Ferguson, Alex - Alex Ferguson My Autobiography

Peter Schmeichel was a mighty goalkeeper. A battering from Wimbledon’s Crazy Gang soon after his arrival failed to break him.

Never give in. Three–nil down at Spurs in 2001, we fought back to win 5–3. Here Verón has just scored our fourth goal.

David Beckham’s self-confidence never wavered. He was a fit boy and a marvellous striker of the ball.

Champions again, in May 2003. Beckham’s last match for us. David deserves great credit for reviving his career.

The Brazilian Ronaldo was given a standing ovation after his Old Trafford hat-trick for Real Madrid in 2003. United fans know what talent is.

The heart was in for a test on big European nights. Tension gnawed away at us in that 2003 Champions League tie against Real Madrid.

Rio Ferdinand was due to face a hearing for missing a drugs test when Roy Keane offered his support as they left the Old Trafford pitch.

A draconian sentence. Rio is banned for eight months. The club would not abandon him.

Roy Keane took parts of my own character on to the pitch. In his later years injuries made it harder for him to gallop from box to box.

Cristiano Ronaldo worked on every aspect of his game, even heading. Look at him leap in the 2004 FA Cup final win.

Reaching out to our fans. We’ve just beaten Millwall 3–0 in the 2004 FA Cup final and Mikaël Silvestre is with me.

Work hard, play hard. The dressing room after our victory over Millwall. Ronaldo looks so young.

Rivals to the end. Arsène Wenger and I had our fall-outs but there was more to unite than divide us.

Arsène was livid after we stopped Arsenal’s unbeaten 49-match run in October 2004.

Ruud van Nistelrooy opened the scoring as we prevented Arsenal from going 50 games unbeaten. A volcanic day.

Rafa Benítez turned our rivalry personal. I could handle that.

When José Mourinho joined Chelsea I thought: ‘New kid on the block. Confident.’ A new challenge had arrived.

My hero Denis Law and close friend Bobby Robson at a lunch to celebrate my 20th anniversary as United manager. As a player I wanted to be Denis.

Ronaldo was a model student. Carlos Queiroz played an important role in his development.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was a natural finisher. I always saw myself in our strikers.

Fergie Time. I pointed to my watch to strike fear into opponents, who knew we often scored in the last minute.

Michael Carrick strikes in our thrilling 7–1 win over Roma at Old Trafford in 2007. A near perfect display.

The wonder boys, Ronaldo and Rooney, in that 7–1 victory over Roma. Ronaldo scored twice and Rooney once.

Moscow, Roman Abramovich’s home town, was the stage for our 2008 Champions League win over Chelsea. Here, Ryan Giggs tucks away his penalty in sudden-death.

My record in penalty shoot-outs wasn’t good. At first I couldn’t believe we had won when Edwin van der Sar saved from Nicolas Anelka.

The retreat from Moscow. A happy one. Giggs and Ferdinand hold the 2008 Premier League and Champions League trophies on the tarmac in Manchester.

Labour can always count on my support and Tony Blair and Gordon Brown became friends.

The Glazers were supportive from day one. They let me get on with the job. Avram ( left ), Joel and Bryan joined us at Vale do Lobo in Portugal.