IN: Born to Alexander Beaton Ferguson, a plater's helper in the shipbuilding industry, and his wife, Elizabeth (nee Hardie), Alex Chapman Ferguson was born at his grandmother's home on Shieldhall Road in Govan on 31 December 1941, but grew up in a tenement at 667 Govan Road (which has since been demolished), where he lived with his parents as well as his younger brother Martin. Ferguson attended Broomloan Road Primary School and later Govan High School. He began his football career with Harmony Row Boys Club in Govan, before progressing to Drumchapel Amateurs, a youth club with a strong reputation for producing senior footballers.

Although the team had a slow start to the 2008-09 season, United won the Premier League with a game to spare, making Ferguson the first manager in the history of English football to win the Premier League three times consecutively, on two separate occasions. Ferguson had now won 11 league titles at Manchester United, and the 2008-09 season title success put them level with Liverpool as league champions on a record 18 occasions in total. They also won the League Cup on penalties after a goalless Wembley draw with Tottenham. They contested the 2009 Champions League final against Barcelona on 27 May 2009 but lost 2-0. In 2009-10, Ferguson added another League Cup to his honours list as United defeated Aston Villa 2-1 in the Wembley final on 28 February 2010. However, his dreams of a third European Cup were ended a few weeks later when United were edged out of the competition in the quarter-finals by Bayern Munich on away goals. And their hopes of a record 19th league title were ended on the last day of the season when Chelsea beat them to the Premier League title, crushing Wigan Athletic 8-0 and rendering United's 4-0 win over Stoke City meaningless. He ended the season by winning his 12th and Manchester United's 19th league title and thus overtaking Liverpool's record of 18. Manchester United faced Barcelona again on 28 May 2011 in the 2011 Champions League final, their third in four years, but United lost 3-1. Analyst Alan Hansen stated that he believed Ferguson was "the key component" in United's success that season, so key in fact that "[he] would have claimed the crown with any of the other top sides had he been in charge of them". With Edwin van der Sar, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes all retiring in 2011, Ferguson spent big by signing defender Phil Jones from Blackburn and winger Ashley Young from Aston Villa for around PS17 million each, and goalkeeper David de Gea from Atletico Madrid for around PS19 million. On 2 September 2012, Ferguson managed his 1,000th league game with United against Southampton. United won the game 3-2 thanks to a hat-trick from Robin van Persie. Two weeks later, he won his 100th game in the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Galatasaray at Old Trafford.

Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?

OUT: On 2 September 2012, Ferguson managed his 1,000th league game with United against Southampton.

IN: Keane was born into a working class family in Ballinderry Park, Mayfield, Cork. His father, Maurice, took work wherever he could find, which led to jobs at a local knitwear company and at Murphy's Irish Stout brewery, among others. His family were keen on sport, football especially, and many of his relatives had played for junior clubs in Cork, including Rockmount. Keane took up boxing at the age of nine and trained for a number of years, winning all of his four bouts in the novice league.

Keane made headlines again in the 2001 Manchester derby, when five minutes from the final whistle, he was sent off for a blatant knee-high foul on Alf-Inge Haland in what was seen by many as an act of revenge. He initially received a three-match suspension and a PS5,000 fine from The Football Association (FA), but further punishment was to follow after the release of Keane's autobiography in August 2002, in which he stated that he intended "to hurt" Haland. Keane's account of the incident was as follows: I'd waited long enough. I fucking hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you cunt. And don't ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries. An admission that the tackle was in fact a premeditated assault, it left the FA with no choice but to charge Keane with bringing the game into disrepute. He was banned for a further five matches and fined PS150,000 in the ensuing investigation. Despite widespread condemnation, he later maintained in an interview that he had no regrets about the incident: "My attitude was, fuck him. What goes around comes around. He got his just rewards. He fucked me over and my attitude is an eye for an eye", and said he would probably do the same thing again. Haland later implied that the tackle effectively finished his playing career as he never played a full game afterwards. However, Haland did complete the match and played 68 minutes of the following game. He also played a friendly for Norway in between both matches. It was, in fact, a long-standing injury to his left knee that ended his career rather than his right.

What year did this occur?

OUT: in the 2001 Manchester derby,

IN: Thomson was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the youngest of six children. He arrived in the United States two years later. His father, a cabinet maker, had moved to New York City shortly before Bobby's birth and sent for his family in 1925. Thomson grew up on Staten Island in New York City and signed with the New York Giants for a $100 bonus right out of Curtis High School in 1942.

Longstanding rumors that the Giants engaged in systematic sign stealing during the second half of the 1951 season were confirmed in 2001. Several players told the Wall Street Journal that beginning on July 20, the team used a telescope, manned by coach Herman Franks in the Giants clubhouse behind center field, to steal the finger signals of opposing catchers. Stolen signs were relayed to the Giants dugout via a buzzer wire. Joshua Prager, the author of the Journal article, outlined the evidence in greater detail in a 2008 book. Although Thomson always insisted that he had no foreknowledge of Branca's pitch, Sal Yvars told Prager that he relayed Rube Walker's fastball sign to Thomson. Branca was privately skeptical of Thomson's denials but made no public comment at the time. Later he told The New York Times, "I didn't want to diminish a legendary moment in baseball. And even if Bobby knew what was coming, he had to hit it.... Knowing the pitch doesn't always help." Whether the telescope-and-buzzer system contributed significantly to the Giants' late-season 37-7 win streak remains a subject of debate. Prager notes in his book that sign stealing was not specifically forbidden by MLB rules at the time and, moral issues aside, "...has been a part of baseball since its inception". Sign stealing using optical or other mechanical aids was outlawed by MLB in 1961. Thomson however, late in his life, rebuked his prior claims of not receiving the sign on the Shot Heard 'Round the World, and admitted that the sign was received.

What was the controversy about?

OUT:
Longstanding rumors that the Giants engaged in systematic sign stealing during the second half of the 1951 season were confirmed in 2001.