Manchester United

1941: Born December 31 in Govan, Glasgow.

1957: Joined Queen's Park as amateur while apprentice toolmaker in Glasgow factory.

1960: Joined St Johnstone as part-timer.

1964: Quit toolmaking and joined Dunfermline.

1967: Moved to Rangers for £65,000.

1969: Another move, this time to Falkirk, for £20,000.

1973: Joined Ayr, returning to part-time ranks while running his Glasgow pub.

1974: Appointed manager of East Stirling in September, but moved to St Mirren three months later.

1978: Sacked by St Mirren and appointed at Aberdeen as successor to Billy McNeill.

1980: First managerial honour when Aberdeen win Scottish championship.

1982: Aberdeen win the Scottish Cup beating Rangers 4-1.

1983: Aberdeen retain Scottish Cup, this time beating Rangers 1-0, and defeat Real Madrid 2-1 in Gothenburg to lift European Cup Winners' Cup.

1984: Aberdeen win League and Cup double, beating Celtic 2-1 in the Cup final. Ferguson awarded OBE.

1985: Appointed caretaker manager of Scotland following death of Jock Stein during Wales v Scotland World Cup qualifier.

1986: Scotland bow out of Mexico World Cup after first round. Ferguson leaves Aberdeen to take over at Manchester United after sacking of Ron Atkinson.

1989: Breaks British transfer record to sign Gary Pallister for £2.3million from Middlesbrough.

1990: First trophy at Old Trafford as United beat Crystal Palace 1-0 in an FA Cup final replay after a 3-3 draw.

1991: United beat Barcelona 2-1 in Rotterdam to win Cup Winners' Cup.

1992: European Super Cup arrives at Old Trafford as United beat Red Star Belgrade, while first League Cup triumph booked with 1-0 defeat of Nottingham Forest. Championship dream dies as Leeds overhaul United in final weeks of the season.

1993: Old Trafford's 26-year wait for title is ended as United finish 10 points clear of Aston Villa to win inaugural Premier League title.

August - Signs Roy Keane from Nottingham Forest for British transfer record £3.75million.

1994: United become only fourth team this century, and sixth in total, to complete championship and FA Cup double. The Old Trafford club defeated Chelsea 4-0 in the FA Cup final.

1995: Breaks British transfer record again to sign Andy Cole from Newcastle for £7million.

United finish runners-up to Blackburn in the league and Everton in the FA Cup.

1996: United become the first club ever to complete the championship and FA Cup double twice, overcoming one-time runaway leaders Newcastle in the Premiership and then beating Liverpool 1-0 at Wembley.

November 6 - Celebrates 10 years as United boss.

1997: Sets his sights on emulating Sir Matt Busby by lifting the European Cup, but United are beaten in semi-finals by Borussia Dortmund. Pain eased by fourth championship in five seasons.

1998: Most disappointing season in recent years with no trophies won. Domestic challenge thwarted by defeats to eventual double winners Arsenal, and failure once again in the European Cup, going out to unfancied Monaco in the quarter-finals.

1999: Leads United to the treble of European Cup, Premiership and FA Cup.

May - Signs a new deal keeping him at Old Trafford until 2002.

June 11 - Knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

October 11 - Testimonial match played in his honour at Old Trafford.

November 30 - United win Toyota Cup, defeating Brazilian side Palmeiras 1-0 with a goal from skipper Roy Keane, to become first British club to win the Inter-Continental Cup.

December - Named Coach of the Year in the BBC Sports Personality awards and United named Team of the Year.

2000: Guides United to a sixth Premiership title, finishing the campaign 18 points clear of Arsenal.

But Champions League defence ends in quarter-final defeat to eventual winners Real Madrid.

May 8 - Reveals he will step down as manager after contract ends in 2002 but wants to stay in "upstairs role".

2001: After introducing just one major signing, France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, Ferguson's side continue their domination of the English game, taking their seventh championship in nine years, this time with five matches to spare.

Ferguson also becomes the first manager to win three successive English titles with the same team.

April - Breaks British transfer record to complete protracted signing of Ruud van Nistelrooy from PSV Eindhoven for £19million.

June 12 - Steve McClaren leaves to take over as Middlesbrough manager.

July 13 - The day after he smashes the British transfer record with a £28.1million move for Juan Sebastian Veron, club announce that Ferguson will be retained as a consultant on a five-year deal when his existing contract as manager runs out in May 2002.

