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Kevin Garside: Final day coverage lifted by a penalty row, a cold sponge and a Bale screamer

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:18:02 +0100

Super Sunday turned funereal, Arsenal's early second-half goal draining the dramatic tension from the afternoon, shifting the focus from Champions League qualification to those who would be leaving us. Sir Alex Ferguson at the Hawthorns then over to Anfield for Jamie Carragher's parting.

James Lawton: For all Arsenal's dreams and prettiness there must be nagging sense of futility

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:18:01 +0100

The margin was so fine, so gnawing at his peace of mind, that Arsène Wenger now knows how it is to step down from the dock freed from the heaviest of charges.

Aleksandar Kolarov seals ugly end to season in the dock once again

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:18:01 +0100

Manchester City fly off to a post- season tour of the United States this afternoon, with their left-back, Aleksandar Kolarov, accused for the second time this season of abusing members of the crowd.

Sam Wallace: The second coming of Mourinho will be a reunion that can only end in tears

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:25:51 +0100

Friday night at the Bernabeu, and if the people who pull the strings at Chelsea were watching, they will have been reminded of one thing above all. When Jose Mourinho leaves your club, there is usually more figurative bloodshed than in a performance of The Revenger's Tragedy.

David Beckham will not become football manager predicts Kevin Keegan

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:37:53 +0100

Former England player and manager Kevin Keegan does not believe David Beckham will go into coaching after deciding to end his playing career.

Video: Emotional David Beckham leaves the pitch for 'the last time' with PSG

Sun, 19 May 2013 01:00:42 +0100

David Beckham captained Paris St-Germain on his farewell appearance at the Parc des Princes as he inspired the champions to a 3-1 home win.

'I'm like a maestro from the Boston Philharmonic': The best quotes of the Premier League season, including Sir Alex Ferguson, Rafa Benitez and Dimitar Berbatov

Sun, 19 May 2013 01:00:00 +0100

"I certainly don't have any plans at the moment to walk away from what I believe will be something special and worth being around for all to see."

Outside The Box: Read it and weep — Roberto Mancini says goodbye to Manchester City fans with full page advert in Manchester Evening News

Sun, 19 May 2013 01:00:00 +0100

Roberto Mancini has had hard-up regional newspapers hoping he set a trend for departing managers by paying to take a full-page advertisement in the Manchester Evening News to thank Manchester City supporters for their backing over the past three years, at a cost of some £10,000.

Premier League 2012-2013: The season that was – in bite-sized chunks

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

In an era of 24-hour rolling sports news, as Arsenal's manager Arsène Wenger says: "We live in a world that needs a drama every day." There has been enough to keep Jim White of Sky Sports News shouting at the top of his voice all season long, little of it driven by pious recommendations last August that the national sport should take its cue from London's Olympians.

The Last Word: As David Beckham bows out, spare a thought for the ordinary players facing a crueller end

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The Prime Minister doesn't bother to court cheap publicity by sending his regards. No forests need to be felled for celebratory supplements in the public prints. Social media bids farewell with a whisper rather than the familiar spittle-flecked bellow.

James Lawton: Limited powers would not suit a great manager at Manchester City

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:49 +0100

In the wake of the revised view of the tenure of Roberto Mancini, there is the remarkable suggestion that Manchester City are intent on limiting the powers of his successor.

The Last Word: If game fully embraced corporate principles managers would get a bonus for relegation

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:44 +0100

Well I shall miss him. I shall miss that compelling tension between his ennui and his passion, so that you never quite knew whether he wanted to punch his interviewer in the face, or if he had even identified the ugly bloke holding a microphone as the source of the voices in his head.

Smudger Smith: Cheerio, then, lad – it's been simply pants

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:39 +0100

In a professional career spanning almost two decades, Simon "Smudger" Smith has played for over 67 clubs and has reinvented himself time and again, from poacher to goalkeeper.

