Ferguson had befriended them through his love of horseracing and, in turn, persuaded them to buy their way into United as shareholders. Their power and wealth went much further than that. To introduce them properly, Magnier and McManus were the richest men in Ireland, and it hardly did them justice when the English media described them as simply racehorse owners. Well, yes, though not just an ordinary racehorse, bearing in mind the achievements of ‘Rocky’ in happier times, when it was registered under Ferguson’s name via his friendship with John Magnier and JP McManus, aka the ‘Coolmore Mafia’, two Irish businessmen who turned out to be the hardest opponents the Scot ever encountered.
“The biggest football team in England,” might come the response, “and you’re seriously telling me it all started to unravel because of a racehorse?”. But the Rock of Gibraltar affair in 2003 was not one of his successes and, for United, the consequences are still being felt to this day.Ī new generation of United fans, meanwhile, might think the extraordinary chain of events that led, ultimately, to the fall of a once-mighty team - Malcolm Glazer’s takeover, the fan protests, the debts, the years of decline, the rancour and recriminations - seem a bit far-fetched. Ferguson’s achievements at Old Trafford make him the most successful British manager there has ever been.