English football will witness the end of an era on Sunday when Alex Ferguson takes charge of Manchester United for the 1,500th and final time in their last game of the season at West Bromwich Albion.
Having waved goodbye to Old Trafford in an emotional 2-1 win over Swansea City last weekend, Ferguson will close the door on his managerial career at The Hawthorns — 26 years, six months and 11 days since his first game at the United helm, a 2-0 loss at Oxford United on November 8, 1986.
It promises to be a day rich in nostalgia for Ferguson, who will be succeeded by Everton manager David Moyes on July 1.
In his final pre-game press conference, he cast his mind back to the very beginning of his journey as a manager, with Scottish minnows East Sterling in 1974.
“I have had 39 years as a manager,” said the 71-year-old.
“On that day in 1974 when I started at East Stirling, I had eight players and no goalkeeper. Today I have six goalkeepers and about 100 players.
“I remember the old chairman, Willie Muirhead. He was a great chain smoker. When I asked him for a list of players, he started to shake. His cigarette was going 100 miles an hour.
Ferguson will retire with 49 trophies to his name, 38 of which he has amassed during a record-breaking stint at United in which he established himself as one of the most successful coaches in the history of professional sport.
However, for all the inevitable emphasis on his past, Ferguson has pledged that his final team selection will be forward-thinking.
The Scot says he intends to field Phil Jones and Jonny Evans at centre-back, while he has also promised to honour a vow made to second-choice goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard that he would start the game.
“I stand by that. Anders will be in goal,” Ferguson said.
“I will play one or two younger players, and I want to play Jonny Evans and Phil Jones at centre-half because they are the future. Nemanja (Vidic) and Rio (Ferdinand) will just have to make do with a place on the bench.”
Paul Scholes could make one last appearance for United, having announced his retirement last week.
The 38-year-old is only the third player to have made more than 700 appearances for the club, after Bobby Charlton and Ryan Giggs, and turned out for the 717th time in United’s colours against Swansea.
Ferguson must also decide whether or not to hand a start to Wayne Rooney, having left him out of the squad for the Swansea game after the unsettled striker submitted a transfer request.
United have taken 35 points from a possible 39 against West Brom since the Midlands club were promoted to the top flight in 2002, but manager Steve Clarke wants his side to finish the season on a high.
Despite a run of just one win in eight games, West Brom are guaranteed to finish no lower than ninth, which will be their best performance in the Premier League era.
“We must have done something right in the early part of the season in that we never looked close to being dragged into the relegation tussle and there were a lot of teams involved this season and we were nowhere near it. And we’ve finished in the top half of the table again,” Clarke said.
French forward Marc-Antoine Fortune returns from suspension for West Brom, but right-back Steven Reid is an injury doubt after picking up a knock in last weekend’s 4-0 defeat at Norwich City.
