Alex Ferguson has announced he is retiring at the end of this season, having won his 13th English Premier League title in more than 26 years as manager of Manchester United.
Editor's note: Are you a Manchester United fan? Send us your reaction and team shirt photos.
London (CNN) -- English soccer's most successful manager -- Manchester United's Alex Ferguson -- is retiring at the end of the season after more than a quarter of a century at the helm, the club announced Wednesday.
The 71-year-old Scot has managed the English club, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and loved by millions of fans around the world, from Manchester to Manila and Montreal, since 1986.
During his 26 years in charge, Ferguson -- a supporter of Britain's Labour Party who's renowned for dressing down players with the "hairdryer treatment" -- has won more than 30 trophies, including 13 league championships.
Many fans took to Twitter to voice their appreciation, using the handle #thankyousiralex. He became Sir Alex when knighted by the queen more than a decade ago for his services to the game.
Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson announced he will retire at the end of the English Premier League season. Ferguson has managed the team for 26 years, making him the longest-serving manager in Premier League history. Ferguson looks on during a match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace in 2011 in Manchester, England.
Photos: Longest-serving coaches in sports
Will Mourinho replace Ferguson?
Bobby Charlton: Ferguson's best moment
2012: Ferguson talks to CNN
'Thank you for everything,' say Manchester United fans
As well as dominating on the pitch, Ferguson has helped build the century-old soccer club into a huge business operation whose progress is followed on stock exchanges around the world.
Its shares dipped nearly 5% in early trading Wednesday.
The Old Trafford club is owned by the American Glazer family, who oversaw the club's listing on the New York Stock Exchange last August.
For the 2011-2012 season, United increased revenues by £14.2 million to £117.6 million ($182.4), the highest of any club in the Premier League.
But it lost the top spot as the world's most valuable sports franchise in this year's Forbes list to Spanish soccer club Real Madrid. Forbes valued Manchester United at $3.17 billion, still ahead of Barcelona, another Spanish soccer club, and two U.S. outfits, the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball and the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL.
Ferguson will bow out after the club's last game of the season, an away match against West Bromwich Albion, on May 19, according to a statement from Manchester United.
Before then he will have one more home game for the "Red Devils" at Old Trafford on Sunday, against Swansea City.
'A bright future'
It's not clear who the club will choose to replace him. Ferguson will join the club's board as a director and "ambassador," Manchester United said.
"The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time," Ferguson said.
"It was important to me to leave an organization in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so."
The quality of the team, the balance of the players' ages and its upcoming youth squad will contribute to its continued "success at the highest level" and "ensure that the long-term future of the club remains a bright one," he said.
Seven moments that defined Ferguson's managerial career
Ferguson paid tribute to the club's "players and staff, past and present," thanking them "for a staggering level of professional conduct and dedication that has helped to deliver so many memorable triumphs. Without their contribution the history of this great club would not be as rich."
He also expressed gratitude to his own family, the Glazer family, and the club's many supporters, at home and abroad.
"Alex has proven time and time again what a fantastic manager he is but he's also a wonderful person. His determination to succeed and dedication to the club have been truly remarkable," Joel Glazer said.
The club also quotes former Manchester United and England captain Bryan Robson as saying Ferguson is the "greatest there has ever been."
'Extraordinary success'
Gavin Hamilton, editor of World Soccer magazine, told CNN he considers Ferguson to be unsurpassed as a manager in his time.
"In the modern era, where's he's dealt with the players on huge salaries and the corporate world that is now football, he has had extraordinary success," he said.
"He's tough and uncompromising and, I think, completely dedicated to being a winner."
Whoever takes over at Old Trafford has a hard act to follow, Hamilton said -- but Manchester United will have been planning carefully for this moment.
"There will definitely be someone in place, I think -- the big question now is who that person will be because it's been kept a secret from everyone until now," Hamilton said.
Whoever it will be has a daunting, if exciting, prospect ahead.
"It's the largest football club in the world, it's the biggest management job in the world, and on top of that is the task of following the most successful manager in the club's history," Hamilton said.
Ferguson's retirement 'a sad day'
Alex Ferguson's football legacy
2012: Ferguson: 'Racism still exists'
Bookmakers are already taking bets on who will fill Ferguson's shoes.
Names at the top of the list include Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho, formerly of Chelsea and currently at Real Madrid, and Everton manager David Moyes.
Other names in the mix include Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp, Michael Laudrup of Swansea City and former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, currently managing Norwegian team Molde.
Health concerns?
