OpinionWill the game be the same without gruff Glaswegian?
The resignation of Sir Alex, who has been a major part of world soccer for more than 26 years, leaves a weird, confusing void
Where were you when Alex Ferguson resigned? On Facebook? Riding the MTR? Checking your portfolio? Ironing your socks?
The older generation can supposedly remember where they were when JFK was assassinated in 1963 (Fergie once revealed he kept a copy of JFK's autopsy report by his bed).
The middle-aged have the death of Princess Diana in 1997. Now the younger generation can bore their grandchildren by recalling with pride where they were when Ferguson officially bid adieu after 261/2 long years of over-achievement at Old Trafford .
When news of his season's end departure broke, the share price of the leviathan soccer brand tumbled 2 per cent before recovering slightly. Newspaper cartoonists duly took the cue with illustrations of board-room panic at chewing-gum giant Wrigleys.
The long-expected retirement of a 71-year-old topped the BBC's flagship 6pm news bulletin, knocking into second spot the Queen's annual speech to Parliament outlining her government's plans for the legislative year ahead.
Forget immigration and the rise of the far right, a flat-lining economy, rocketing unemployment, terrorism and the starving millions. When the "greatest British soccer manager of all time" (the excited BBC's political editor described him as the "greatest Briton ever") bows out, everything else pales into insignificance.