The wife of Man United legend Sir Alex Ferguson, Lady Cathy Ferguson, passed away at the age of 84 on Friday afternoon.
That is according to the PA news agency, which released a statement from the Ferguson family confirming the sad news: “We are deeply saddened to confirm the passing yesterday of Lady Cathy Ferguson, survived by her husband, three sons, two sisters, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild,” the statement read. “The family asks for privacy at this time.”
Cathy played a big role in her husband’s success in football and the former Man United manager made sure to document this on several occasions.
When the Scottish coach announced his retirement as Man United manager in 2013 after an unprecedented period of success for the Red Devils, Ferguson said: “My wife Cathy has been the key figure throughout my career, providing a bedrock of both stability and encouragement. Words are not enough to express what this has meant to me.”
#Breaking Lady Cathy Ferguson, wife of former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has died, the family has announced pic.twitter.com/4YdF3pcLPX
— PA Dugout (@PAdugout) October 6, 2023
Cathy had been married to Sir Alex since 1966, with the couple having met while they were both working at a typewriter factory. In 2002, Lady Ferguson had been instrumental in convincing her husband to reverse his decision to retire at that point. After which, he went on to manage Man United for a further 11 years before eventually calling time.
Ferguson achieved amazing things in football and will go down as one of the greatest managers of all time. However, his wife held his private life together and that gave the Man United legend the foundations to do his job and everyone in the football world’s thoughts will be with the legendary figure and his family on Friday.
What a loss to man u fan!! MHS RIP
RIP Lady Cathy
My heartfelt condolences to sir Alex and the family for this sad news