James Lawton: David Beckham has taken more credit for himself than anyone else could give

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:18 +0100

It's all very well saying that the old stayer Fergie won the big-time football retirement stakes on the bridle but then we shouldn't forget that David Beckham has been running his for not much less than 10 years. When you remember this, a career notable for genius self-promotion could hardly be said to have ended in a whimper.

Is David Beckham one of the Premier League all-time greats? He's not even in the top 1,000 says Chris Waddle

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:49:20 +0100

The announcement yesterday that David Beckham was retiring from football led to an understandable swathe of plaudits and eulogies.

'We have created a new nostalgia': ESPN in 12-hour homage to FA Cup final as BT launches attack on Sky

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:33:54 +0100

Four years ago Disney-owned sports broadcaster ESPN entered the British market after winning the rights to screen 46 live Premier League matches in the 2009/10 season. The collapse of Setanta gave ESPN an opening for the broadcaster to join the battle for armchair fans in the UK. 78 games later and more changes are on the way.

David Beckham admits criticism of celebrity lifestyle hurts

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:12:46 +0100

David Beckham admitted he had been hurt by criticism of his celebrity status as he announced his retirement from football.

David Beckham retires: The reaction on Twitter

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:10:22 +0100

David Beckham's announcement that he is to retire at the end of the season sparked a stream of tributes both from inside and outside football.

David Beckham earnings expected to rocket following retirement from football, claim experts

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:08:09 +0100

David Beckham is an almost unique sportsman whose huge earnings should continue or even increase in retirement, marketing experts believe.

Paul Scholes 'sad' to see former Manchester United team-mate David Beckham retire

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:06:12 +0100

Paul Scholes has described former Manchester United and England team-mate David Beckham's decision to retire as a “sad day”.

Newcastle United goalkeeper Steve Harper: My darkest times

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:00:00 +0100

Dark times, Steve Harper calls them as conjures the image in jolting words. He is good company – a loyal club man and a miner's son holding court on the 20 years' service he has given to Newcastle United. With that about to end on Sunday afternoon, in the Premier League against Arsenal, a reflective conversation turns to a spell in his career eight years ago.

FA on collision course with Uefa over five-game racism ban

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:00:00 +0100

The Football Association has claimed to be a "world leader" in combating racism within the game after introducing a five-game minimum ban as the starting point for discriminatory offences, with clubs also facing the possibility of a points deduction. But the governing body were immediately accused of a "missed opportunity" by anti-racism campaigners.

Style icon David Beckham calls time on his drawn-out retirement

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:00:00 +0100

The decision to go was presented much like an announcement to the Stock Exchange, wrapping in formality what industry insiders already knew. David Beckham was finished as a footballer long ago. The association with Paris Saint-Germain and even Milan before that served a purpose of sorts but the bit-part nature of the enterprise reflected more the strategic positioning of Beckham the brand than the player.

England manager Roy Hodgson leads the tributes as David Beckham hangs up his boots for one last time

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:00:00 +0100

David Beckham called time on his career and Roy Hodgson, the England manager, expressed his hope that the national team had not seen the last of him in some guise or another.

Video: 11-year-old Liverpool fan picks up the Europa League trophy with Chelsea

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:11:17 +0100

It takes a lot to upstage John Terry - but despite the attention the injured Chelsea captain received for going to collect the Europa League trophy wearing a full kit, an 11-year-old boy managed to steal the limelight.

David Beckham retires: The best goals scored by the former England and Manchester United player

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:52:14 +0100

David Beckham today announced his retirement from professional football after a career spanning 20 years.

Video: David Beckham scores the best England goal

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:38:08 +0100

David Beckham's free-kick against Greece has been voted the best England goal by fans, according to the Football Association.

David Beckham retires: The midfielder's 14 major trophies

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:34:07 +0100

David Beckham today announced he will retire at the end of the season.

In pictures: From the cornrows to the mohawk - David Beckham's many different hairstyles

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:10:28 +0100

David Beckham has announced he is retiring from football - but it won't just be that right foot we miss.

David Beckham retires: What next? A career as a fashion designer, manager ... or pop star?

