How Sir Alex Ferguson built the Manchester United dynasty

The Manchester United dynasty was the work of one manager. Sir Alex Ferguson took charge of Manchester United in November 1986 and won 13 Premier League titles in the 21 seasons from 1992/93 to 2012/13, more than any other manager has won in the competition's history. But the team everyone remembers from it, the 1999 treble winners, was not his best side. The 2007/08 team was, and the gap between those two teams is where the dynasty actually gets interesting.

How the Manchester United dynasty was built: the first rebuild

The dynasty nearly never started. Ferguson arrived on 6 November 1986 with United second bottom of the First Division, 21st out of 22 sides, and the club only stabilised to finish 11th. He came with a record that explained the gamble: at Aberdeen he had broken the Old Firm's grip with three Scottish league titles, four domestic cups and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983, beating Real Madrid in the final.

The first trophy took four years and nearly cost him his job. A 1-0 FA Cup win at Nottingham Forest in the third round of 1989/90 is routinely cited as the result that saved him, and United went on to lift the cup that season, then beat Barcelona 2-1 in the European Cup Winners' Cup final a year later. The first league title arrived in 1992/93, the inaugural Premier League season, ending a 26-year wait that stretched back to Matt Busby's 1967 side.

The signing that made it possible was Eric Cantona, bought from Leeds for £1.2 million in November 1992. United finished 10 points clear of Aston Villa, and Cantona went on to win four titles in five seasons, including the doubles of 1993/94 and 1995/96, scoring in both FA Cup finals and sealing the 1996 one 1-0 against Liverpool. Around him Ferguson was already blooding the generation the club now calls the Class of '92: Ryan Giggs made 45 appearances and scored 11 goals in the title-winning season, and David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Gary Neville all made their debuts in 1992/93.

The treble everyone remembers

The peak, in the public imagination, is 1998/99, when United became the only English team ever to win the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. The league was won on 79 points, a single point ahead of Arsenal, and the European Cup arrived in the most theatrical way possible.

In the final at the Camp Nou on 26 May 1999, Bayern Munich led 1-0 from Mario Basler's sixth-minute free kick until deep into stoppage time. Teddy Sheringham equalised in the 90th+1 minute and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won it in the 90th+3, both from David Beckham corners, two goals in 103 seconds in front of 90,245. Ferguson's post-match summary to ITV became part of the folklore: "Football, bloody hell."

It is the most famous night of the era and it is also the one that flatters the team. The treble side won a single Champions League, needed two stoppage-time goals to get it, and won the league by one point. It was a team of great moments. The 2007/08 side was a team of greater ones.

The second rebuild: the better team

The dynasty survived by rebuilding, and the second construction was the superior one. United rebuilt around Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Edwin van der Sar, and won five Premier League titles in seven seasons from 2006/07 to 2012/13.

The 2007/08 team won the title with 87 points, eight more than the treble side managed, and Ronaldo scored 42 goals in the season. In the Champions League final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on 21 May 2008, the first all-English final, United beat Chelsea 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in which Ronaldo's header was his 42nd goal of the season and Frank Lampard equalised before half-time. John Terry slipped and hit the post at 4-4, and Edwin van der Sar saved Nicolas Anelka's kick.

That second era reached two more Champions League finals, losing both to Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, and United have not won the trophy since 2008. So the dynasty's best team delivered one European Cup and two final defeats, while the romantic 1999 side delivered one European Cup and never got back to a final. Pick your monument. The 2007/08 team was the better football side, and it is the one the last five titles were built on.

The final title and the farewell

The last title shows how the system worked to the end. United lost the 2011/12 championship to Manchester City on goal difference, both clubs finishing on 89 points, and Ferguson's response was to go and buy the problem. Robin van Persie arrived from Arsenal in August 2012, scored 26 league goals to win the Golden Boot, and his first-half hat-trick, including a volley from a Wayne Rooney pass, beat Aston Villa 3-0 on 22 April 2013 to seal the title, United's 20th English championship and a record in English football.

Ferguson announced his retirement on 8 May 2013, after 26 and a half years in charge and 38 trophies, more than any other manager in the history of football. His final match was a 5-5 draw at West Bromwich Albion on 19 May 2013, a result so absurd it fit the occasion. David Moyes took over, and the scale of what Ferguson had built only became visible once it was gone.

Why the dynasty lasted

The raw numbers are in the title winners guide: 13 of the 34 Premier League titles, all under Ferguson, with Ryan Giggs part of all 13 squads, eight of the first 11 titles, and three in a row twice, between 1999 and 2001 and between 2007 and 2009. Ferguson was named Premier League Manager of the Year 11 times, was appointed CBE in 1995 and knighted in 1999.

The dynasty lasted because it was a system, not a squad. Ferguson rebuilt twice, bought the league's best player when he needed one, trusted the academy when he could, and treated every trophy as the start of the next season. The treble side he built in the 1990s and the side he built after 2006 share almost no players and both won the European Cup. That is the definition of a dynasty, and it is why the Manchester United dynasty is the standard every era since has been measured against, and found wanting. The club that won the first Premier League season, as our guide to the 1992 founding explains, went from founding member to the league's record champion under one man. Nobody has repeated it since he left.

FAQ

How many Premier League titles did Sir Alex Ferguson win? 13, all with Manchester United, from 1992/93 to 2012/13. Ryan Giggs was part of all 13 title-winning squads.

What was Ferguson's greatest achievement at Manchester United? The 1999 treble is the famous answer, but the 2007/08 team won the title with 87 points and beat Chelsea in the Champions League final, and the five titles in seven seasons from 2006/07 were built on that second squad.

How long was Ferguson in charge of Manchester United? He took over on 6 November 1986 and retired on 8 May 2013, after 26 and a half years and 38 trophies.

When did Manchester United win their first Premier League title? In 1992/93, the inaugural Premier League season, ending a 26-year wait for a league title. Eric Cantona's arrival from Leeds for £1.2 million was the decisive signing.

Key takeaways

• Ferguson took charge in November 1986 with United second bottom and won 13 Premier League titles in 21 seasons, the most by any manager in the competition's history.
• Eric Cantona, signed for £1.2 million in November 1992, delivered four titles in five seasons and the first title in 26 years.
• The 1999 treble is the romantic peak, but the 2007/08 side was the better team: 87 points, Ronaldo's 42-goal season, and a penalty shootout win over Chelsea in Moscow.
• The dynasty was a system, not a squad: two separate rebuilds, two European Cups, and five titles in seven seasons from 2006/07 to 2012/13.
• Ferguson retired in May 2013 with 38 trophies and United have not won the Premier League since, which is the clearest measure of what the Manchester United dynasty actually was.