2002: United start to roll again after a stuttering end to 2001 in the Premiership.

January 22 - signs Diego Forlan from Independiente for £7.5million.

February 5 - United release a statement confirming they are in talks with Ferguson about staying on as manager.

February 27 - United announce Ferguson has agreed a three-year contract with the club up to June 30, 2005.

May - Ferguson blames pre-season Far East trip for finishing season trophyless (beaten by Arsenal to the title and knocked out of Champions League by Bayer Leverkusen in the semi finals). It is also the first time United have finished outside the top two since the Premiership began.

June - Appoints Carlos Queiroz as his new number two.

July 22 - Breaks the British transfer record again to sign Rio Ferdinand from Leeds for £30million, making him the world's most expensive defender.

November - Announces may delay his retirement further.

2003: February - Involved in dressing room bust-up with star player David Beckham, who it emerges was cut in the face by a boot kicked by Ferguson in frustration.

April 5 - Three days ahead of their crucial Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid Ferguson claims the draw is fixed in favour of Spanish and Italian sides.

April 8 - On the day United face Real Madrid in the quarter-final of the Champions League UEFA charge Ferguson with bringing the game into disrepute for his comments.

United are beaten 3-1 by Real and go out of the Champions League despite winning the second leg 4-3 a fortnight later. Ferguson's decision to leave Beckham on the bench attracts much criticism, especially after the player comes on to score twice.

Meanwhile, United claim the advantage in the Premiership title race as rivals Arsenal start to slip up.

May 1 - Fined 10,000 Swiss francs (£4,600) for comments made about the Champions League draw.

May 4 - United crowned Premiership champions after Arsenal are beaten 3-2 at home by Leeds.

Sells both David Beckham to Real Madrid and Juan Sebastian Veron to Chelsea, but brings in Portuguese starlet Cristiano Ronaldo, Cameroon international Eric Djemba-Djemba as well as United States goalkeeper Tim Howard and Brazilian World Cup winner Kleberson.

August 8 - United win FA Community Shield with penalty shootout win over Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

August 16 - Ferguson's men begin the defence of their Premiership crown with a 4-0 win over Bolton at Old Trafford.

August 23 - Sent into the stands and blasts a four-letter touchline tirade at fourth official Jeff Winter following his angry reaction when referee Uriah Rennie failed to penalise Andy O'Brien after the Newcastle defender's challenge on Ryan Giggs when he was clear on goal during their league game at Old Trafford.

Ferguson was later charged with misconduct by the FA and requested a personal hearing, which was set for October 20.

October 20 - Ferguson banned from touchline for two games and fined £10,000 over misconduct charge.

November - Launches a legal action against major United shareholder John Magnier over stud rights to top racehorse Rock of Gibraltar.

December 4 - Undergoes treatment for minor heart irregularity.

2004: January 28 - United announce Ferguson has agreed a new one-year rolling contract, to begin in July 2005.

March - More Champions League disappointment with a last-16 exit to eventual winners Porto.

May - United finish third in the Premiership, a massive 15 points behind unbeaten Arsenal. However, they beat the Gunners in the FA Cup semi-final and brush aside Millwall 3-0 in the final to end a three-year major trophy famine.

August 31 - Signs Everton starlet Wayne Rooney for a fee which could rise to £27million.

2005: March - Knocked out of the Champions League at the last 16 stage for the second straight season, going down on aggregate to eventual finalists AC Milan.

May - United finish the season trophyless for the third time in four years, finishing third in Premiership yet again, 18 points behind runaway champions Chelsea. Even worse, they lose FA Cup final on penalties to bitter rivals Arsenal despite completely dominating the game.

June - Signs Edwin van der Sar from Fulham in a bid to finally fill the goalkeeping void left by Peter Schmeichel.

Malcolm Glazer completes takeover of club.

November - Captain Roy Keane leaves the club by mutual consent following public attack on a number of players which led to a falling out with Ferguson.

December - United fail to qualify for the knockout phase of the Champions League for the first time in a decade.

2006: February - Ferguson wins the League Cup for only the second time thanks to a 4-0 thrashing of Wigan a week after losing to Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round, their first defeat to Liverpool in the competition for 85 years.

May - United finish runner-up to Chelsea, eight points adrift.

July - Sells Ruud van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid following persistent rumours of a falling out.