The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Volume 1987 Surprise (1988- season)

"Ferguson's first full season as the Red Devils coach brought pleasant surprises to the fans. His team was full of vigor and finished second in the league, a progress that impressed the media. The team's positivity, toughness and tenacity in the game satisfied the management. Ferguson began to clearly recognize his own difficulties, and confidently and actively reorganized and rebuilt the team. He took the initiative to train the team rigorously and was determined to improve the team's strength."

——Foreword

Chapter 64 Not That Simple

"Money is life, but Ferguson found that the Red Devils were not as rich as he thought."

--Inscription

At the end of the 1986-87 season, Ferguson returned to work after a short vacation. He traveled back and forth between Glasgow, Aberdeen and Manchester in Scotland many times, efficiently handling various chores and quickly preparing for the new transfer window.

Ferguson said: "Even so, we are still late. Normal clubs should start transfers in February or March, but we can't do that. We can only work hard from now on to catch up."

As the players began to take their vacations, Ferguson devoted himself to rebuilding the team.

The first thing Ferguson did was to propose a package plan to the Red Devils board, including selling and buying players, as well as promoting youth players. He prepared a long list for the board, which listed his recruitment targets.

The Red Devils board expressed support for Ferguson's recruitment plan, but when Ferguson was ready to apply for funds, take action and implement the plan, he found that things were not that simple.

Ferguson thought the Red Devils would be as generous as Aberdeen and support him unconditionally. He thought he could do a big clean-up and then recruit strong players, but the reality was that he hit a soft nail.

The board did not agree with his plan for the use of funds and immediately crossed out the two most critical players from his list.

Ferguson was furious.

Beardsley and Barnes, Lineker, and even Hudson... Ferguson strongly hopes that the team can introduce strong reinforcements on the offensive line, because he knows that the current Red Devils' offensive line is almost completely unreliable.

But the Red Devils board of directors threw up their hands and said, "No money!"

Although in Ferguson's eyes, Chairman Edwards was not a particularly generous person, he did not expect Edwards to reject people so straightforwardly.

Everyone knows that when a new coach takes office, a team must be completely rebuilt. He hopes that the chairman understands that the Red Devils urgently need to buy players and only on this basis can they consider challenging for the league title.

Why is this so?

Ferguson went to Edwards to discuss with the chairman. Ferguson also went to Charlton, a football expert and the most professional member of the Red Devils board. He had an in-depth discussion with Charlton and revealed that he had initially identified targets in the transfer market and had two key signings. He hoped that Charlton would help persuade the board that the team should open the checkbook as much as possible this summer and buy as many players as possible to strengthen the lineup.

Charlton smiled bitterly. "Edwards is really stingy, but he is a businessman and naturally knows that he must pay first to get rewards. But at the moment, Alex, your plan is painful for him. He thinks you are asking him to pay too much."

"According to your plan, the Red Devils will need to borrow money and may have to bear a considerable debt hole. This is beyond Edwards's acceptable limit, so your plan is unlikely to succeed."

Ferguson's ambitions suffered a major blow.

Many years later, Ferguson said, "I regretted it in the summer of 1987. The Red Devils were not what I imagined. They were very stingy and had no ambition. Edwards only talked big, but this could not be achieved by an illusory spiritual victory. I needed the support of the transfer fee, but they said there was only a little bit, not even enough for me to spend when I was in Aberdeen."

"I and Norris both thought about leaving. Although this is a huge team, now it is just an empty shell. My ambition made me unable to accept the fact.

Ferguson's assistant coach Norris was also stunned. "I have never seen such a stingy boss. Edwards refreshed my understanding. He and Watness (Red Magic's clerk and financial director) crossed out Ferguson's signings from top to bottom one by one. I feel like Alex's (Ferguson) heart is bleeding..."

Edwards is greedy and stingy, but hasn't he always been willing to spend big? Didn't Atkinson buy Robson right away when he was the coach, setting a record for the transfer fee in England? Didn't Atkinson also generously bid nearly £100 million for Stapleton?

why?

Charlton told Ferguson that the Red Devils were not completely without money, but they did not have as much money as Ferguson thought.

The Red Devils at that time were not the real giants that they would become later, nor were they supported by the bosses who owned mines. Everything depended on the income and profits from the club's operations, and they were far from being a wealthy family. During Busby's time, the Red Devils became the dominant force in England, and their income naturally soared to a peak, but the wealth he earned was wasted year after year, and there was nothing left. What was even more worrying was that the Red Devils had not made any breakthroughs in the past few years, and the playing conditions were getting worse and worse, which also seriously affected the club's income.

The Red Devils back then were not as successful as they were in the Premier League era, nor were they as attractive, and their financial resources were not second to none.

Despite its glorious history and profound heritage, the Red Devils only had a large number of fans in the local area and the British Isles at that time, and the support of die-hard fans was high. The club mainly relied on ticket revenue, sponsorship raised from organized activities, broadcasting fees, and other commercial activities, which were not much, and the operating situation was not optimistic.

