Sir Alex Ferguson was known for many things during his time in charge of Manchester United, but not many people know about his incredible gesture towards the club's oldest season ticket holder.
In a remarkable story told by former Leicester Mercury reporter Jeremy Clay, it has emerged that a woman, who was in her 90's, constantly called the office to ask the newspaper to write more stories about The Reds.
That woman, who went by the name of Alice, was in fact United's oldest season ticket holder.
In the 1990s, I was a reporter in Leicester. Pre-Twitter, of course. Back then, if readers hated something you'd written, they'd write a letter to you, in furious capitals.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
Or they'd ring you up, twisting your ear through the handset like the General to Dick Dastardly.
That's what Alice used to do. She was a Mercury reader in her 90s who used to trek from one side of the city all the way to the office, purely to tell me off.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
I probably deserved it.
Alice lived in Leicester but she was from London. She supported Manchester United. Insert your own predictable remark here.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
She was nice, was Alice, but steelier than a submarine hull. She told me several times, in tones reserved for explaining daybreak to an idiot, that I should be writing stories about Manchester United.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
Alice and Jeremy soon began chatting and he soon found out that Sir Alex used to send a minibus to Leicester to pick her up and take her to Old Trafford.
But it wasn't just a one off.
Jeremy reveals that he sent a minibus every game. All the way to the East Midlands and all the way back.
Ferguson repeated that gesture every other Saturday and Sunday, or whatever day that Sky demanded, for the rest of his time in charge of Manchester United in the 90's.
Anyway, it turned out Alice was Manchester United's oldest season ticket holder. And here's the thing: Alex Ferguson used to send a minibus to Leicester to pick her up and take her to Old Trafford.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
Every game. All the way to the East Midlands. All the way back. Repeat every other Saturday/Sunday/whatever day Sky demanded.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
We did write about that. That was about her. Although in hindsight, it was more about him.
Then, in another heartwarming gesture, Sir Alex learned that the elderly woman couldn't attend the game anymore because her eyesight was weakening - so he offered to pay for Alice to have an operation.
One day Alice came in to berate me about something or other - I forget what - and by the by she told me she had stopped going to matches.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
Why? She was in her 90s. Her eyesight was failing.
She was too old for corrective surgery on the NHS, she said. And then she told me Alex Ferguson had offered to pay for her to have the operation.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
I think that was the last time I saw Alice. She'll be long gone now.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
Had she lived to know what Twitter was, she probably wouldn't want me writing about it on here either. But she would have been worried sick about Alex Ferguson. So I thought I'd write this anyway.
A true great of the game.
source https://www.sportbible.com/football/news-reactions-legends-what-sir-alex-ferguson-did-for-man-utds-oldest-season-ticket-holder-20201106
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