workingclasshistory:

On this day, 31 December 1941, former Manchester United football team manager and worker militant Alex Ferguson was born in Scotland to mother and father who were both socialist union shop stewards.
As a teenager, Ferguson became an apprentice tool-maker in the Govan shipyards in Glasgow. At the age of 19 he became a union shop steward, and led a wildcat strike in a pay dispute.
After beginning work as a footballer, Ferguson continued to organise with his fellow workers, becoming chairman of the Scottish Professional Footballers’ Association, and leading a walkout of players while playing at Falkirk. Following a 6-1 defeat in 1972, the manager Willie Cunningham withdrew expenses for lunch and travel for players as a punishment. Ferguson and his teammates walked out before a training session and announced they would refuse to play at a forthcoming match against Montrose. The strike was successful, and ultimately led to the departure of Cunningham from the team.
Learn more about the intersection between football and working class politics in this book: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/soccer-vs-the-state-tackling-football-and-radical-politics-gabriel-kuhn https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1888006501384491/?type=3