A great coach who made Korea's GOAT, changed soccer, confessed family history of tears, and stayed alone after his wife and bereavement

Sep 20, 2025

A great coach who made Korea's GOAT, changed soccer, confessed family history of tears, and stayed alone after his wife and bereavement
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Former Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson is worried about dementia these days.

Ferguson has an inseparable relationship with Korean soccer. This is because he is the one who recruited Park Ji-sung, who was active in PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2005, to Manchester United. At that time, Manchester United was completely different from Manchester United today. After Ferguson took the helm, Manchester United was reborn as the world's best big club, and since the opening of the Premier League (EPL) era in 1992, Ferguson's Manchester United has been the world's strongest team.

The history of Korean soccer has changed 180 degrees since Park Ji-sung was recruited to a big club with the best history in the world. Park Ji-sung changed his image of Korean players by showing outstanding performances for Manchester United. Looking at Park Ji-sung, players are now going through the EPL like Park Ji-sung. Without Park Ji-sung, it would have been difficult for players such as Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, Ki Sung-yueng and Lee Chung-yong to easily receive offers from EPL clubs. Ferguson would also have hired Park Ji-sung to strengthen Manchester United, but Ferguson's choice had a profound impact on Asian soccer beyond Korea.




Ferguson, who retired from soccer after the 2012-2013 season, has recently taken the lead in health and, in particular, dementia prevention activities. The BBC interviewed Ferguson on the 19th (Korea Standard Time) and said, `Ferguson is actively participating in charity activities related to dementia and seeing firsthand how much music can help people, including his older brother, Martin Ferguson, who lose memory due to dementia or are affected by words, thoughts, emotions and actions.'
A great coach who made Korea's GOAT, changed soccer, confessed family history of tears, and stayed alone after his wife and bereavement
Sportschosun DB
Ferguson now serves as an ambassador for the charity 'Playlist for Life, a charity that helps dementia patients with music. Ferguson `really touched my heart. I got to participate more actively. Music plays an important role in dementia patients. We must continue this. You don't have to sing well. You can know the lyrics and sing it together. It's a wonderful thing,' he said, explaining why he participated in activities to help dementia patients with music.

This is because director Ferguson's brother, Martin, is a dementia patient. Ferguson said "I have a brother's problem, too. It's not easy. You should keep in touch every day. He recognizes me, but his memory is not good. But it's not bad. It's not getting worse. This is very encouraging." Continuing "It's very important to me because I'm in my first year, and I only have one older brother. be always on the side of one's mind. I try to contact him every day thinking, 'How is my brother now, should I call him?' I always tell him 'Take notes'. He'll try, but most of the time he forgets," he said, carefully revealing his sad family history.

A great coach who made Korea's GOAT, changed soccer, confessed family history of tears, and stayed alone after his wife and bereavement
Ferguson is also about to turn 84. I can't help but worry about a disease called dementia. He said "I'm 84 by December. Sometimes there are moments when you forget your memory. I spent a lot of time stuck at home after my wife's bereavement. So I moved to the countryside and went next door to my son. But I didn't think just watching TV was enough, and I decided to travel. I have also been to Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and Bahrain. You have to keep yourself busy. Activities with dementia-related organizations were also good for me. be having fun"We are preventing dementia by continuing activities," he said.




Ferguson has already been forced to pay more attention to his health because he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in 2018 and his life was really threatened. One of Ferguson's concerns at the time was his memory loss. While filming a documentary after a brain haemorrhage, he confessed that "When I suffered from a brain hemorrhage in 2018, my biggest fear was losing my memory." Everyone wants Ferguson to be healthy because there are many fans in Korea who support Ferguson.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.