I thought Fergie was a thug when we met, says his wife
Alex Ferguson looked like a “gangster” when he first met his future wife.
The football legend had a cut to his face when she saw him for the first time, which led to Cathy thinking he was a “thug”.
The former Manchester United manager picked up the injury playing in a match, but still plucked up the courage to ask her out.
And in a new documentary titled Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In, Cathy, 82, said his efforts to impress her on their first date at the cinema were rather clumsy.
She said: “I just saw him walking through and I thought he was a thug.
“Then I found out he was a footballer and that didn’t make him any different to me.
“He bought me a box of liquorice allsorts at the movies, of which he ate all of them, and a local paper when we came out.That was my romantic day.” The couple met when they were working at the Remington Rand typewriter factory in the Hillington area of Glasgow, in the early 1960s.
Sir Alex, 79, was an apprentice toolmaker at the factory and playSIR ing part time for St Johnstone, of Perth, when he met Cathy.
He said: “I was 22. I had this friend and she said to me, ‘There’s a really nice girl that’s just started.’
“I had suffered an injury at football and I had a plaster on my face. She thought I was either a gangster or a boxer.
“We got really close and I really loved her.”
Cathy added: “We got married in Glasgow register office in 1966 and that was the start. I went to my work and he went to his football.”
The couple have now been married for 55 years and have three sons. The documentary, directed by son Jason, documents Sir Alex’s recovery from a brain haemorrhage that struck in May 2018.
He reveals how he feared he would never speak again and lose his memory after waking up from emergency surgery following the near-death experience.
Sir Alex played for a number of Scottish sides, including Rangers, before going into management. He first tasted success at Aberdeen and also managed the Scottish national team. But his greatest achievements came at Old Trafford where he won 38 trophies, including two Champions League titles, in 27 years at the helm. He retired in 2013.
● Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In will be in cinemas from May 27 and on Amazon Prime from May 29.