Fans' thoughts are bound to turn quickly to the 2013-2014 season, starting in September, as Manchester United prepares to defend its domestic title and attempts another win in Europe.
As recently as last week, Ferguson suggested that he was fully involved in those future plans, promising the club would be "competitive" in the summer transfer market.
Speaking to Inside United, the club's official magazine, Ferguson said: "Hopefully the players we bring into the club in the next year or so will be of the quality we need."
Manchester United coasted to this year's English Premier League title with a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa in April, with four games in hand.
Ferguson is due to undergo hip surgery this summer, according to UK media reports, but it's not clear how much of a role health concerns have played in his decision to stand down.
"I think retirement's for young people because you can do something else. When you get to my age, if your health is good, you like to work," he told CNN in a 2010 interview.
Sports writer Mihir Bose said he was surprised by the timing of Ferguson's decision, despite his upcoming surgery, saying he had expected him to carry on as manager for another couple of years.
Ferguson -- who is seen as a kind of father figure by some of the young players he developed -- has "that ability to reach out to people," said Bose, but he is also a skilled political operator.
"He could be delightful but he was a man who made sure that he controlled the agenda," he told CNN. "If you crossed his path he made it very clear that he controlled everything at Manchester United."
Those who got the famous "hairdryer treatment" -- loud shouting directly in someone's face -- included many sports journalists over the years. Ferguson would also refuse to speak to reporters if he didn't like what they said.
Despite that thorny relationship, Ferguson will be remembered as an iconic figure in English football history, said Bose. The big challenge now is how Manchester United will manage the transition to ensure continued success, he added.
'A sad day'
Former Manchester United and Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel told CNN he was still trying to make sense of the news.
"It is a sad day. I'm shocked, I'm sad, I'm disappointed. It's a day I think everyone who loves Manchester United, everyone who's worked with Sir Alex -- it's a day that we've been expecting, but I have to be honest I didn't think it would be now -- I thought it would be a couple of years down the line."
Schmeichel said he was certain that Ferguson had not been forced out but had made the decision himself, given his record of success and changes already happening on the club's board this summer.
He paid tribute to Ferguson's knowledge, skills and philosophy as a manager, particularly his ability to bring on young players.
Internationally known footballers like David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Nicky Butt were all created by Ferguson, Schmeichel said.
"He is the best manager in the world and he's the best guy as well. He's a really good friend as well."
Ferguson's talent has been in managing players individually rather than as a group, Schmeichel said.
"The end result is that everyone plays really well for the team," Schmeichel said. "Yes, he can be hard, he can be tough. ... In a way he becomes your second dad. He has to educate you in life, he has to prepare you for what comes next in life after football."
'Vision, energy, ability'
David Gill, who will step down as chief executive of Manchester United in June, said it had been a "tremendous pleasure" to work alongside Ferguson over the past 16 years.
"We knew that his retirement would come one day and we both have been planning for it by ensuring the quality of the squad and club structures are in first class condition," he said.
"Alex's vision, energy and ability have built teams -- both on and off the pitch -- that his successor can count on as among the best and most loyal in world sport."
Ferguson began his career on the soccer pitch, playing for Scottish clubs Queen's Park, St. Johnstone, Dunfermline, Glasgow Rangers, Falkirk and Ayr United.
But it was when he returned to the game as a manager, working at East Stirlingshire, St. Mirren and then Aberdeen that people really began to take notice.
He led Aberdeen to three Scottish titles, four Scottish cups, one League Cup and one European Cup Winners' Cup before moving to Manchester United in November 1986 following the dismissal of former manager Ron Atkinson.
It didn't take long for the Scotsman to start turning things round at a club that was then near the bottom of the league.
Since then, Ferguson has dominated the English game -- his string of victories making him, according to the Manchester United website, "the most successful manager in British football history."
CNN's Alex Thomas and Patrick Sung contributed to this report.
Loading weather data ...
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The 71-year-old is the most successful and longest-serving manager in United's history, having also won two European Champions League crowns, five FA Cups and four League Cups.
Ferguson survived a difficult first four years at Manchester United before winning a title -- the 1990 FA Cup. Here he celebrates with Bryan Robson, who became the first United captain to lift the trophy three times after beating Crystal Palace 1-0 in the final replay.
Ferguson lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup for the second time in his career in 1991, when United beat Barcelona 2-1 in the final. He had previously won the now defunct tournament with Scottish club Aberdeen.
