Manchester United icon Sir Alex Ferguson admits he could've been lost to British football.
Ferguson has revealed he was ready to move to Canada while still a player in Scotland.
"I once got the papers to emigrate to Canada," he said at a Q&A yesterday.
"I went to Canada House on the corner of Waterloo Street and Hope Street in Glasgow and put them in a drawer in the house while I made my mind up.
St Johnstone's reserves had lost 9-1, 10-2 and 8-0 and, with his spirits low, Ferguson had a female friend call manager Bobby Brown on a Friday afternoon feigning illness ahead of a game when the injuries were kicking in.
It was an early experience of the 'hairdryer' routine he himself would perfect.
"He told me I was a disgrace and to report the next day because there were players who were genuinely injured.
"And I scored a hat-trick - my first ever. It changed my life and from that day I always tell people, 'Don't miss your opportunities'.
"Nine months later I found the Canada papers in the drawer. I never did sign them."
