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Eyewitness: Manchester, England
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14 May » GuardianManchester United fans line the streets to bid farewell to Alex Ferguson
City swells with fans – including 20,000 who crammed into Sir Matt Busby Way – despite the bad weather • View the best images from the victory parade here There was wind, there was hail, there was thunder and lightning and sideways rain. But a bit of bad weather failed to deter the tens of thousands of United fans who jostled for position on Manchester's streets on Monday afternoon to bid farewell to the most successful manager in British football history. "Apart from my daughter, that man has given me the greatest moments of my life," said Mitch Wills, who was waiting for…
13 May » GuardianSir Alex Ferguson's farewell brings adoring fans from across the globe
Manchester United's manager ended his reign with an emotional Old Trafford speech as thousands flocked to pay homage Even for the Theatre of Dreams, it was a momentous farewell. The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, took a single, deep breath of air in the tunnel before propelling himself one final time towards the gaze of his adoring fans. No matter that he had never graced the Old Trafford pitch in the way of his greatest players – David Beckham and Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie. All eyes, this day of days, were on him. To the…
12 May » GuardianSir Alex Ferguson: The man and the city
Manchester has always had a place for outsiders, from Friedrich Engels to Alan Turing. And this one has left his indelible mark on the city's own myths and culture I can easily generate a Man City fan's revulsion about Sir Alex Ferguson's surly shtick, strategic trickery, his bloody, battering success. I can also admit that his contribution to the continuing reinvention of the idea of Manchester is significant. It's not merely his record as a football manager comprehensively elevating the sporting and commercial legend of Manchester United, but how he has achieved this by enhancing the…
12 May » GuardianA Theatre of Dreams built on millions
When Sir Alex Ferguson arrived at Old Trafford, fans paid £3 to watch their heroes. Today it is a global money machine owned by corporate America To look back now at Sir Alex Ferguson's first brief television interview as Manchester United's new manager in November 1986 is to be struck by dizzying differences, between then and his leaving of the empire 27 years later. Besides the obvious – the beguilingly fresh face of fortysomething Ferguson, his need to explain why Manchester United are a bigger football prospect than his previous club, Aberdeen – Old Trafford, behind him,…
12 May » GuardianOther News
Sir Alex retires to life on the Edge
The United manager can now relax at home in an area that's full of working-class families made good run by tough women. Much like the Ferguson household "Alderley Edge resident Sir Alex Ferguson announces his retirement." The Macclesfield Express knows a splash, and Fergie stepping down as United manager only makes the front page because of his home's postcode. Otherwise the paper would have reacted as the rest of the nation's press: soberly, without hyberbole and with a small piece along the lines of "71-year-old retires – plans for marathon Homes Under The Hammer session thwarted when…
12 May » GuardianFlags, chants and £1,000 tickets mark Alex Ferguson's farewell
Outside Old Trafford, memorabilia is selling well – but there's a sense of trepidation about what happens after the end of an era "Alex Ferguson commemorative scarves, 10 pounddds!" yelled Paul, a 49-year-old hawker stationed outside the Manchester United Megastore at Old Trafford. It was a rainy, blustery morning, but with more than 3,000 visitors booked on a stadium tour on Saturday, he was doing brisk business. His customers came from Norway, China and – let's bury the stereotype about United's far-flung fanbase – quite a few were locals too. The range of Fergie…
11 May » GuardianUnited fans react: 'We're in shock'
Young people living in shadow of Old Trafford 'have never known a world without Alex Ferguson', say supporters It is often said that Manchester United's fans are more likely to hail from Surrey or Szechuan than round the corner in Stretford. But the club looms large over the redbrick terraces of this working-class area of Greater Manchester. "I can't believe it!" wailed postwoman Lisa Walker, born and bred minutes from Old Trafford. "People keep rushing out of their houses, hands on their heads in disbelief asking me if I've heard the news," said the 32-year-old as she delivered letters in…
08 May » GuardianMLS week ten: Previews and reviews feat. Atticus Lane-Dupre and the Portland Timbers | Graham Parker
• LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo replay 2012 MLS Cup final • Seattle Sounders look to build on their first win of season • Portland Timbers grant a wish for Atticus Lane-Dupre This is now attempt number 329 of writing an opening sentence of this weekend's previews — attempts written in the knowledge that the first listed game of the weekend is a Columbus Crew home game, and attempting not to make a really bad pun about teams being on fire, or rising from the ashes, or finding their spark, or... Columbus Crew's scoreboard caught fire last week , delaying the start of…
03 May » GuardianMLS week nine: previews and reviews | Graham Parker
• Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Dallas clash again • Montreal Impact return from break to challenge in East • Sporting Kansas City start three game home stand Welcome to Week Nine of the MLS season - a season which is now a quarter of the way through for some teams and barely begun for others, with the vagaries of scheduling a 19-team, four-timezone league. What's definitely over is MLS involvement in this year's Champions League. Santos Laguna and Monterrey played out a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the final in midweek — a game that Herculez Gomez warmed up for by…
26 Apr » Guardian
