Former Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards has revealed that he was urged to consider one legendary former manager ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson’s appointment.
Martin Edwards inherited the reigns of Manchester United from his father, Louis, and was a key figure for the Red Devils ahead of the Glazers’ ownership of the club.
The former United chairman became chief executive at the club in 1982, a role that he held until 2000 before he stepped down and was replaced by Peter Kenyon.
Edwards played a key part in bringing Sir Alex Ferguson to Old Trafford in 1986 after former United manager Ron Atkinson was axed from the club.
Ferguson weathered the storm during his early run at United and went on to usher in a dynasty of success at Old Trafford, which included 13 Premier League title wins.
The legendary 82-year-old former United manager, who led the club to an iconic treble win in 1999, took charge at the Red Devils until his retirement in 2013.
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Edwards talks Ferguson and United
Sir Alex Ferguson, who banned one nickname during his time at Manchester United, had incredible success with Aberdeen in Scotland before he succeeded Ron Atkinson.
The iconic Scotsman lifted three Scottish Premier Division titles, four Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup during his time with Aberdeen.
Ferguson also famously led Aberdeen to a memorable win in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final in 1983 after the Scottish side beat Real Madrid in extra-time.
Martin Edwards has insisted that his mind was made up “fairly quickly” on Ferguson and was “impressed” by the United legend when he first met him.
However, the ex-United chief executive admitted that he was urged to “consider” legendary former England boss Terry Venables for the Red Devils head coach role.
“I made up my mind fairly quickly that he was the one,” Edwards told FourFourTwo magazine.
“I’d met him when we were trying to buy Gordon Strachan in 1984, and was impressed with the way he went about his work.
“When I put his name to the other directors, there was no-one in disagreement.
“Mike Edelson [non-executive director] suggested we should perhaps consider Terry Venables, but I’d made up my mind on Alex and was backed by the board.”
Edwards on landing Ferguson for United
Edwards recalled how he had to secretly reach out to Ferguson and find out if he wanted the United managerial role without Aberdeen or Atkinson finding out.
“If I just rang Aberdeen up and said, ‘It’s Martin Edwards from Manchester United,’ we thought they might not put me through to him,” he said.
“So our director Mike Edelson spoke to Aberdeen’s switchboard, pretending to be Gordon Strachan’s agent. They put him on.”
Edwards added: “He agreed, so we travelled up by car, the whole of the board, and met at a motorway service station.
“Once we met him and he indicated that he was prepared to come, it was just a question of negotiation.
“Maurice Watkins and I flew north the next day to speak to the Aberdeen chairman, and see Alex to agree terms.”