Football

Alex Ferguson Net Worth & Career

Sir Alex Ferguson Net Worth

In this article, we will discuss Alex Ferguson net worth, his love of horse racing & his glorious career. Over his 27 year reign at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson has established himself as a larger than life figure in football.


Sir Alex Ferguson Net Worth

Alex Ferguson Net Worth$70 Million USD


Sir Alex Ferguson used to be a top footballer in the Scottish top flight. He was the top scorer in the division in 1965/66 with 31 goals by his name for Dunfermline. 

That performance earned him a £65,000 transfer to Rangers the following season. It was a Scottish football record at that time. So, he made a handsome amount of money during his playing days.

But, that was pocket changes compared to the money he was earning during his peak years as Manchester United manager. He was making £7 million a year when he left the job.

In his 2015 book ‘’Leading’’, the former Aberdeen manager revealed the details of his final Manchester United contract. When he signed that contract in 2010, he negotiated a special clause. 

The clause stated that he would receive more money as remuneration than any other player in the squad. Ferguson writes that he had a face to face conversion regarding the matter with the club’s co-chairman Joel Glazer.

Glazer informed Ferguson that the club is about to double the salary of Wayne Rooney. Glazer wanted to know what the Scottsman thought about it. And, Ferguson, did not sugar coat his true feelings. 

He explicitly told Glazer that he does not feel it right that any player would earn more than him. The candid disclosure also reveals that the two reached an agreement instantaneously.

Even after leaving the club, Sir Alex Ferguson received almost £3 million from the club. Manchester United paid him that amount over eight months to serve as the club’s ambassador.

How much is Alex Ferguson worth today? After leaving football, he has made investments in the film industry. He also earns from horse racing. Alex Ferguson net worth in 2020 is about $70 million.


Sir Alex Ferguson’s Horse Racing

Ferguson’s soft spot for horse racing is well known. He had a stake in the Rock of Gibraltar. The Rock of Gibraltar earned the crown of the European Horse of the Year in 2002. 

The story of the Rock of Gibraltar is such a remarkable one that it deserves its own paragraph. We will dedicate the next section to revisit Sir Alex Ferguson’s affiliation with the Rock of Gibraltar.

Cheering from the stands of Cheltenham was Ferguson’s most favourite escapade from football. Sometimes, Ferguson would also take his players there as an attempt to boost team morale. 

The players used to like it. Some of his players also shared Ferguson’s penchant for horse racing. Michael Owen, for example, has his own stable and used to be a rider himself. 

Give Me A Copper is the most notable horse that Sir Alex Ferguson owns right now. However, it did not run since December 2019 in Ascot. To trace its last win, we need to go back a month further. 

In November 2019, Sir Alex Ferguson rejoiced from the stands as Give Me A Chopper won in the Badger Beers Chase at Wincanton. In doing so, it bagged £60,000 in winnings. 

Clan Des Obeux is another high profile horse that Sir Alex Ferguson has joint ownership of. The horse boasts career earnings over a million pounds and has six first-place chase race finishes to its name.  


Sir Alex Ferguson W/ The Rock Of Gibraltar 


The Rock of Gibraltar had played a vital role in the Glazers family taking over Manchester United. The Americans exploited a row between then owners and Ferguson to complete their takeover. 

The Rock of Gibraltar was one of the most coveted stallions back then. Its valuation was around $50 million, which is equivalent to almost $70m in today’s market. 

John Magnier and JP McManus, coowners of the champion horse, were also the majority shareholders of Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson believed that the duo had given him a stake of the Rock of Gibraltar. 

This idea stemmed from a conversation that took place between the parties in 2001. Sir Alex Ferguson’s perception of the talks was that Magnier and McManus have gifted him a share of the horse. 

In 2002, Ferguson wanted to sell his share and this provoked an argument between him and the Man United hierarchy. Ferguson opened legal proceedings against the Irish businessmen. 

Across the other side of the Atlantic, Malcolm Glazer was keeping close tabs on the developments. The Glazers were looking to expand their sports portfolio, which already included Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

As tensions were running high between Ferguson and the Irish duo, the Glazers convinced them to sell their shares. Eventually, the Glazers picked up 98% of Manchester United’s share by 2005. 

Ferguson and Magnier reached an arrangement outside of the court and settled the issue. Both parties maintained silence over the exact details of the deal. 