In fact, the entire English football is like this. In the 10 years before the Premier League era, they were not a way to make money. The management of football clubs was more about paying for the community and the feelings. Football club investors often paid for fame and love for the team, and hardly thought about getting any profit or any special return.

The income of the football league is basically dependent on ticket sales, with a single source of income, and broadcasting fees are not worth mentioning. The home attendance rate of the Red Devils had already begun to decline before Ferguson took over, and this trend continued after he took over, and finally the entire season fell by about 11% compared to the previous season. Although the Red Devils and Liverpool were still the two most popular and most competitive teams at the time, fame could not directly bring sufficient income. The style of English football at that time was completely different from that of today. Only at the beginning of the Premier League did football clubs encounter a golden age. The Premier League caused broadcasting fees to soar, and the clubs' income became more and more amazing. In the 80s, the English Football League was not as popular as the Premier League.

The Red Devils' most glorious period under Atkinson was the seasons in which they won two FA Cups. In other seasons, no matter how they played, they did not attract enough fans. The 1985-game winning streak at the beginning of the 86- season, although it made the media crazy, did not mean much for revenue.

Firstly, the number of seats at Old Trafford, the home stadium of the Red Devils, was limited. Even if the tickets that could be sold on the team's match day were sold out, the income was not much. The embarrassing thing was that apart from the long-term support of season ticket holders, it was difficult for the Red Devils club to sell out every ticket. Secondly, the TV broadcasting of the league was not well developed at that time, and the Red Devils earned very little from it. At the beginning, the English League One was jointly broadcast by only the BBC and ITV, and the offer was only 400 million pounds a year. At that time, the English League One wanted to increase the broadcasting fee, but was ruthlessly rejected by the TV organization. After the two sides fell out, the English League One did not get any broadcasting income. When the halfway point of the season had passed, the league organizers had to compromise and the remaining season's games returned to the TV screen, but at this time the offer was only 130 million pounds.

130 million pounds, take it or leave it, this is the TV broadcasting rights income of the entire English top league, it is so miserable. No one could have imagined that the Premier League would be established and Sky TV would make the price of broadcasting rights skyrocket.

Why did the TV broadcasters at that time not look favorably on football matches? One important reason was that the English public did not have a good impression of football matches. In the 80s, the number of spectators attending the English First Division dropped from a peak of 1948 million in the 49-4130 season to a historical low of 1650 million. Many people did not regard watching football as a symbol of identity, let alone as a major entertainment or pastime. In British society, if a football incident is put on the headlines, it is usually because of football hooliganism or disasters.

English football suffered from the harm of football hooligans, and the clubs were no match for Italy and other countries in terms of operation. Although the performance of English teams in European competitions was not bad, the Red Devils led by Busby topped the European championship in 1968, and the edge of English football was not inferior to Serie A and Bundesliga. When Liverpool defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach to become the Champions League champion in 1977, it opened the dynasty of English clubs dominating European football. The Red Army won four championships in eight years. During this period, Nottingham Forest won the championship twice, and Aston Villa also won the championship once... English Football League won seven championships in eight years. Such a brilliant achievement is definitely the best league in the whole of Europe. In 8, Liverpool suffered the Heysel tragedy and lost to Juventus in the Champions League final. Subsequently, the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher characterized the incident as a national humiliation. The English Football Association immediately asked all English clubs to withdraw from European competitions, and UEFA subsequently issued a ban. English football was thus disgraced and its status in people's minds fell to the bottom.

It was in this context that Ferguson went south to England. At that time, the entire English football was in a state of anxiety, and it could even be said that a "crisis" had begun, and new forces were urgently needed to bring about changes. This was the tone of English football when Ferguson coached the Red Devils.

Ferguson certainly had no sense of crisis. He was ambitious and hoped to buy several talented players in the summer, but reality soon sobered him up. Ferguson's first suggestion was rejected by the Red Devils board. In early summer, he proposed to the club chairman that at least eight new players should be introduced, but Edwards decisively rejected it. Edwards reminded Ferguson to act within his means, as the transfer budget was limited and there was no money to spend carelessly.

Ferguson thought the Red Devils' financial situation was optimistic. After all, Mark Hughes was sold to Barcelona for £230 million last season, and the money "should" still be on the books.

Considering that Hughes is a product of the Red Devils' youth training and the cost is almost zero, the profit is even more amazing.

No matter what Ferguson thought, Edwards was very firm in his attitude. He insisted that the Red Devils could not spend a lot of money, let alone buy seven or eight main players.

Many years later, Edwards said: "We have always supported Ferguson and agreed almost unconditionally to his purchase plan. Only in the summer of 1987, when we were still getting rid of Atkinson's influence, the club did not have much money in the account, or not enough money."

"We can't give Ferguson more support. He thought we were a super club and should have bought players without hesitation, just like he did with Robson and Stapleton, but we are no longer that rich."

Edwards said, "We can no longer take risks by buying superstars, and we will not spend a record amount of money to buy a new star. At this time, we must consider the cost-effectiveness."

Indeed, the landlords have no surplus food.