Sir Alex Ferguson joins Eintracht Frankfurt

The former great Scottish coach became a lifetime member of the current Bundesliga team. Eintracht announced the news on their website on Tuesday. But what does Ferguson have in common with the team from the financial capital?

“It was my first game for Glasgow Rangers. We won 5-3 and I scored a hat-trick against Hans Tilkowski in the Eintracht goal,” Ferguson recalled of the 1967 match.

The two teams also met in the Europa League final two years ago. But it was during Ferguson’s playing career that Frankfurt experienced its most successful period in history.

As a coach, Alex Ferguson is by far most famous for his involvement with Manchester United, who he managed between 1986 and 2013. However, he never sat on the bench against Frankfurt during that period.

He did so earlier when he was still coaching Aberdeen FC. It was a UEFA Cup match in the 1979-1980 season between Frankfurt and his then Scottish employers.

Ferguson has a long-standing friendship with German coach Eckhard Krautzun. They have known each other since 1973 and even had rooms next door to each other on a coaching course. Ferguson even offered Krautzun a place to stay at his home.

In 1960 Ferguson saw Frankfurt play in the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup at his favourite Rangers stadium. After winning 6-1 at home, Frankfurt also won 6-3 at Ibrox Park to reach the final.

“It was amazing,” Ferguson said. “I was a Rangers fan and I lived about 200 metres from Ibrox Park. I was at the final and I was hoping Frankfurt would win when they knocked out Rangers.”

Ferguson said the final was a great game and Frankfurt were an excellent German team even though they lost 3-7 to Real Madrid in the aforementioned final.

Source: Kicker