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:07:57 +0100

As his glittering career in top-flight football comes to an end David Beckham will be turning his attention to retirement - and how exactly he plans to spend it.

David Beckham retires: the statement in full

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:03:33 +0100

David Beckham has announced he will retire at the end of the season.

David Beckham retires: football world reacts and pays tribute

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:01:32 +0100

Former England manager Steve McClaren hailed David Beckham as a great of the modern game after the former national team captain announced his retirement.

David Beckham retires: We said goodbye to the footballer a long time ago

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:57:12 +0100

David Beckham was packaged in so many ways at the end of his career it is easy to forget what a committed footballer he was at his peak. He always loved a haircut and was the obvious boy band candidate among his comrades in the Manchester United youth team, not hard perhaps when you were flanked by Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers.

David Beckham retires: 'The time is right' to retire from football

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:00:58 +0100

David Beckham is retiring from football.

In pictures: The major trophies won by Chelsea during the Roman Abramovich era

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:21:57 +0100

The key to success is to stand by your manager, create stability and breed familiarity at a football club. That is unless you're Chelsea.

Frank Lampard agrees new contract: Chelsea's logic of not offering him a new deal was alway flawed

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:59:30 +0100

So Frank Lampard will be going to the United States after all. But not for a new life with LA Galaxy but with Chelsea next week on tour for two exhibition games with Manchester City.

QPR striker Loic Remy bailed in 'rape' inquiry

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:52:41 +0100

Queens Park Rangers striker Loic Remy has been bailed after he was arrested on suspicion of rape.

Matt Butler: BBC must freshen things up on Match of the Day post-Alan Hansen

Thu, 16 May 2013 01:00:59 +0100

It would be churlish to say at long last, Alan Hansen could be leaving. It may be a bit below the belt to say we will no longer have to shout "I know that, tell me something new" at the television every time he trots out his "diabolical, schoolboy defending, where's the technical ability?" line, as if it is the holy grail of football coaching.

US man attempting to dribble ball to 2014 World Cup in Brazil is killed just two-weeks into his quest

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:56:50 +0100

A man trying to dribble a football 10,000 miles from his home in the US to Brazil in time for the 2014 World Cup has been killed after he was struck by a car just a fortnight into his quest.

Manchester United's new manager David Moyes fails to make world's most influential Jews list – because he's Christian

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:42:36 +0100

One person not make the Jerusalem Post’s list was David Moyes, the in-coming Manchester United manager, and well-known Christian.

Rio Ferdinand retirement: The Manchester United defender earned the right to call time on his England career

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:24:57 +0100

Thirty million quid is a lump today. That is the sum Sir Alex Ferguson paid Leeds United for his services a decade ago. Football folk thought he was mad. As usual, Fergie knew best.

QPR and France striker Loic Remy arrested on suspicion of rape

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:40:58 +0100

Premier League footballer Loic Remy was arrested on suspicion of rape today after a woman aged 34 claims she was attacked at an address in Fulham.

Rio Ferdinand retirement: An England career that failed to deliver on its promise

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:25:08 +0100

It is almost two years since Rio Ferdinand last kicked a football for England, but there is still a sense of regret over the announcement today of his retirement from the international game.

Unbelievable: Alan Hansen quitting Match of the Day will provide BBC with an opportunity to inject some much needed energy

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:06:52 +0100

The football furniture is changing. Sir Alex Ferguson, the most dominant man of his generation, is stepping down and will leave a very present absence behind. And it has emerged this morning in the Daily Mail that he may be followed at the end of next season by Alan Hansen.

Factfile: Rio Ferdinand announces retirement from England

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:42:23 +0100

1978: Born November 8, Peckham.

Four of the best: A salute the football's finest kit men

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:24:14 +0100

As this week’s events prove, little in football lasts for ever. But one member of staff is usually loved by players, fans and management alike.

Sport in pictures

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:54:16 +0100

Pictures from the world of sport, including all the latest images from the Premier League, Formula One and the Aviva Premiership.

The managerial sack race - 2012/13

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:05:57 +0100

Managers are never too far away from the sack in football, and this season has been no different.