The Rock of Gibraltar did not feature significantly on Ferguson’s autobiography. He devoted only two paragraphs to talk about the beautiful horse. 

But, historians mostly agree that the Glazers takeover attempt would not have gone through had Sir Alex Ferguson did not fall out with the previous owners over the Rock of Gibraltar. 


Sir Alex Ferguson Politics

Sir Alex Ferguson is a socialist and a donor of the Labour Party. His name appeared in a list of the party’s most generous private donors in 1998. He’s also a fan of the British Union and voted against Scottland’s exit from the UK in 2014. 


Sir Alex Ferguson Autobiography

Sir Alex Ferguson’s autobiography came out in 2013. Entitled ‘’My Autobiography”, the book shipped 115,000 copies in its first week of release. It was a record for non-fiction sales in the UK. 

After coming out in October, 803, 084 copies of the book got sold by the end of the year. It outsold Dan Brown’s popular novel Inferno, which had come out four months before. 

Estimates showed that Sir Alex Ferguson had pocketed£1m in royalty by the end of 2013. Ferguson has also penned a few other books including Leading (2015) and Managing My Life (1999)


Sir Alex Ferguson Home

Sir Alex Ferguson and his wife has been living in a mansion in Cheshire since 1998. The Tudor-style mansion is worth £2.3 million in the current residential market. 

In 2020, Ferguson lost a legal battle with his neighbours. His neighbours Peter and Josephine Wilson are rebuilding their house into a three-storey mansion. 

Ferguson argued that the new building would be too close to his property and breach his privacy. But, the Chesire East Council has greenlit the project.


Alex Ferguson Knighthood

In 1999, Sir Alex Ferguson received a knighthood after overseeing Manchester United’s historic treble success. He was honoured for his unmatchable contribution to the game of football. 

However, claims emerged that Ferguson’s close relationship with then-prime minister Tony Blair was the primary factor behind his knighthood. 

In hindsight, we can surely surmise that Sir Alex Ferguson was worthy of the honour he received. His magnificent achievements as a manager revolutionised the modern game of football.


Sir Alex Ferguson Playing Career

Ferguson started his journey as a footballer playing amateur football for Queens Park Rangers. After convincing performances for QPR and St Johnstone, Dunflermine rewarded him with a professional deal in 1964. 

Ferguson continued his brilliant form in Dunfermline and this prompted Rangers to move for him in 1966. He left the club three years later, having scored 25 goals in 41 appearances for them. 

He turned down an offer from Nottingham Forrest as his wife expressed disinterest in moving to England at that time. Before retiring in 1974, Ferguson played for Falkirk and Ayr United. 


Sir Alex Ferguson Managerial Career Before United 

Sir Alex Ferguson’s first paycheck as a manager was of £40 when he took the reigns at East Stirlingshire in 1974. A few months later he joined St Mirren

Ferguson took over a Scottish Second Division side and when he left the club in 1978, the club had tasted the glory of becoming Scottish First Division champions. 

The next step for Ferguson was Aberdeen. The Dons had the status of a big team in Scottish football, but they had won the league only once by then. 

In his 8 year stay at the Pittodrie Stadium, Ferguson guided Aberdeen to three Scottish league titles. He had also won the Scottish Cup four times and won two European medals in the Cup Winners Cup and Super Cup.


Sir Alex Ferguson Manchester United

In 1986, Sir Alex Ferguson took over Manchester United. He went on to spend 27 years at the club and launch them to the pinnacle of success in English football. 

Despite having to wait seven years for the first league title, Ferguson ended up winning the league a record 13 times. His first trophy for United was the FA Cup triumph in 1990. 

Ferguson won the FA Cup four times more and also added four League Cup medals to his list of honours. But, the highlight of his unbelievably successful Manchester United career came in 1999. 

Manchester United became the first team in history to win all three major trophies in a single season. Despite the emergence of Arsenal in the league as a major title rival, the Red Devils had won on all fronts. 

After beating the Gunners by a single point in the league table, Manchester United saw out Newcastle United in the FA Cup final. They completed the treble by beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.


Final Say

Sir Alex Ferguson net worth is not truly reflective of his paramount legacy. Whether you are a Manchester United fan or not, you can’t deny that he is the best manager in English football and probably the World has ever seen. 

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