The former three time All-Ireland winning manager with Tyrone Mickey Harte has a new book out and in it he reveals how legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson wrote him a letter and that the Ballymacilroy received just when he needed it.
“Some time after the funeral(his daughter Michaela), I got a letter from Manchester: Alex Ferguson had taken the time to write to me. I could hardly believe what I was reading.”
“He wrote: ‘I was always impressed by your achievements with the Tyrone team and how long you’ve been there. I meant to write to you after what happened to your daughter. I knew I had to write to you after Ronan Kerr.’
“He left a contact number for me to get in touch. I remember calling him and he said to come over to Old Trafford.
“So we got tickets for a derby game through Martin Logan, a great friend of mine from Galway who spent most of his life in Manchester.
“Myself and the boys went across in October 2011. But we picked the worst day possible: City beat United 6-1.
“I called Alex a couple of weeks afterwards and told him about the game we had been to. He said: ‘I hope you don’t think it’s like that all of the time.’
“But the trip gave us a lift, something we badly needed. And the boys got a real kick out of it.”
Just shows the class of the ex-Aberdeen manager Sir Alex Ferguson to take the time out to write to another legendary manager, his new book should be well worth the read.