Manuel Pellegrini set to become fourth South American to manage in the Premier League...

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:19:26 +0100

The rumour mill had gone into overdrive even before the departure of Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini had been officially announced and one name was always at the forefront of the speculation: Manuel Pellegrini.

Factfile: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini axed

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:49:55 +0100

Manchester City have disposed of Roberto Mancini after he 'failed to meet certain targets'. Here, we take a closer look at the Italian manager...

Robert Mancini sacking: Debonair on the outside but raging inside - the sacked Manchester City manager always knew best

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:38:18 +0100

Sentiment provided so many reasons for hoping that Roberto Mancini would make it through the storm at Manchester City. There were parts of him that the televised news conferences never reached and part of the privilege of this job was to be privy to them; observing Mancini holding court at Manchester’s San Carlo Cicchetti restaurant, for example, at the Christmas lunch for the city’s football correspondents, as he pressed upon us the merits of the gnocchi, prawns, Neapolitan pizza and Pinot Spumante, from his native Lombardy.

How David Moyes and 'the god squad' infuriated a former team-mate with their Christian faith

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:22:25 +0100

The public image of David Moyes is as an intense, hard manager. The reality is different. He is quietly-spoken and good company with an interest in the pastoral care of his players. That perhaps stems from his deep-seated Christian beliefs, an aspect of his personality he tends not to discuss (see this interview in The Independent five years ago). His faith did not always find favour in his playing days though, as Roy McDonough, who played with Moyes in a struggling Cambridge United side in 1984-85, revealed in his recent, extremely candid autobiography Red Card Roy (Vision Sports Publishing).

PSG, Barcelona, Chelsea - where might Wayne Rooney be playing next season?

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:15:49 +0100

The future of Wayne Rooney is certain to be among the biggest talking points in football this summer after it was confirmed by Sir Alex Ferguson that the striker had made a transfer request.

Matt Butler: Looking for some Sir Alex Ferguson perspective... try Gaelic channel

Mon, 13 May 2013 01:08:41 +0100

There’s no doubting James Brown’s skill in spotting a decent groove. But he was a notorious tyrant in the way he treated his band members, fining them for missing a single beat and refusing to speak to insubordinates for days on end. Similarly, Steve Jobs, the late Apple founder, was described by colleagues as an obsessive bully with an explosive temper set on a hair trigger.

Roberto Mancini to exit Manchester City: Rising expectations of perfectionist manager was a recipe for trouble

Mon, 13 May 2013 01:00:59 +0100

As farewells go, it was a pretty extraordinary press briefing given by a manager who was wondering whether he should have seen the writing on the wall earlier. Roberto Mancini might have started the day still believing that the reports of his likely sacking were “stupid”, but come the evening he was starting to change his mind.

'Thanks Gaffer': Sir Alex Ferguson's complicated relationship with Manchester United fans meant they rarely had any songs for him

Mon, 13 May 2013 01:00:09 +0100

The Stretford End asked Merseyside if it was watching – and had that place really opted for such an afternoon of purgatory then it might have reflected that there would have been a few more banners rigged up, had this signature moment belonged to Anfield. The mighty images of Paisley, Shankly and Dalglish flutter across the Anfield Road end every weekend and though there was something extraordinary about the Maoist waving of red flags, and about the 71-year-old who commanded Old Trafford as he talked and breathed heavily into the microphone, don’t let it be said that he has ever enjoyed a personality cult. A few bed-sheets were held aloft in the cold early evening rain – a slightly strange “Thankyou Uncle Alex” and “Thanks Gaffer, from the Stretford End” – but the one vast banner of the bespectacled Alex Ferguson arrived late, fluttered briefly in the breeze and was quickly gone.

Sam Wallace: David Moyes deserves his shot at Manchester United and has changed the game for British managers

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:27:45 +0100

When David Moyes walks into the hall at Old Billingsgate in the City of London a week today, at the League Managers’ Association awards dinner, his status among his peers, the vast majority of them British and working in the Football League, will already have been transformed.

