Sir Alex Ferguson on 'Fergie time': I never looked at my watch

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he would only point at his watch to play on the minds of match officials and opponents despite rarely being aware of how many minutes were left in a match for his Manchester United side to find a goal.

In an interview with Clare Balding to be screened on Christmas Day, Ferguson spoke about ‘Fergie time’.

According to the Daily Mail, Ferguson said: “Absolutely (other team's were frightened of it). That's why I used to go with my watch.”

“But I never looked at my watch. Honestly. I didn’t know how many minutes but it gets across to the opponents and the referee. It was just a little trick,” said the Scot.

Ferguson's United became famous for winning points in the closing minutes of matches in a timekeeping tactic which soon became labelled as 'Fergie Time'.

Ferguson explained that he never even looked at his watch but “it gets across to the opponents and the referee”.