strongly advocated the signing of Ferguson, was suddenly fired, and the new coach David White took the field on November 1967, 11. The 1-year-old head coach was not familiar with Ferguson and naturally lacked goodwill. He was critical of the former coach for spending the highest fee in the team to bring in Ferguson.

Ferguson was excluded from the starting lineup by the new coach, but he chose to endure it. Because Rangers was Ferguson's favorite team, he still wanted to do his best for the team and make more contributions. White also showed good ability and continued his excellent form with Rangers. He also continued the long unbeaten record at the beginning of the season and maintained the lead in the standings.

Under such circumstances, it is not easy for Ferguson to win the trust of the new coach. It is a huge and difficult challenge.

The Celtics were hot on their heels, almost sticking close to Rangers, waiting for them to make a mistake.

Ferguson silently watched the fierce battle between the two strong men and made preparations silently.

The battle for the league title went on until the very end. At the start of the penultimate round, Rangers were still 1 point ahead of Celtic in the standings. In this round, Rangers played away against a strong team, Colmarnock, while Celtic played at home against Morton. Rangers played extremely hard, and finally scored a goal at the end of the game to seal the victory, while rival Celtic almost also won with a goal in extra time, continuing to put pressure on Rangers.

The championship situation is getting more intense, and the winner will be determined in the last round. Rangers is still 1 point ahead of their opponent. As long as they win the last home game against Aberdeen, they will be the champions, and they have enough initiative.

Rangers also had a fantastic start in this game. David Smith dribbled past the opponent's pursuit and blockade, and scored with a powerful shot from 8 yards in front of the goal, helping the team take the lead. Afterwards, Rangers continued to attack the opponent with all their might, and Aberdeen could only launch sporadic counterattacks and passively take the beating. Just as Rangers fans were waiting for their team's second goal, the situation on the field suddenly changed. Rangers goalkeeper Thorsson made a low-level mistake. The opponent sent a high ball into the penalty area, but he did not catch this easy pass, and the Aberdeen player easily scored in front of the goal.

This mistake also put the whole stadium in an awkward position. The score was 1-1 in the first half, so Rangers had to attack aggressively in the second half and score a goal to win. Ferguson finally got a chance to come on as a substitute. Rangers launched a massive attack on Aberdeen at the start of the second half. In the 54th minute, Ferguson got a chance and successfully scored a header in front of the goal, helping the team to lead 2-1 again.

Rangers saw hope of winning the championship again.

The subsequent game development was incredible. Aberdeen's central defender savagely pulled Ferguson down in the penalty area, but the referee did not award a penalty. Aberdeen took advantage of the situation to counterattack, and David Johnstone shot hard. It was originally a very straight shot without any threat, but Thorsson actually let the ball slip from his hand into the goal, 2-2!

Aberdeen was greatly encouraged and launched a new offensive in the final moments. In the last seconds before the end of the game, Aberdeen's Ian Taylor received a cross from his teammate in the penalty area and shot the ball into the dead corner - 3 to 2!

The Rangers were in dead silence.

Four days later, Celtic beat Dunfermline 2-1 and finally defeated their arch-rivals to win the league championship.

Ferguson once again missed out on the championship.

After the game, the fans were furious and fiercely criticized the team. Thorsson, who made a serious mistake, was scolded, but Ferguson also found himself the target of attack. Because Ferguson's wife Cathy is a Catholic, extreme fans, who are mainly Christian, said that Ferguson, who is married to a Catholic, is not worthy of playing for Rangers.

The religious discrimination at that time was crazy, and no one paid attention to Ferguson's contribution to the team: he scored the most goals in the team that season, scoring 23 goals for the team!

Ferguson could only be angry in secret and feel a little discouraged.

In the 1968 transfer window, Rangers tried to buy West Bonanza's center forward Colin Stein, intending to use Ferguson as a bonus, but Ferguson decisively refused. Coach White was furious and directly excluded him from the team's main roster.

At the end of the season, Rangers reached the Scottish Cup final, and their opponent was Celtic again. Because there was no striker available, White had to let Ferguson play. However, White made a serious mistake in the tactical arrangement of this game, and the players of Rangers were not in good shape, and they were slaughtered by their arch-rivals with a score of 4-0.

Ferguson still missed the championship!

After the game, Ferguson was publicly criticized by coach White. White criticized Ferguson for not assisting in defense and not being proactive, which ultimately led to the team losing the championship. White even blamed Ferguson for the team's first goal. Ferguson certainly didn't want to be blamed, so he had a big fight with the coach on the spot and broke up completely.

Rangers immediately put Ferguson on the market, England's Nottingham Forest was the first to approach him, and Falkirk coach Cunningham, who had worked with Ferguson, also made an offer. Ferguson chose to join Falkirk because his wife Cathy was unwilling to leave Scotland.

Ferguson was devastated by the fall from a top-tier team to a second-tier team like Falkirk. He was determined to help the team get promoted and wash away the shame he had suffered. Ferguson's joining helped Falkirk become stronger, sweeping away all opponents along the way, and eventually won the second-tier championship and entered the first-tier.

This was the only championship in Ferguson's career, but unfortunately it was only the Scottish Second Division Championship.

Ferguson became the team's top scorer and the biggest contributor to the team's promotion. Not only that, Ferguson also led Falkirk to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup, defeating several top-level teams in a row.

In the 1971-1972 season, Ferguson became the team's top scorer for the second consecutive year, helping Falkirk stay in the First Division. With the help of Ferguson, Falkirk defeated the powerful Aberdeen and West Bonn and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

In March 1972, West Bonn wanted to buy Ferguson, but Ferguson chose to stay at Falkirk. In the 3-1972 season, Ferguson suffered a knee injury and missed a long time. Without Ferguson, Falkirk's strength was greatly reduced, and they lost games one after another. After losing 1973-0 to St. Johnstone, they faced the threat of relegation. At this time, the locker room crisis broke out, and the players forced the team to fire coach Cunningham, and John Prentice became the new coach.

Ferguson was also a victim of infighting within the dressing room, and Falkirk was ultimately unable to escape the predicament and was relegated.

Ferguson followed Cunningham and left Falkirk as a free agent. He then joined Ayr United, where he remained a striker, scoring 14 goals in the season, ranking second in the team.

Despite his good goals, Ferguson was affected by a groin injury this season and was unable to play in many games.

Finally, after Ayr United's home game against East Fife, Ferguson announced his official retirement.

The year was 1974 and Ferguson was 32 years old.

Ferguson loved football and fought bravely. His road to becoming a professional player was very difficult. He maintained his fighting spirit and played for many teams and even joined a wealthy club, but he never won the league championship. Although he became the team's top scorer twice and had four chances to win the championship, he never won.

Ferguson's playing career ended with great regret.