Sheffield Wednesday turns down payday lender as sponsorship deal

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:31:30 +0100

Championship football club Sheffield Wednesday has turned down a lucrative sponsorship deal from a payday lender.

Outside the Box: Magic of the cuppa for the manager of the seasoning

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Arsène Wenger is often credited with revolutionising British players' diet, but according to the former Manchester United captain Bryan Robson, Sir Alex Ferguson was ahead of the field: "He'd come into a pre-match meal and say, 'Get that salt off the table, I don't want any of that butter there, get margarine. And no sugar in your tea or coffee'. We couldn't believe it." Robson, one of the all-time British Heroes XI commemorated in this week's issue of Royal Mail stamps, had always been a two-sugars man but wisely gave up – and even cut down on his alcoholic intake. "He had me in the office and said, 'I know you can run for fun even after you've had a drink, but I'd sooner you cut the drinking down and you'd be able to run even further and for longer.' I had no problem with that. Paul McGrath did, and didn't change at all, and that's why he went."

The Last Word: One warm gesture said more than all the Fergie hot air

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The mortal remains of Sir Alex Ferguson were not ferried down Fleet Street on a gun carriage, en route to a ceremonial funeral at Westminster Abbey. A nation was not mourning a warrior king lost in battle, or a social reformer taken before his time.

Ian Herbert: Sir Alex Ferguson could be a bully, there’s hope David Moyes will run a more pleasant Manchester United

Sat, 11 May 2013 00:00:08 +0100

There was a glimpse into the future of the David Moyes press conference. There were the satellite TV vans, flung down into the ditch on Finch Lane; the heaving press conference room; the club official stepping in, two minutes before Moyes did, to move his chair two inches, lining it up with the sponsors' logos. His Friday lunchtime press conferences have always concluded with some conversation for press journalists in the sanctity of a room where no cameras are rolling. Now there was none. Everyone was in together.

Smudger Smith: End of Fergie time is sad for gum-makers

Fri, 10 May 2013 21:44:58 +0100

In a professional career spanning almost two decades, Simon "Smudger" Smith has played for over 67 clubs and has reinvented himself time and again, from poacher to goalkeeper.

Premier League players and managers sign up to support Stiliyan Petrov leukaemia campaign

Fri, 10 May 2013 16:45:09 +0100

A host of Premier League players and managers including Sir Alex Ferguson, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Yaya Toure and Gareth Bale have all put their names to a campaign raising money for Cure Leukaemia.

You Write the Caption - 10/05/13

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:06:56 +0100

Tom Cleverley: "Ok Wayne - shall I drive back or head straight to City?"

BT vs Sky: A fight not to be missed between the Premier League rights holders

Fri, 10 May 2013 01:00:14 +0100

Secrets do not often remain so in football – witness the last few days – but until Richard Scudamore, the Premier League's chief executive, opened the sealed bids aimed at securing rights to sport's most expensive entity nobody, not even Scudamore himself, had an inkling of the arrival of a new player.

The official statement to unveil David Moyes as Manchester United manager – and the hidden meanings behind it

Fri, 10 May 2013 01:00:14 +0100

It has been more than 26 years since Manchester United last appointed a manager so, when the big moment came this week, it was hardly surprising that everyone wanted their say. On the crowded club statement were Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Bobby Charlton, two of the Glazers, the outgoing chief executive David Gill, his successor and, last of all, David Moyes himself.

Complex, private, intense, driven... and charming: Biographer's view on new Manchester United manager David Moyes

Fri, 10 May 2013 01:00:14 +0100

David Moyes appears to be a known entity – killer baby-blue eyes, careful Caledonian courtesy, a study in Scottish steel.

In David Moyes, Manchester United have employed the only manager in the world able to put Rooney back on track

Fri, 10 May 2013 01:00:14 +0100

You don't need to look terribly hard for evidence of how Wayne Rooney has viewed David Moyes in an altogether different way to Sir Alex Ferguson. There is the obsequious way he talks about his current Manchester United manager – always "The Boss" – in his autobiography My Story So Far, while the new man at Old Trafford is just "Moyesy". And then there's the "Rooney Report" at the back of that early stab at a life story. Can you guess which manager he says he most admires? Sir Alex is simply the best, he says.

