I HAVE to say that the announcement that Sir Alex Ferguson is now going to retire from Manchester United and Everton's David Moyes is going to replace him came as a great shock to all and sundry.
As a Manchester City supporter born and bred in Manchester, I always thought that Sir Alex would be there for evermore.
But I suppose even he has got to accept that when the final whistle blows you have to follow your gut feelings and Sir Alex has decided to call it a day.
I wish him a very happy retirement. To my mind he is the greatest manager in the history of our football league, a very controversial manager who knew exactly what he wanted to win – and that was trophies galore and he did that immensely.
On a personal basis, last year I received a request from a local charity to see if I could get some tickets to watch a match at United for this family whose little lad was extremely ill and it would make his day if he could go with his parents to watch a match at Old Trafford.
This is the other side of Sir Alex. People think that he is just an out-and-out, hard football manager but he is not – he has got a heart as big as the moon.
I made contact with Laurie McMenemy, my ex-football boss at Grimsby Town, told him the situation and he contacted Alex. I received an email within the next couple of hours from Sir Alex's PR secretary asking for relevant details of the family requirements.
The final story was that the family had a great time on their day out at Old Trafford and that was all to do with Sir Alex and McMenemy.
Although under extreme pressure running his team, he could still find the time to personally issue a day out for a family who were extremely grateful indeed. It made their day.
Sir Alex Ferguson – I hope you have a very happy retirement, but somehow I just know you will still be involved in Manchester United in some way.
Dave Boylen, GTFC 1966-1978
