Here is an inspiring story of Manchester United’s oldest season ticket holder and what Sir Alex Ferguson did to her..
Sir Alex Ferguson is known for his contributions towards the club for its success, but off the pitch he was a gem as well. The Scottish International was doing bits to the elder women.
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.
Or they’d ring you up, twisting your ear through the handset like the General to Dick Dastardly.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
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.
I probably deserved it.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
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
Since Leicester Mercy is an outlet based on the city of Leicestershire, they could not do it.
But, Sir Alex Ferguson was able to recognise that and sent a mini van from Manchester to Leicestershire to pick her up during the weekends for the games.
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.
We did write about that. That was about her. Although in hindsight, it was more about him.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
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.
Why? She was in her 90s. Her eyesight was failing.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
When Sir Alex was not able to spot the old lady in the stands, he came to know about her problem and decided to pay for her eye surgery.
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
Cue Paddington-style hard stare. She didn’t want it going in the paper, she said. It wasn’t something he was doing for publicity. She just wanted me to know the kind of man he was.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
I think that was the last time I saw Alice. She’ll be long gone now.
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.
— Jeremy Clay (@Ludicrousscenes) May 7, 2018
It’s truly an incredible gesture, isn’t it..
