adminLONDON. — Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed the inspiration behind his rise to greatness — being beaten with a belt by his favourite primary school teacher.The legendary disciplinarian credits the even more formidable Elizabeth Thomson with helping him become the most successful boss in English football history. And the belt she used is now a prized possession at his home.
“Since from that and you were in agony,” said Sir Alex, recalling his school-days at Broomloan Road Primary in Glasgow. “I’d try to pull my hand away. But that was the sort of punishment if you stepped out of line. In my case, it was usually for fighting in the playground.” Yet such was his admiration for his old teacher that they kept in touch during his trophy-laden career.
“When she died, I couldn’t go to the funeral – but months later I got a parcel,” he said. “She had bequeathed her belt to me. “Her nephew sent it with a letter saying, ‘You’ll know more about this belt than anyone’. It’s in my study. My grandchildren are terrified of it.”
Corporal punishment was banned from Glasgow classes in 1982 — but he recalls his 1950s school-days fondly in a Times Educational Supplement feature, titled My Best Teacher. — The Mirror.
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