Sir Alex Ferguson opens up on dementia concerns and grief after the loss of his wife | OneFootball

Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has detailed how travel helped him cope with grief after the loss of his wife.

Following Lady Cathy’s death in October 2023, after almost 58 years together, the legendary manager, who guided the Red Devils to 13 Premier League titles, admits he found himself “stuck in the house”.

But trips abroad, reading and crosswords helped the Scot move forward in life.

The 83-year-old told BBC Breakfast: “After my wife passed, I was stuck in the house a lot.

“I moved house, into the country, next door to my son – but it’s not good enough just to sit watching TV, so I decided to travel. I went to Saudi [Arabia], Hong Kong and Bahrain.”

Ferguson is also an ambassador for dementia charity Playlist for Life, with its work centred around the importance of music for people, like his younger brother Martin, who is living with the condition.

Asked if dementia is something which occupies his mind, he said: “It is, yeah, because I’m his brother. I’m only a year ahead of him and I’ve only one brother so he is important to me.

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Under Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United won the Premier League on 13 occasions (Martin Rickett/PA)

“It’s at the back of my mind all the time. You think, ‘I wonder if he’s in just now’, or if I should give him a phone [call]. I try to do that each day.

"It's not easy. I have to be in touch with him a lot. He recognises me [but] the memory's not great. But he's not bad. He's not getting any worse, let's put it that way, which is very encouraging.

"I keep telling him: 'Write things down.' I think he tries to do that, but he forgets a lot of the time. When you get to my age, you do have a little worry about whether your memory is going to stand up.

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Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson decided to travel after the death of his wife Lady Cathy (PA Wire)

"I'm 84 in December and there are moments when I forget things. I probably did that 20 years ago, 30 years ago... no-one's blessed with a 100% memory. But when it comes to football, when I was a manager, the memory has always been important. Now I do a lot of crosswords, I sing a lot and read.

"I tend to go into history - the American civil war. I went to a few of the battlegrounds in America, which I really enjoyed.”