Sir Alex Ferguson has bought a £1.2million house in an idyllic village next door to his son Darren so he can be close to his grandchildren.
The Man Utd legend snapped up the five-bedroom property in Goostrey, Cheshire after putting his former family home on the market for £3.5million following the death of his beloved wife, Cathy.
Sir Alex and Lady Cathy had three sons, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Darren is also a football manager and currently works at League One club Peterborough United.
Goostrey, his new home, first appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086 and has become a base for footballers including Raheem Sterling – who lived there when he was at Manchester City.
It has two pubs, the Crown Inn and the Space Invader – previously known as the Red Lion – and several local shops, a post office and a cafe. His move was reported by The Mirror.
Sir Alex is joined by his grandchildren on the pitch at Old Trafford as he celebrated Man Utd winning the Premier League
Goostrey, his new home, first appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086 and has two cosy pubs
It has become a base for footballers including Raheem Sterling – who lived there when he was at Manchester City
The couple’s football manager son, Darren Ferguson, inside their old home
Earlier this month it emerged Sir Alex had put the Cheshire house he shared with his wife of 60 years up for sale following her death in October aged 84.
The football legend has described Lady Cathy, who he met in 1964, as a ‘bedrock’ in his life. Last week, he joked she ‘would’ve gone mad’ after he spent £650,000 on two horses before winning the Bahrain International Trophy.
Their former detached home is situated on what estate agents are hailing as ‘one of Cheshire’s most desirable roads’ and is positioned within a ‘very private, gated and secure’ plot.
The home is ‘deceptively spacious,’ according to the property listing, and has a stunning reception area that is outfitted with a wrap-around staircase and grand chandelier. It was last sold for £2.3m in 2007 and is being offered without a chain.
Sir Alex was one of the well known faces to attended Sir Bobby Charlton’s funeral earlier this month. He was accompanied by long-serving Old Trafford receptionist Kath Phipps.
The house Sir Alex shared with Lady Cathy boasts a bespoke open plan breakfast kitchen, its very own gym, a dressing room and modern games room.
The kitchen offers a stunning granite work surface, a walk in pantry and cupboard, breakfast bar-style seating and double glazed patio doors leading out to the garden, according to the listing.
Sir Alex has listed the five-bedroom mansion that he shared with Lady Cathy for £3.5million
The house Sir Alex shared with Lady Cathy boasts an impressive games room
The property’s living room is fitted with a ‘flame coal effect gas fire’, double glazed patio doors and a large speaker system
Sir Alex Ferguson and Lady Cathy were married for 57 years and had three sons before her death
Ferguson in his Cheshire home during Amazon documentary Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In
Lady Cathy was interviewed in what appeared to be the living room
Lady Cathy was by Sir Alex’s side throughout his long football career, and helped nurse him back to health after his stroke following his retirement after 26 years at Man Utd in 2013.
When he announced his retirement as club manager in 2013 after an unprecedented period of success for the Red Devils, Sir Alex 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.’
He has also described her as the only person in the world he does not answer back to – quite something for a man renowned for issuing terrifying ‘hairdryer treatments’ to footballers not pulling their weight.
United said following her death: ‘Everyone at Manchester United sends our heartfelt condolences to Sir Alex Ferguson and his family on the passing of Lady Cathy. Lady Cathy was a beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother and great-grandmother, and a tower of strength for Sir Alex throughout his career.’
The kitchen offers a stunning granite work surface, a walk in pantry and storage cupboard, breakfast bar style seating and double glazed patio doors leading out to the garden
The house offers a grand hallway with a large wooden staircase in the centre
The home is ‘deceptively spacious,’ according to the property listing
Sir Alex put the stunning 7,000sf Cheshire home up for sale just six weeks after Lady Cathy died
The former manager was one of the well known faces to attended Sir Bobby Charlton’s funeral earlier this month. He was accompanied by long-serving Old Trafford receptionist Kath Phipps
Last week, Sir Alex joked she ‘would’ve gone mad’ after he spent £650,000 on two horses before winning the Bahrain International Trophy
United said following her death: ‘Everyone at Manchester United sends our heartfelt condolences to Sir Alex Ferguson and his family on the passing of Lady Cathy. Lady Cathy was a beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother and great-grandmother, and a tower of strength for Sir Alex throughout his career.’
The couple met while they were both working at a typewriter factory in Glasgow.
