Image:Ferguson: Turned down the opportunity to be Arsenal manager
Sir Alex Ferguson says he turned down the chance to be Arsenal boss just months before arriving at Man Utd.
Scotsman could have ended up in North London
Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he turned down the chance to be Arsenal manager just months before taking charge at Manchester United.
The Gunners post was offered to him early in 1986, and the former Scotland boss was keen to take compatriot Walter Smith to North London with him.
But Scotland's World Cup campaign in Mexico that year meant the proposed Arsenal switch fell through.
Ferguson made the revelations in Tuesday night's match programme for Rangers' Scottish Premier League clash against Dundee United - manager Smith's last match in charge at Ibrox.
Offer
Ferguson said: "I was offered the Arsenal job and I wanted to take Walter with me.
"I thought I would sound him out when we were on Scotland duty together. We were going to play in Israel and I didn't know that Walter was going to Rangers at that time.
"I told him that I had been offered the chance to go to Arsenal and I asked him what he thought. He was positive about it, saying they were a big club and that kind of thing.
"So I said to him 'Do you fancy coming with me?' Then he dropped the bombshell that he was going to Rangers.
"The thing about the Arsenal offer was that they wanted an answer right away but I couldn't give them one because I was going to the World Cup in Mexico with Scotland.
"So the Arsenal thing fell by the wayside. Walter went to Rangers and then later that year I went to Manchester United. "
