By Matthew Brown, Labour councillor and football fan
THE football landscape in the UK changed forever following the shock announcement that Sir Alex Ferguson will leave Manchester United and retire from football after 26 years.
He has built not just a football team, nor a club, but played a key role in building a global empire.
Having won 38 trophies at Old Trafford, much can be said about how he developed the club. Too often in modern football the chairman, owners and fans are too happy to sack a manager after a poor set of results.
However, Martin Edwards, the then chairman of Manchester United, deserves much credit for standing by his man and indeed the Glazer Family who stood by Ferguson between 2003 and 2006 without the Premier League trophy that has belonged to Manchester United for the best part of two decades.
As the game changed, so did Sir Alex. Much of what he did is the true trademark of a great leader. Surrounding himself with some of the finest minds in the field of sport, the ability to delegate to people and to bring through youth and combine it with experience as we have seen with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes combined with the young brilliance of Rafael and Rooney.
Ferguson, the long-standing Labour Party member, donor and even adviser, played a small role in advising Tony Blair due to his success at man management – getting the best out of people.
Fortunately for English football and for the world in general we have not seen the last of Sir Alex as he has agreed to become a director and ambassador of the club he has served with distinction for so long.
Hopefully in his new role he will be able to pass on some of his experience. However, one thing is for certain, English football will be poorer for the loss of one of the biggest personalities we have witnessed. A true British success story. Here's hoping Grimsby Town can learn some of the lessons that his tenure has shown. Stability is key.