In 1993, United won the English title for the first time in 26 years, and Ferguson took the club on a tour of South Africa, where he met Nelson Mandela before the ANC leader became the country's first post-apartheid president.
Ferguson celebrates with his assistant Brian Kidd after United won the Premiership again in 1994, then went on to secure a domestic double by beating Chelsea in the FA Cup final. United repeated the feat in 1996.
Ferguson with his grandson Jake before the 1999 FA Cup final victory against Newcastle that sealed United's third double in six years.
Just four days later, United completed a treble with an incredible last-gasp win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. Ferguson and keeper Peter Schmeichel hold the trophy in Barcelona.
Ferguson tried to retire more than a decade ago, announcing at the start of the 2001-02 season that it would be his last. However, he changed his mind the following February but United failed to reach the Champions League final -- which was to be played in his native Glasgow.
Another European title followed in 2008, but Barcelona handed United disappointment in the 2009 and 2011 finals. However, Ferguson and his players still earned a parade the latter season after winning a record 19th English league title -- the Scot's 12th.
The next season, United commemorated Ferguson's 25 years as manager on November 5, 2011.
As a player, Ferguson was a prolific goalscorer for Scottish clubs St. Johnstone and Dunfermline, but his big move to Glasgow Rangers in 1967 proved disappointing and he left two years later. He ended his playing days at Ayr in 1974 without winning a major honor.
Ferguson made his name as a manager at Aberdeen. His fourth Scottish Cup win in 1986 was his last success with the Dons, having won three Scottish league titles and the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup -- beating mighty Real Madrid in the final.
Ferguson, who briefly managed Scotland at the 1986 World Cup, overhauled the squad at Old Trafford and introduced some of the finest players to grace the EPL in the past two decades.
Arguably the most important signing was that of French forward Eric Cantona, a $1.9 million bargain from Leeds who led United's surge to dominance in the 1990s.
The 1993 addition of young midfielder Roy Keane in a then British record transfer fee of £3.75 million from Nottingham Forest provided United with a ferocious future captain.
Ferguson also introduced young talent such as David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers Gary and Phil -- who all went on to become integral members of his team.
Ferguson played a key role in resurrecting the career of Beckham, who had been vilified by England fans after being sent off during the 1998 World Cup defeat by Argentina.
Ferguson famously beat United's rivals Manchester City to sign Giggs as a teenager, and the Welsh winger has repaid his faith by staying with the club until the present day.
Ferguson's signing of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2003 paid off as the Portugal forward fired United to Champions League glory in 2008 and was named world player of the year -- the first from the EPL to do so -- before joining Real Madrid in a record $130 million deal.
Ferguson is well known for his fiery temper and his motivational skills.
In 2003, he infamously kicked a boot into the face of Beckham in the dressing room after a match, but refused to apologize. "If I'd tried it 100 times or million times, it wouldn't happen again," he said. "If it did, I would carry on playing."
United striker Wayne Rooney said Ferguson's team talk ahead of the 2008 Champions League final against Chelsea in Moscow "made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up." United denied the London side a first European title after a penalty shootout.
United reached the final again the following season, but lost to Barcelona. Here Ferguson speaks with Britain's Prince William at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy.
Ferguson's last match on the European stage was a defeat by Ronaldo's Real Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16 second-leg match at Old Trafford on March 5, 2013.
Mike Krzyzewski, also known as Coach K, has coached Duke University's men's basketball team since 1980, putting him in his 33rd season as head coach. Krzyzewski calls a play to his team during a game against Presbyterian Blue Hose in 2011 in Durham, North Carolina.
Eddie Robinson served as Grambling State University's head football coach for 57 seasons from 1941 to 1997. Robinson coached more than 4,000 players. Robinson is emotional during the National Anthem before his final game as head coach on November 15, 1997.
Al Arbour coached the New York Islanders for 20 years with a year-long stint as vice president of player development for the team in 1987. Arbour looks on during a game against the Philadelphia Flyers in 1980.
Andy Landers has coached the University of Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball team since 1979 and continues to this day. Landers shouts directions to his team during a game against the University of California Golden Bears on April 1.
Gregg Popovich is in his 17th year as coach of the San Antonio Spurs. Popovich directs his team against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 14.
Tom Landry coached the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1988 and turned the team into one of the most dominant in the National Football League until the early '80s. Landry watches the Cowboys play against the San Francisco 49ers in 1982.
Connie Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics, now located in Oakland, from 1901 until his retirement at age 88 in 1950. Mack, left, speaks with a pitcher for the Athletics in 1920.
|