Editing Alex Ferguson (section)

====European success and Scottish national side====
Ferguson led Aberdeen to even greater success the following season, 1982–83. They had qualified for the [[1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners' Cup]] as a result of winning the Scottish Cup the previous season, and impressively knocked out [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Jim |last=Reynolds |title=Magnificent Dons eclipse German stars |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19830303&id=mMFAAAAAIBAJ&pg=3582,722075 |newspaper=The Herald |date=3 March 1983 |access-date=10 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Jim |last=Reynolds |title=Aberdeen emerge as the best of British |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19830317&printsec=frontpage |newspaper=The Herald |date=17 March 1983 |access-date=10 September 2014}}</ref> who had beaten [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] 4–1 in the previous round.<ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Lacey |title=Tottenham run on reserve |newspaper=The Guardian |page=22 |date=21 October 1982}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Lacey |title=Spurs lost in Munich fog |newspaper=The Guardian |page=26 |date=4 November 1982}}</ref> According to [[Willie Miller]], this gave them the confidence to believe that they could go on to win the competition,<ref name="boss201">Crick, p. 201</ref> which they did, with a 2–1 victory over [[Real Madrid C.F.|Real Madrid]] in the [[1983 European Cup Winners' Cup Final|final]] on 11 May 1983.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jim |last=Reynolds |title=Dons the Real European masters |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19860512&id=mcRAAAAAIBAJ&pg=4082,2406962 |newspaper=The Herald |date=12 May 1983 |access-date=10 September 2014}}</ref> Aberdeen became only the third Scottish team to win a European trophy and Ferguson now felt that "he'd done something worthwhile with his life".<ref name="boss203">Crick, p. 203</ref> This was followed up with victory in the [[1983 European Super Cup|European Super Cup]] in December 1983, when [[Hamburger SV]], the [[1983 European Cup Final|reigning European Cup]] champions, were beaten 2–0 over two legs.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jim |last=Reynolds |title=Aberdeen are set for superstardom |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19831123&id=O_s9AAAAIBAJ&pg=3873,4955762 |newspaper=The Herald |date=23 November 1983 |access-date=10 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Jim |last=Reynolds |title=Aberdeen's super heroes take the glory |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19831221&id=8sFAAAAAIBAJ&pg=4085,4146762 |newspaper=The Herald |date=21 December 1983 |access-date=10 September 2014}}</ref> Aberdeen had also performed well in the league that season, and retained the Scottish Cup with a [[1983 Scottish Cup Final|1–0 victory]] over Rangers,<ref>{{cite news |first=Jim |last=Reynolds |title=Don't put the blame on Russell – Greig |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19830523&printsec=frontpage |newspaper=The Herald |date=23 May 1983 |access-date=10 September 2014}}</ref> but Ferguson was not happy with his team's play in that match and upset the players by describing theirs as a "disgraceful performance" in a televised interview after the match, a statement he later retracted.<ref name="boss204">Crick, p. 204</ref>

After a sub-standard start to the [[1983–84 in Scottish football|1983–84 season]], Aberdeen's form improved and the team won the Scottish league and retained the Scottish Cup. Ferguson was appointed an Officer of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in the [[1985 New Year Honours]],<ref name="OBE">{{London Gazette |issue=49969 |date=31 December 1984 |page=9 |supp=y }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/561724.stm|title=Lewis heads sporting honours|access-date=18 June 2007|date=12 December 1999|work=BBC News}}</ref> and was offered the managers' jobs at Rangers and [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] during the season.<ref>{{cite web |last=Murray |first=Ewan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2011/may/10/sir-alex-ferguson-arsenal-manager |title=Sir Alex Ferguson rejected 1986 chance to become Arsenal manager |work=The Guardian |date=10 May 2011 |access-date=4 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Ley |first=John |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/8505871/Manchester-United-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-turned-down-the-opportunity-to-manage-Arsenal.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/8505871/Manchester-United-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-turned-down-the-opportunity-to-manage-Arsenal.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson turned down the opportunity to manage Arsenal |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=10 May 2011 |access-date=25 June 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Reynolds |first=Jim |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/why-i-didn-t-go-to-rangers-sir-alex-ferguson-on-advocaat-s-successor-the-scotland-job-and-the-old-firm-in-the-premiership-1.200147 |title=Why I didn't go to Rangers:Sir Alex Ferguson on Advocaat's successor, the Scotland job, and the Old Firm in the Premiership |work=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]] |date=2 February 2001 |access-date=25 June 2014}}</ref> Aberdeen retained their league title in the 1984–85 season. In [[1985–86 in Scottish football|1985–86]], Aberdeen won both domestic cups, but finished fourth in the league. Ferguson had been appointed to the club's board of directors early in 1986, but that April he told [[Dick Donald]], their chairman, that he intended to leave that summer.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

