[22] He performed well in Europe during his two seasons with the club, scoring six goals in nine appearances in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup including two against 1.FC Köln in the 1967–68 competition, and an important strike against Athletic Bilbao in the 1968–69 edition which helped Rangers into the semi-finals,[23] but on both occasions they were knocked out by English opposition.

He was blamed for a goal conceded in the 1969 Scottish Cup Final,[24] in a match in which he was designated to mark Celtic captain, Billy McNeill, and was subsequently forced to play for the club's junior side instead of for the first team.

He remained at Brockville for four years, gaining more league appearances than he had elsewhere; in recognition of his experience he was promoted to player-coach, but when John Prentice became manager he removed Ferguson's coaching responsibilities.

[75] Results steadily improved as the season went on, and by the time they recorded what would be their only away win of the league campaign at title challengers and rivals Liverpool on Boxing Day, it was clear that United were on the road to recovery.

[80] United were expected to do well when Mark Hughes returned to the club two years after leaving for Barcelona, alongside Jim Leighton from Aberdeen; but the 1988–89 season was a disappointment for them, finishing 11th in the league and losing 1–0 at home to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup sixth round.

[82] For the 1989–90 season, Ferguson further boosted his squad by paying large sums of money for midfielders Neil Webb, Mike Phelan, and Paul Ince, as well as defender Gary Pallister and winger Danny Wallace.

However, after the purchase of French striker Eric Cantona from Leeds for £1.2 million, the future of Manchester United, and Ferguson's position as manager, began to look bright.

Ferguson added Nottingham Forest's 22-year-old midfielder Roy Keane to the ranks for a British record fee of £3.75 million as a long term replacement for Bryan Robson, who was nearing the end of his career.

[115] The season also saw the breakthrough of young players Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes, who provided excellent cover for the long periods that United were left without some of their more experienced stars.

In a televised outburst after his team's win against Leeds, Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan responded angrily to Ferguson's comments: "We're still fighting for this title, and he's got to go to Middlesbrough...

[134] Defeat by Leeds United in September 1997 was the team's first league loss in seven months; Keane during the match injured himself and was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the season with ligament damage.

[149] Ferguson hoped his team "could at least take it to a penalty shoot-out", but instead the match was settled in extra time: Giggs ran the length of the pitch and evaded several Arsenal players to score the winning goal.

[148] Beckham was positioned in centre midfield, while Giggs moved to the right wing and Blomqvist started on the left – changes the manager felt would prevent the opposition from playing narrow.

"[155] Schmeichel's decision to leave United after eight seasons prompted Ferguson to bring in replacements: Mark Bosnich from Aston Villa and Italian Massimo Taibi.

The team "moved the ball forward more and quicker rather than concentrating on possession ratios," and the coaching staff tried accommodating Diego Forlán with Ruud van Nistelrooy, before settling with Paul Scholes.

In the January transfer window, Serbian defender Nemanja Vidić and French full-back Patrice Evra were signed, and the side finished in second place in the league, behind runaway winners Chelsea.

[203] The January 2006 signings had a huge impact on United's performances – Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidić came in to form a solid back line along with Rio Ferdinand and skipper Gary Neville.

Park Ji-sung and Ryan Giggs both underlined their value to the first team squad by adding significant pace and incisiveness in attack with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

[209] Manchester United subsequently won their ninth Premier League title but were denied a unique fourth double by Chelsea's Didier Drogba scoring a late goal in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

[218] On 16 February 2008, United beat Arsenal 4–0 in an FA Cup fifth round match at Old Trafford,[219] but were knocked out by eventual winners Portsmouth in the quarter-final on 8 March, losing 1–0 at home.

[224][225] On 21 May 2008, Ferguson won his second European Cup with Manchester United as they beat Chelsea 6–5 on penalties in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, following a 1–1 draw after extra time in the first ever all-English UEFA Champions League Final.

[229] Although the team had a slow start to the 2008–09 season,[230] United won the Premier League with a game to spare,[231] making Ferguson the first manager in the history of English football to win the top division three times consecutively, on two separate occasions.

This bitter and slim defeat prompted Ferguson to sign star-striker Robin van Persie, who was the Premier League Golden Boot title-holder, from another arch-rival Arsenal on 17 August 2012.

The 2012–13 season saw Ferguson guide United to become league champions for the 20th time, claiming the title with a 3–0 home win over Aston Villa on 22 April 2013 with four matches to spare; Van Persie scored all the goals with a first half hat-trick en route to retain the Golden Boot.

[263][264] His book, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United, was published in collaboration with billionaire venture capitalist, author and former journalist Michael Moritz in August 2015.

[266] Strachan enjoyed significant success with Leeds as a veteran player, helping them win the 1991–92 English league championship in a title race with Ferguson's United.

[271] In 2003, Ferguson launched legal action against the then major Manchester United shareholder John Magnier over stud rights for race horse Rock of Gibraltar.

[274] Magnier requested that "99 Questions" be answered over Ferguson's transfer dealings, including those of Jaap Stam, Juan Sebastián Verón, Tim Howard, David Bellion, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kléberson.

[291] Many of Ferguson's former players have gone on to become football managers themselves, including Tony Fitzpatrick, Alex McLeish, Gordon Strachan, Mark McGhee, Willie Miller, Neale Cooper, Bryan Gunn, Eric Black, Billy Stark, Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes, Roy Keane, Paul Ince, Chris Casper, Mark Robins, Darren Ferguson, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Henning Berg, Andrei Kanchelskis, Michael Appleton, Ryan Giggs, David Healy, Gabriel Heinze, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Jaap Stam, Michael Carrick, Wayne Rooney and Phil Neville.

[312][313] As well as having an ambassadorial role at Manchester United and other public speaking and charity engagements in retirement, he is a long-term patron of his childhood team Harmony Row, including a successful campaign for the club to have new facilities (they are now based at Braehead).