Manchester United unveil a statue of Alex Ferguson outside Old Trafford

Players past and present were present as Manchester United unveiled a statue of manager Alex Ferguson on Friday (November 25) to honour the 26 years he has been at the club.

Former stars such as Eric Cantona, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Peter Schemichel and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were at the club's Old Trafford stadium as the 2.74-metre bronze statue was unveiled.

Players from the current squad including Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Ryan Giggs were also part of the audience.

"It's a proud moment. Normally people die before they see their statue or people see their statue. I'm outliving death," Ferguson joked.

"I'm really proud today and it's a fantastic honour. I would like to thank Manchester United directors and the owners and all who were involved in this decision making it's a really, really proud moment for me.

"And I'd just like to say about the boss (Ferguson's wife Cathy Ferguson) she is a fantastic person and as (Manchester United CEO) David (Gill) points out someone has to control me and she's the only one who can."

"But she has promised that every Saturday morning she's going to come down and bow to the statue."

The 70-year-old's first win as manager of United was a 1-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers on November 6, 1986 and Ferguson's side play the same team on Saturday (November 24).

In total Ferguson has been in charge for 1,448 games, winning 860 of them, and the Scot has won 37 trophies including 12 Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns. (REUTERS)