Ferguson had been part of the coaching staff for the [[Scotland men's national football team|Scottish national side]] during qualifying for the [[1986 FIFA World Cup|1986 World Cup]], but manager [[Jock Stein]] had [[1985 Wales vs Scotland football match|collapsed and died on 10 September 1985]] – at the end of the game in which Scotland qualified from their group for a play-off against [[Australia men's national soccer team|Australia]]. Ferguson promptly agreed to take charge of the Scottish national side against the Australians and subsequently at the World Cup. To allow him to fulfil his international duties he appointed [[Archie Knox]] as his co-manager at Aberdeen. However, after Scotland failed to progress past the group stages of the World Cup, Ferguson stepped down as national team manager on 15 June 1986.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YNJAAAAAIBAJ&pg=6630,3393659|title=Fergie Steps Down|date=16 June 1986|work=Evening Times|access-date=10 June 2011}}</ref>

Around this time, Tottenham Hotspur offered Ferguson the chance to take over from [[Peter Shreeves]] as manager, but he rejected this offer and the job went to [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town]]'s [[David Pleat]] instead. There was also an offer for Ferguson to replace [[Don Howe]] as Arsenal manager, but he rejected this offer as well, and fellow Scot [[George Graham (footballer, born 1944)|George Graham]] took the post instead.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/8092670.stm|title=Ferguson 'almost became Arsenal boss'|access-date=10 June 2009|work=BBC News|date=10 June 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090613050103/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/8092670.stm| archive-date= 13 June 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> That summer, there had been speculation that he would take over from [[Ron Atkinson]] at [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]], who had slumped to fourth in the English top flight after a ten-match winning start.<ref name=":13" />

It was not the first time that Ferguson had been linked with a move to England. In February 1982, Wolverhampton Wanderers had approached him about succeeding [[John Barnwell]] as manager as they were heading for relegation from the First Division.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tributes to former Wolves chief Harry Marshall|url=https://www.expressandstar.com/news/2010/09/30/tributes-to-former-wolves-chief-harry-marshall|work=Express & Star|access-date=8 May 2011|date=30 September 2010}}</ref> He rejected this offer, perhaps concerned about the club's financial stability, as they were more than £2&nbsp;million in debt at the time and narrowly avoided going out of business. At the end of the 1984–85 season, it was reported that Ferguson was being considered for the [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]] manager's job after the retirement of [[Joe Fagan]] was announced, but the job was quickly accepted by Liverpool striker [[Kenny Dalglish]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YLZAAAAAIBAJ&pg=5732,6946410|title=Dalglish in frame to replace Fagan as manager|newspaper=The Glasgow Herald|date=30 May 1985|page=20|via=Google News}}</ref>

Although Ferguson remained at Aberdeen over the summer, he did eventually join Manchester United when Atkinson was sacked in November 1986.<ref>{{cite news|last=Paul|first=Ian|title=Ferguson agrees to Old Trafford move|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=96RAAAAAIBAJ&pg=4349%2C1816052|access-date=26 March 2019|work=The Glasgow Herald|date=7 November 1986|page=32}}</ref>