He started his career with Clyde, then moved to St Mirren in 1986, scoring the winning goal as the club won the 1987 Scottish Cup Final.

Ferguson moved to Rangers in 1988 and stayed with the Ibrox club for 12 years, during which time he helped them win nine consecutive Scottish league championships.

[9] Nine months after winning the Scottish Cup, he transferred to Rangers for £850,000 – still the record fee received by St Mirren[10] – turning down offers from English clubs to become part of the strong squad being assembled at Ibrox by Graeme Souness.

[11] Along with Ally McCoist and Richard Gough, he played a part in every season of Rangers' historic run of nine titles in a row between 1988–89 and 1996–97 under managers Souness and Walter Smith.

[12] Ferguson spent two seasons in Fife, during which he helped newly promoted Dunfermline to keep their place in the top division (9th in 2000–01) and then improve it (6th in 2001–02).

[21] Ferguson's contract was mutually terminated on 11 February 2013 as Perth Glory manager, after five straight losses and six hours of game time without a goal scored.

In 2013, Ferguson was announced as the Director of Football and Coaching at the Townsville NPL Queensland franchise Northern Fury FC.