Premier League managers up and down the country have been doffing their caps in the direction of Sir Alex Ferguson this week, with the Manchester United manager celebrating 25 years in charge of the Red Devils.

Many United supporters won’t remember Ferguson taking charge in 1986, with his reign at Old Trafford experiencing a rocky start before the Scot was able to start achieving monumental success domestically and in Europe.

Ferguson was reluctant to talk about this milestone leading up to Saturday’s home match against Sunderland, although he did claim that it was an unexpected amount of time to be at the top.

“It is a bit of a fairytale to last so long,” he said. “It has been a fantastic spell for me. It is something you don’t think is going to happen and I appreciate that.”

“When I look back I say to myself how fortunate I am to have had these players.

“The list is incredible, going back to the very start with Bryan Robson, Norman Whiteside, Brian McClair, (Mark) Hughes, (Paul) Ince, (Roy) Keane, (Eric) Cantona. What a collection of players. They were fantastic players.

“It is hard to think I controlled all these players for so long. Now to the present era of players we see today, different personalities and different cultures.”