In 2021 documentary Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In – directed by their son Jason – Cathy revealed she had originally thought Sir Alex looked like a ‘thug’ before she softened on him and they went on a cinema date.
She said: ‘I just saw him walking through and I thought he was a thug. Then I found out he was a footballer and that didn’t make him any different to me.
‘He bought me a box of Liquorice Allsorts at the movies, of which he ate all of them, and a local paper when we came out. That was my romantic day.
‘We got married in Glasgow registry office in 1966 and that was the start. I went to my work and he went to his football.’
At the time the city was divided by sectarianism – Lady Cathy was a Catholic while Sir Alex was Protestant – but the footballer was following the example of his father, who himself had ‘broken a taboo’ by marrying a Catholic woman.
Lady Cathy had been married to Sir Alex since 1966, with the couple having met while they were both working at a typewriter factory in Glasgow. They are seen on their wedding day
Cathy and Alex Ferguson – who were married for nearly 60 years – embrace each other in an undated photo
Alex, Cathy and their three sons, Mark, Darren and Jason, with the European Cup winners cup trophy and the Scottish Cup trophy
The couple pose for a photo with their first son, Mark. This photo was taken in 1968 when Sir Alex was playing for Falkirk
The couple in the kitchen of their home in Glasgow when Sir Alex was still playing for Rangers
In a 2021 documentary about his life, Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In, the football legend recalled being quizzed about his wife’s religion when he was signing for Rangers in 1967.
He said he didn’t say anything at the time because he was desperate to play for the club he had supported while growing up in Govan, Glasgow, but regretted not telling the club to ‘f*** off’.
He said: ‘Glasgow is a city where there is a divide. It’s Protestant and Catholic, Rangers and Celtic.
‘I heard Rangers wanted to sign me and of course having supported Rangers as a boy and having lived 200 yards from the ground I was pretty excited about it.
‘He says, ”I have to ask you a question about your wife. I believe she is Catholic, were you married in a chapel?”. I said, ”No we got married in the registry office,” and he says, ”Oh, that’s OK”. I should have told him to f*** off.
‘I really should have but having supported Rangers as a boy and having the opportunity to go out and play for Rangers, you are prepared to take nonsense. I let myself down there and I let my wife down – that was the most important thing – because she was a devout Catholic.’
Ferguson said his memories of Rangers ‘weren’t very happy’ and he never played for the club again after being made a ‘scapegoat’ for the 1969 4-0 Scottish Cup final defeat by Celtic.
He went on to become the most successful manager in England football history, racking up 49 trophies. At Manchester United alone he won 13 Premier League championships, five FA Cups and two Champions League titles.
Lady Cathy leans over for a chat with her husband during a match between Peterborough and Ipswich in 2009
The Fergusons watching a football game together from the stands on September 8, 2022
In 2002, Lady Cathy had been instrumental in convincing Ferguson to reverse his decision to retire at that point, going on to manage the club for a further 11 years before eventually calling time after the death of Cathy’s sister.
Recalling the conversation they had when he first tried to retire, Sir Alex said: ‘One, your health is good. Two, I’m not having you in the house. And three, you’re too young anyway.’
But in 2011 the United legend finally decided it was time to leave Old Trafford.
‘I won’t be managing here any more than three years at the very, very most. Without question. I can assure you of that,’ he said at the time.
‘You have to think about time for yourself. I think my wife deserves a bit of my time, too. The older you get, the more you feel guilty about it.
‘My wife, Cathy, was the one who talked me out of retiring last time but she wouldn’t do that now.’
The Fergusons had three sons together – Mark, born in 1968, and twin boys Darren and Jason, born in 1972 – and 12 grandchildren. Darren is a football manager like his father.
Referring to their home life, Alex once said: ‘Cathy is fantastic with the kids. It’s a military operation with her. If any of them misbehave, they’re in the doghouse.’
Within the 2021 documentary about Sir Alex, Ferguson dedicated his career to Cathy.
Jason Ferguson said in the film that his mother had been his father’s ‘rock’, adding: ‘She has allowed him to indulge in his obsession.
‘She more or less brought me and my brothers up on her own and made sacrifices to allow him to do what he did.’
Lady Cathy was by Sir Alex’s side throughout his long football career, and helped nurse him back to health after his stroke following his retirement after 26 years at Man Utd in 2013
The couple before the unveiling of a statue of Sir Alex at Old Trafford in 2012 (left) and at an event in 1996