PFA apologise to FA chairman David Bernstein over booking of comedian Reginald D Hunter at awards dinner

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:49:12 +0100

Football Association chairman David Bernstein has revealed he received a personal apology from the PFA after comedian Reginald D Hunter's performance at the players' union's awards dinner.

Man arrested on suspicion of sending racist tweets to footballers Adebayo Akinfenwa and Clarke Carlisle

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:36:56 +0100

A 25-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of sending racist tweets to two League Two footballers.

Wayne Rooney: A career in pictures as Man Utd future remains in doubt

Thu, 09 May 2013 11:48:57 +0100

It has emerged that Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has asked to leave Old Trafford for the second time in three years. The Premier League champions though insist he is not for sale.

Should David Moyes sell Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney?

Thu, 09 May 2013 11:40:51 +0100

The first item in David Moyes’ in-tray at Old Trafford is clear enough: what to do about Wayne Rooney? That there is an irony in the man who unveiled, sold and sued Rooney being his boss once more will not be lost on either. Player and manager are understood to have had a rapprochement since comments in Rooney’s autobiography prompted Moyes to summon the lawyers, but the relationship is unlikely to ever be a warm one.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson may struggle to find purpose in retirement

Thu, 09 May 2013 01:00:50 +0100

Now for the rest of his life and the hope that he will be able to fill it – because for all of the talk about his eclectic interests it is hard to avoid the impression that the day is soon upon us which has filled Sir Alex Ferguson with dread.

Glenn Moore: Sir Alex Ferguson longevity is due to Manchester United's power to adapt – often within a single game

Thu, 09 May 2013 01:00:31 +0100

Peers and players have frequently ascribed Sir Alex Ferguson’s longevity to his ability to move with the times, adapting, for example, to a world where agents have as much influence as managers.

Sir Bobby Charlton: Sir Matt Busby said his Manchester United heir had to be a big man. Sir Alex Ferguson has been the biggest

Thu, 09 May 2013 01:00:11 +0100

For many years I dreaded the day when Sir Alex Ferguson would no longer be the manager of Manchester United.

James Lawton: Sir Alex Ferguson's exit from Manchester United leaves a yawning vacuum but values of ambition and loyalty are still in place

Thu, 09 May 2013 01:00:11 +0100

You may have hated the harsh, even brutal swagger of his nature. You might always argue that no one ever pursued his advantages more cynically, more relentlessly. But then if you also love football, its power to capture the attention of the world, what do you inhabit today?

Press Pass: Do Arsenal have more quality than Tottenham Hotspur? Are 40 points enough for survival? Can Wigan win the FA Cup?

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:01:50 +0100

Every fortnight, we ask you, the readers, to put your questions on the big issues and talking points to a panel of experts.

The best and worst Man Utd XI under Sir Alex Ferguson

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:25:04 +0100

Who would you select for Ferguson's best ever team? Schmeichel or Van der Sar? And would you pick Bebe amongst his worst ever XI?

Sam Wallace: I survived the hairdryer, but there's a lot more to Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson than that

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:56:55 +0100

Every reporter who covered the Manchester patch during the Sir Alex Ferguson era has their story, so we might as well start with mine. Having worked there from 2002 to 2005 as The Daily Telegraph’s football reporter in the city, I did not witness as many trophies as others did but it was an era particularly rich in rows and recriminations. And there was a lot of shouting.

First we loathed him, then we loved him: Alex Ferguson's appeal transcends football tribalism

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:37:53 +0100

We’ll all be swamped in this stuff for the next few days, so let’s speed through the formalities: as manager of Manchester United between 1986 and 2013, Ferguson was a prodigy. He marshalled English club football into and through a golden era. Behind him to prove it stand trophies from 13 Premier League and two Champions League campaigns; by his feet lie the countless pieces of chewing gum that paved the Scotsman’s way to glory, masticated with the same precise and unvarying level of ferocity he seemed to bring to all aspects of managing a football club.

