"Without them, I wouldn’t be writing these words.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has thanked the NHS staff who saved his life in his emotional new memoir. Forty years after he took over at Manchester United, Sir Alex admits it is thanks to the doctors and nurses who helped him survive a brain haemorrhage in 2018 that he is here and able to recount his incredible life.

Fergie, 84, left Aberdeen for Old ­Trafford on November 6, 1986 – retiring in 2013. During that time he won 38 major trophies, including 13 Premier League titles and two UEFA ­Champions League crowns, the Daily Record reports.

In his new book, Games of My Life, Sir Alex highlights 21 matches that were personally meaningful to him.

The first is his return to Old Trafford on September 22, 2018, to see United take on Wolves – four months after his lifesaving brain surgery.

He was accompanied by a medical team including neurosurgeon Dr ­Alexandru Cotici. A grateful Sir Alex describes how Mr Cotici was careful not to touch a drink throughout the match and went straight to Salford Royal to start a shift after the final whistle.

He tells readers: “It is that sort of commitment from doctors, nurses and hospital staff all over the United Kingdom that helps millions of people a year. Without them, I wouldn’t be writing these words.”

Sir Alex also recounts how late wife Cathy, who died in 2023, saved him after he collapsed due to the bleed on the brain.

She heard him fall and he was rushed to Macclesfield Hospital about 20 minutes later, then to Salford Royal. He writes: “If she hadn’t been there, the referee in the sky might have blown the final whistle for me.”

He did not come around until the next day. Medics then asked him a series of questions, including whether he had met the Queen and how many wives Henry VIII had.

Sir Alex joked: “I had indeed met the Queen but I didn’t remember meeting Henry VIII – or any of his wives.”

He goes on: “On the day they operated on me at Salford Royal, four other patients had surgery for the same complaint. Only two of us lived to tell the tale.”

On his return to watch United after surgery, the former Rangers player and St Mirren boss recalls: “It was one of the most memorable days of my life. As well as being able to thank all the people who saved my life, the reception I received from those in the crowd that day meant more to me than anything. I was greeted as if I had returned from the dead, which, in a way, was true.”

Games of My Life, By Sir Alex Ferguson with Michael Moritz is out now.