Comparing Pep Guardiola’s career record to Sir Alex Ferguson’s at the age of 55 | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola turns 55 today. He could retire right this second with a legacy secure as one of the greatest managers in football history secure.

But how does he compare to Manchester United icon Sir Alex Ferguson when he was that age?

We’ve done some digging and taken a look at Ferguson’s record as a manager up to his 55th birthday, which he celebrated on New Year’s Eve 1996, midway through the Red Devils’ title-winning 1996-97 campaign.

Therein lies a key piece of context. That was the first of 11(!) Premier League titles that Ferguson would go on to win after turning 55.

At that point, he hadn’t yet built either of his truly great Manchester United sides, the treble-winners of 1998-99 and the side that won three successive titles between 2007 and 2009, peaking with a second Champions League triumph in 2007-08.

After turning 55, Ferguson went on to lead United to a further 18 major honours before eventually retiring at the age of 71 in 2013. At that point he’d taken charge of well over 2000 games as a professional manager.

The thought of Guardiola going on to do something similar in his senior years, relentlessly collecting trophies for another 16 years, is a scary prospect.

Who knows what the future will hold, but we’d be surprised if Guardiola does anything like that. There are rumours he’ll leave Manchester City at the end of the season, and he’s done little to suggest he wants to continue coaching in club football for decades to come.

Guardiola is currently well ahead of Ferguson in terms of silverware delivered at the age of 55, but there are major differences in their managerial journeys.

The Catalan coach was just 37 years of age when he took over Barcelona in the summer of 2008, having landed one of Europe’s top jobs after a year impressing in charge of the club’s B Team.

Ferguson was 33 when he retired as a player and went into humble beginnings as a coach, starting his journey to the top with a very brief stint at East Stirlingshire before taking over at St Mirren a few months later.

The Scot then spent four years at Love Street and eight years achieving incredible things with Aberdeen before taking over Manchester United, age 45, in 1986.

The club hadn’t won a title since Sir Matt Busby’s time in the late 1960s. It would take him seven years in the job before he got them back to the top of the English football summit.

“Pep! I am absolutely delighted to welcome you to join the prestigious LMA Hall of Fame 1,000 Club,” Ferguson wrote in a statement, congratulating Guardiola on 1000 matches as a professional manager back in November.

“Your deep love and passion for the game has always been so evident and you should be very proud of the indelible impact you continue to have across the global game.

“Reaching 1,000 matches and achieving such longevity in football is a landmark that can never be underestimated and, to continue to deliver league, Champions League and domestic cup titles in three of Europe’s most competitive leagues is outstanding.”

The respect evidently goes both ways.

“Sir Alex Ferguson, I would say. And after that, close close close, Johann Cruyff, and then I would say Arrigo Sacchi,” Guardiola responded when asked the greatest manager in football history by Sky Sports in 2013.

“Sir Alex number one. For the amount of consistency. For the amount of titles. For the amount of change, dynamics.”

Here’s how Guardiola and Ferguson’s careers stack up against one another at the age of 55.

Barcelona – 14

Bayern Munich – 7

Manchester City – 18

Sir Alex Ferguson at 55 – 26 honours

St Mirren – 1

Aberdeen – 12