Quiz: How well do you know Sir Alex Ferguson?

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:45:38 +0100

Sir Alex Ferguson today announced he is stepping down as manager of Manchester United at the end of the season.

But how well do you know the departing boss? Take part in our quiz below...

David Moyes to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson: A closer look at the Everton manager

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:04:59 +0100

Manchester United hope to appoint the Everton manager David Moyes as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor by the end of the week, The Independent has learned.

The deification has started already - Sir Alex Ferguson is the patron saint of football's moneymen

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:54:26 +0100

He’s vying with the Queen’s Speech and day two of the half-horrific-half-heartwarming story of the escape of the imprisoned women in Ohio for lead item on just about every news service.

Manchester United's best XI under Sir Alex Ferguson

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:43:42 +0100

Sir Alex Ferguson will retire after 27 years in charge of Manchester United, with 13 Premier League trophies and two Champions League titles amongst his haul of silverware at Old Trafford.

Alex Ferguson dominates Twitter as he does football, but he won’t have noticed

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:37:03 +0100

The Twitter grief started late last night.

Sir Alex Ferguson's most expensive signings for Manchester United... were they worth it?

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:23:30 +0100

Robin van Persie, Sir Alex Ferguson's most recent and final big-name signing, has scored 25 league goals in his first season at the club and inspired United to regain the title they lost to rivals Manchester City last season.

Alex Ferguson: 27 years in charge of Manchester United - season-by-season in pictures

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:19:50 +0100

Sir Alex Ferguson will retire after 27 years at the helm of Manchester United.

David Moyes v Jose Mourinho: Manchester United don't need change - they need more of the same

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:05:07 +0100

The last time David Moyes was at Old Trafford was not the 2-0 defeat for Everton on 10 February, but 23 days' later when he worked as a summariser for BBC Five Live for the second leg of Manchester United's Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.

Fifa will not take action over alleged racist chants against Rio and Anton Ferdinand

Wed, 08 May 2013 11:50:20 +0100

FIFA has announced it will not take disciplinary action against the Football Association for alleged racist chants from England fans directed at the Ferdinand brothers during the match against San Marino in March.

Manchester United's worst XI under Sir Alex Ferguson

Wed, 08 May 2013 11:30:30 +0100

Sir Alex Ferguson will retire after 27 years in charge of Manchester United, an incredible length of time in which he has accrued countless trophies and a knighthood for services to football.

The greatest rants of Sir Alex Ferguson

Wed, 08 May 2013 11:30:19 +0100

Sir Alex Ferguson will be remembered for many things - and no doubt one of them will be the fiery temperament that scorned just about everyone in the game at some point or another.

In pictures: Sir Alex Ferguson's 13 Premier League titles

Wed, 08 May 2013 10:36:17 +0100

After almost 27 years, the most successful football manager in the modern game announces: ‘It’s the right time'. Sir Alex Ferguson retires after his latest triumph following the the win against Aston Villa, Manchester United won the Premier League title and with it cemented their place as the most successful club in the history of domestic English football.

Poll: Who should replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United?

Wed, 08 May 2013 10:25:37 +0100

Alex Ferguson has announced his decision to retire after 27 years at Old Trafford. He said in a statement he would leave the club in the "strongest possible shape", but who should pick up where Ferguson left off?

The statement in full as Sir Alex Ferguson retires at Man Utd

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:41:27 +0100

“The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time.

Manchester United's 20 league titles

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:00:11 +0100

Following the result against Aston Villa, Manchester United have won the Premier League title and with it cemented their place as the most successful club in the history of domestic English football.

Children of Alfredo Di Stefano file injunction to stop Real Madrid legend marrying women 50 years his junior

Tue, 07 May 2013 17:50:18 +0100

Real Madrid great Alfredo Di Stefano's five children have filed an injunction to prevent their 86-year-old father marrying a Costa Rican woman 50 years his junior.