Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest feuds: Shelvey, Beckham, Wenger, Man City and more!

Jonjo Shelvey wrote his name onto Sir Alex Ferguson's ever growing hit list with a foul mouthed rant aimed at the Manchester United manager after his red card during Liverpool's 2-1 defeat to the Red Devils. We take a look at the other feuds Fergie has been involved with down the years...

Fergie v Wenger
Ferguson v Wenger is a tale as old as time itself. The Frenchman dared to suggest that Manchester United had a longer rest period than Arsenal in April 1998 and Fergie responded to Wenger by saying “he is a novice and should keep his opinions to Japanese football”. This tit-for-tat spat culminated in Arsenal winning the double that season. The pair continued to have a rocky relationship, which occasionally spilled over to the playing field as well. It reached it's peak in 2004 with the infamous 'Pizzagate' incident which saw Fergie hit with flying pizza after United ended Arsenal's unbeaten run of 49 games in contentious circumstances.

Tempers between Man United and Arsenal spilling over before a ball has been kicked

Fergie v Beckham
In 2003 Ferguson added a twist to his famous hairdryer routine by kicking a boot straight into the beautiful face of David Beckham. Becks required stitches in his eyebrow and was then sold to Real Madrid in the summer.

Fergie v Real Madrid
Not happy with taking on players and managers, Fergie took on a whole club in 2008 when he turned his attentions to Real Madrid. With reports that the Spanish giants were pursuing Cristiano Ronaldo, Ferguson claimed that he “wouldn't sell Real Madrid a virus”, before describing them as 'Franco's club' after their close ties with the former dictator. He eventually caved in the following summer, flogging his star player for a world record £80m.

Manchester United celebrate a rare victory over Real Madrid

Fergie v BBC
The Scotsman turned his ire towards the BBC in 2004 when they accused his agent son, Jason, of taking bribes in a hard-hitting Panorama investigation. Ferguson enforced a blackout on the BBC, which would see him not appear on their programming until August 2011 when they were forced to kiss and make up.

Fergie v Rafa
Rafa Bentiez went on an ill advised rant against Fergie in 2009 after the Glaswegian complained that Liverpool were receiving preferential treatment from the Premier League. Later that season Fergie leapt to the defence of his good friend Sam Allardyce after Rafa Bentiez dared to make a 'done' gesture as Liverpool went 3-0 up against Blackburn. He accused Bentiez of being arrogant and showing contempt for another manager. When Benitez was sacked in the summer of 2010 Ferguson quipped that he had been lucky to last that long.

Rafa Benitez's infamous rant about Fergie

Fergie v Manchester City
For so long Man City had been the underachieving brother in Manchester. However, that was until a billionaire benefactor decided to bankroll a chance in City's fortunes, turning them into title contenders. At the time Ferguson dismissed their chances by brandishing them “Noisy neighbours”. However, they certainly turned up the volume by pipping United to the Premier League title on the final day of last season.

Fergie v Preston North End
In December 2010 Preston, lying bottom of The Championship, sacked Sir Alex's son, Darren. Fergie responded by recalling the two Manchester United loanees from Deepdale, Ritchie De Laet and Josh King, immediately.

Fergie v Roy Keane
Roy Keane and Fergie went together like Manchester United and last minute goals, until Keane broke rank in 2005 after Middlesbrough beat the Old Trafford outfit 4-1. He took to MUTV and criticised individual players in a fiery interview. Just a few weeks later Keano was spending his days walking his dog.

Roy Keane showing his mean streak during a press conference

Fergie v Referees
Is there a finer sight in football than Sir Alex Ferguson striding the touchline, pointing out his stopwatch to the referee? Ferguson has a history of blaming referees for anything and everything. However his worst outburst came in 2011 after a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea when he turned his fury on Martin Atkinson, commenting: “When I saw who the referee was I did fear it. I feared the worst... We wanted a strong referee and we didn't get that.”

Ferguson lambasting refereeing decisions

Fergie v Kenny Dalglish
This rivalry goes back to the 1960s when Ferguson and Dalglish first locked horns on the pitch, as opposed to the dugout. Years later this would resurface with the pair now as managers, firstly by Ferguson vowing to “knock Liverpool off their perch”, before Dalglish pipped United to the league title with his Blackburn side in 1995. The fiery Scots always had plenty to say to each other on the field, and it culminated last season when they were polarised over the Suarez-Evra race row.

Fergie and Dalglish's rivalry throughout the years

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