• Premier League

Ferguson: It was the right time to leave United

Sir Alex Ferguson says he will help David Moyes in any way he can © PA Photos

Enlarge

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted he knew that the end of last season was the right time to retire as Manchester United manager - and has revealed he is enjoying watching the team without the worry of refereeing decisions.

Ferguson stepped down as United boss after regaining the Premier League title - his 13th with the club - from bitter rivals Manchester City and left after 27 years in charge at Old Trafford.

He retired as the most successful manager in British football history and was replaced by fellow Scot David Moyes in the summer.

However, Ferguson revealed he has no regrets over leaving and is now concentrating on watching the club as a "spectator with responsibility" - and that he will help the new manager in any way possible.

"My reaction was that I knew it was the best thing for me. I knew I'd done my time," Ferguson told Paul Hayward in the Daily Telegraph.

"My attitude was 'the only way I could really enjoy my life was to forget it', because you can become withdrawn about what you're going to do.

"'Am I going to miss this?' My attitude was 'I'm not going to miss it. My time has come'. I'd picked the right moment. The successes were mindboggling, to think what had happened to me in my career at United. Forget the past. It's no use to me.

"My life as a United person continues. And that means winning; enjoying watching them winning. I don't need to worry about refereeing decisions, agents or the press any more.

"I'm a spectator with responsibility. I'm a director and I want to make a contribution as a director that will play a part. We've got a young chief executive now [Ed Woodward] who will need help, I think. And David Gill [Woodward's predecessor] is still there to help him.

'We've got a young manager and I'm there to help him. We've had a lot of dialogue, David [Moyes] and I, over the last few weeks, and he's been very, very good. He's been very open about what his plans have been. Any help he's needed or wanted, he's got it there."

Download ESPN's new UK sport app, a fresh and powerful new way to follow your favourite UK sports news, scores and video.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd