Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson helps inspire Wigan Warriors to Super League history

The legendary Scotsman presented the players with their shirts ahead of the Grand Final showdown against Hull KR, with the Wigan squad stunned by the 82-year-old’s surprise appearance. Ferguson won 38 major trophies during his inspiring time at United including 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two Champions League triumphs.

Matt Peet’s Cherry and Whites went on to retain their Super League title with a hard-fought victory at the Theatre of Dreams in front of a crowd of 68,173, completing an unprecedented Grand Slam with Ferguson’s wise words playing a big part.

“Sir Alex presented all of the lads’ jerseys,” Warriors boss Peet explained.

“We reached out through a mutual friend. We just thought that we were on the verge of something similar to when (Manchester) United won the treble (in 1999).

“Our challenge at the moment is continuing some decent success.

“Playing at Old Trafford and with Sir Alex building careers by developing homegrown talent, with his mentality, we thought he’d be the perfect person.

“Fortunately, we could make that happen and he was epic, as you can imagine.

“You hung on every word he said, but it was more about his presence. I’ve never seen the lads so quiet.

“Having a leader like that and a humble man like he was as well, you could hear a pin drop.”