HE became one of the greatest football managers in the world, his name a byword for determination. But a new documentary sets out how close Sir Alex Ferguson once came to quitting football.

Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In, out in cinemas today, charts the Aberdeen and Manchester United legend’s recovery from a brain haemorrhage three years ago at the age of 76. Doctors gave him a 20% chance of survival.

The film, directed by his son Jason, also looks at his upbringing in Glasgow in greater detail than ever before, outlining how the city made him – and almost broke him, too.

“It’s a fact of life that where we come from is important,” says Sir Alex. “You come out with an identity. I come from Govan. I’m a Govan boy.”

His father encouraged him in his football while insisting he complete an apprenticeship as a toolmaker in the shipyards that stood at the end of the road. With his mother Elizabeth a “strong socialist”, the young Ferguson became a shop steward for the apprentices.

“It wasn’t about you, it was about us. It’s about being a team,” he says, summing up the political philosophy that became his sporting credo.

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It proved tough combining football with the shipyards. Then signed for St Johnstone, he would get home to Glasgow from training in Perth at 1.30am and be up again at 6 for work.

Feeling that his playing career was going nowhere, he admits to going “off the rails” for a spell. He fell out with his father in 1961, and they did not speak for two years. One night, after an evening’s drinking, Alex got into a fight, was jailed, and later appeared in court where he was fined £3. “I’ve always regretted that,” he says, still angry that he let himself and his upbringing down.

He was picked to play against Rangers, though he tried to sign off sick. In the event he scored a hat-trick. It was the turning point he had longed for, and one of the first things he did was race home to see his dad. They were pals again.

“I made a vow that from that moment I was not looking back.”

In July 1967 he signed for Rangers, the team he had followed from boyhood.

Sir Alex's wife, Cathy, who is Catholic, says the Rangers period was not a happy time. She is interviewed in the film along with the couple’s three sons, and players including Gordon Strachan and Eric Cantona.

Matters came to a head after her husband played in the 4-0 defeat to Celtic in the 1969 Scottish Cup final. Ferguson was blamed.

“I was completely bombed out, training on my own. I can only assume it was because of Cathy being a Catholic,” he says.

Moving to management in Aberdeen, his dealings with the Glasgow club were far from over. The film shows Aberdeen’s victory against Rangers in the 1983 Scottish Cup final. In a now notorious post-match interview a furious Ferguson let rip at his own team.

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Cut back to today and his son Jason asks: “Was it about being the best team in Scotland or was it about hammering Rangers?” It was probably about beating Rangers, Sir Alex replies. “This was my moment to say right, you’re going to get it. I wanted to put the knife in them.”

Success at Aberdeen led to the move south. It was a long slog at first with United. After a run of defeats, fans demanded his sacking. Abusive calls were made to his home, with one punter telling him to “get back to effing Scotland”.

But he turned United around just as he had Aberdeen. Under Ferguson’s guidance, United won 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, and two UEFA Champions League titles.

Sir Alex is unrepentant about his infamous temper, saying there is nothing wrong with losing the rag for the right reasons. Regrets are confined to not spending enough time with Cathy and their sons. “She is the catalyst of it all,” he says.

In cinemas from today and on Amazon Prime Video from May 29