Breaking the Old Firm: Fergie's Aberdeen Revolution

About this episode

The episode discusses how Alex Ferguson transformed Aberdeen and broke the Old Firm duopoly in Scottish football.

Welcome back to It Was What It Was, the football history podcast. In this week's episode, co-hosts Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper are joined by Michael Grant, Scottish football correspondent for The Times and author of Fergie Rises, to tell the story of how a young Alex Ferguson shattered the Old Firm duopoly and transformed Aberdeen into serial winners. This Episode was recorded before the dramatic showdown on the final day of the SPL season between Celtic and Hearts, but was this just the start of the Hearts story? Will they continue threatening to break the Rangers-Celtic stranglehold for years to come? Wilson, Draper and Grant trace the remarkable parallels with Ferguson's Aberdeen revolution. They explore how a brash 36-year-old manager, fresh from a humiliating tribunal after being sacked by St Mirren, walked into a club that had nearly been relegated two years earlier and forged a dynasty. Along the way, they examine the clashes on the pitch, the psychological scars of Fergie's playing days, the infamous post-cup final rant that still hurts his players 40 years on. Michael Grant reveals the man behind the myth... volatile, funny, manipulative, and utterly relentless. 00:00…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jonathan Wilson, Rob Draper

Guest: Michael Grant

Topics covered

• Scottish football history
• Alex Ferguson
• Aberdeen
• Old Firm
• Celtic vs Rangers
• football management
• dynasty building

Keywords

• Aberdeen
• Old Firm
• Alex Ferguson
• Scottish football
• Celtic
• Rangers
• Hearts
• football history
• Fergie Rises

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Times

Places: Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts, Rangers

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