Manchester United’s greatest ever manager Sir Alex Ferguson has now been retired for 12 years, and has spoken openly about losing his beloved wife and his brother’s dementia diagnosis
Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that concerns about dementia are constant with his younger brother now experiencing symptoms. The legendary Manchester United manager, who won 13 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues and countless other trophies, is now 83 and has been retired for more than a decade.
He is now spending more of his time involved with dementia charities, with the syndrome impacting his only sibling Martin. Ferguson also lost his beloved wife Lady Cathy in 2023, after being married for 58 years.
During an interview with BBC Breakfast to recognise National Playlist Day, the ex-United boss spoke about his brother’s situation and how it could potentially affect him in the future.
“I have a situation myself, with my brother,” he said. “It’s not easy. I have to be in touch with him a lot. He recognises me [but] the memory’s not great.
“But he’s not bad. He’s not getting any worse, let’s put it that way, which is very encouraging.”
“It’s at the back of my mind all the time. You think, ‘I wonder if he’s in just now’, or if I should give him a phone [call]. I try to do that each day.
“I keep telling him: ‘Write things down.’ I think he tries to do that, but he forgets a lot of the time. When you get to my age, you do have a little worry about whether your memory is going to stand up.
“I’m 84 in December and there are moments when I forget things. I probably did that 20 years ago, 30 years ago… no-one’s blessed with a 100% memory. But when it comes to football, when I was a manager, the memory has always been important. Now I do a lot of crosswords, I sing a lot and read.
“I tend to go into history – the American civil war. I went to a few of the battlegrounds in America, which I really enjoyed.”
Ferguson also revealed that following the loss of his wife, he found himself sitting alone in his house for long periods, before moving closer to family and going on more worldwide trips.
He continued: “After my wife passed, I was stuck in the house a lot. I moved house, into the country, next door to my son – but it’s not good enough just to sit watching TV, so I decided to travel. I went to Saudi [Arabia], Hong Kong and Bahrain.
“Occupy yourself. Dealing with the dementia group has been good for me. It’s something that I enjoy.”
Ferguson spent 26 incredible years at Old Trafford, turning them into the most successful team in English football. In total he won 38 major honours and is still a regular at United’s matches to this day.
In 2024, Ferguson first revealed his fears over dementia when he said: “Generally my memory is quite good – pray the lord, touch wood it’ll stay that way.”
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