‘There is only one person in the world I do not answer back to’

She was his sounding board, adviser and the definer of his moral code, says Jim White. Cathy Ferguson’s death brings to the end a marriage – where she was undisputedly the senior partner – with Sir Alex Ferguson that lasted nearly 60 years

Lady Cathy Ferguson was married to Sir Alex for almost 60 years (Getty Images)

It was way back in 1970 that Cathy Ferguson first influenced the direction of sporting history. Her husband Alex was a bristling, sharp-elbowed, free-scoring centre forward for Falkirk and his renown was growing. Nottingham Forest, at the time comfortably ensconced in the middle of the English First Division, wanted to sign him. And Ferguson fancied the thought of playing south of the border, seeing how the English might cope with his ferocious energy.

His wife, however, was less enamoured by the idea. As her husband was occupied by terrifying rival defences, she was entirely responsible for sorting out domestic matters, like looking after their baby son, Mark. That was their agreement. And she didn’t want to leave Glasgow, where she had an extended family to support her. There was no argument. When Cathy made her reservations known, Ferguson politely turned down Forest and stayed up north. Which meant English football never got to see perhaps the greatest manager of all time plying his trade as a player.

“There is,” Ferguson once said, “only person in the world I do not answer back to.” And he wasn’t referring to any of his club chairmen.