{"id":238014,"date":"2023-10-07T02:49:56","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T02:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/?p=238014"},"modified":"2023-10-07T02:49:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T02:49:56","slug":"lady-cathy-ferguson-was-the-power-behind-fergies-man-united-throne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/lifestyle\/lady-cathy-ferguson-was-the-power-behind-fergies-man-united-throne\/","title":{"rendered":"Lady Cathy Ferguson was the power behind Fergie&apos;s Man United throne"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>CHRIS WHEELER: Lady Cathy Ferguson was the power behind Fergie&#8217;s throne, and talked him out of quitting Manchester United in 2001<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Lady Cathy Ferguson, who has died aged 84, was the power behind Fergie<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>She was the reason he did not quit Manchester United back in 2001<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off&#8217;\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>She was the power behind the most successful manager in the history of English football.<\/p>\n<p>The woman who talked Sir Alex Ferguson out of retirement in 2001 and the reason he eventually stepped down as Manchester United manager 11 years later.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout her husband\u2019s unparalleled success, Lady Cathy remained out of the spotlight, content in her role as a mother to their three boys and, later, as a grandmother and great-grandmother.<\/p>\n<p>But Ferguson was in no doubt how important his wife\u2019s quiet influence over 57-and-a-half years of marriage was to his achievements in the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Without her down-to-earth attitude to life and unstinting support, none of it would have been possible,\u2019 he wrote.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/06\/21\/76261843-12603639-image-m-32_1696623177464.jpg\" height=\"532\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Lady Cathy Ferguson, right, was the power behind one of football&#8217;s most successful managers<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/06\/21\/76253723-12603639-Sir_Alex_Ferguson_said_his_achievements_in_football_would_not_ha-m-31_1696623908688.jpg\" height=\"509\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Sir Alex Ferguson said his achievements in football would not have been possible without her\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>The flags at Old Trafford are flying at half-mast in tribute to Lady Cathy after the Ferguson family announced she had died at the age of 84.<\/p>\n<p>United will wear black armbands when they play Brentford at home on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>A statement from the club read: \u2018Everyone at Manchester United sends our heartfelt condolences to Sir Alex Ferguson and his family on the passing of Lady Cathy, a beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother and great-grandmother, and a tower of strength for Sir Alex throughout his career.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson met Cathy Holding when they were working at the Remington Rand typewriter factory in Glasgow, where he was an apprentice toolmaker while playing part-time for St Johnstone.<\/p>\n<p>He remembered setting eyes on her for the first time at a strike meeting, while she thought he looked like a \u2018thug\u2019 because he had just had surgery on a facial injury.<\/p>\n<p>They began going out after he walked her home from the Locarno dance hall one Friday night and had their first date at the cinema.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He bought me a box of Liquorice Allsorts at the movies, of which he ate all of them. That was my romantic day!\u2019 she recalled.<\/p>\n<p>They were married at Martha Street Registry Office in Glasgow on March 12, 1966, the venue a necessity because he was a Protestant and she was Catholic.<\/p>\n<p>When Ferguson moved into management at St Mirren, Cathy raised their three sons \u2014 Mark, Jason and Darren \u2014 almost single-handedly while he combined the job with running a pub.<\/p>\n<p>After Alex made his name at Aberdeen, Cathy scuppered a deal for him to take over as Tottenham manager in 1984 because she did not want to move to London.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Ferguson joined United two years later and the rest is footballing history.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/06\/21\/76253705-12603639-Sir_Alex_Ferguson_s_wife_of_57_years_Lady_Cathy_has_died_at_the_-a-34_1696623394184.jpg\" height=\"479\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>She\u00a0scuppered a deal for him to be Spurs manager because she didn&#8217;t want to move to London<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/06\/21\/76253699-12603639-It_was_revealed_in_an_Amazon_documentary_on_her_husband_that_she-a-35_1696623450288.jpg\" height=\"498\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>She helped nurse Sir Alex back to health after he suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2018<\/p>\n<p>It was Cathy who informed him in the lounge of their Wilmslow home on Christmas Day 2001 that he had to make a U-turn on his decision to retire. \u2018I\u2019m not having you in the house,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n<p>However, the death of Cathy\u2019s twin sister Bridget in October 2012 convinced Ferguson that it was time to quit for good to spend more time with his wife.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, she helped nurse him back to health after he suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>A statement from the family read: \u2018We are deeply saddened to confirm the passing of Lady Cathy Ferguson, survived by her husband, three sons, two sisters, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.\u2019<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12603639\/CHRIS-WHEELER-Lady-Cathy-Ferguson-power-Fergies-throne-talked-quitting-Manchester-United-2001.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHRIS WHEELER: Lady Cathy Ferguson was the power behind Fergie&#8217;s throne, and talked him out of quitting Manchester United in 2001 Lady Cathy Ferguson, who has died aged 84, was&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238013,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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