Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger have been inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame.
The two legendary managers who won a combined 16 Premier League titles have become the first managers to be inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame, which is the highest individual Premier League award.
Ferguson and Wenger were in charge of Manchester United and Arsenal for 27 and 22 years respectively, the longest tenures of any managers in the Premier League and during this time, they established one of the most famous and fierce rivalries in Premier League history.
While at Manchester United, the Scot became the most successful manager in the Premier League winning a record 13 titles in 21 seasons while recording 528 wins from 810 matches in charge at Old Trafford.
Wenger’s 22 consecutive seasons at Arsenal is a Premier League record, and he is also the only manager that has won the Premier League title unbeaten, during that 2003/04 invincible season. The French tactician is highly praised for having created an attractive style of play that made his Arsenal great to watch with a mixture of players scouted from around the world.
Ferguson holds the record for being the only manager that has won the Premier League three consecutive seasons twice, and his 1999 treble cemented his place as one of the greatest football managers in the world.
Building the famed “Class of 92” while blending it with other world-class players also helped Ferguson beat the competition, while Wenger’s ability to bring relatively less known, usually young players into the Premier League and turn them into world-class stars is also highly respected.
Six players managed by Ferguson have already been inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame: David Beckham, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Wayne Rooney, Peter Schmeichel and Paul Scholes while four managed by Wenger: Ian Wright, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, and Dennis Bergkamp are also Premier League Hall of Fame inductees.
While accepting the induction, the former Man United manager said: “I’m truly delighted to be inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame. It’s an honour when you receive recognition like this. However, it’s not just about me as a person. It’s about the job at Manchester United and the bond we had over many years, so I’m also proud of the club, the staff and my players.
“My job was to send the fans home happy. United’s history and my expectations were the things that drove me, and I then had to try and develop all my players with the same expectations and make sure we could go out and achieve them.
“I feel Arsene is a very worthy inductee as he transformed Arsenal Football Club fantastically. They became a tough team to compete with and we both wanted to win, which motivated us further.”
Wenger, who left Arsenal at the end of the 2017/18 season, said it was an honour to be inducted into the Hall of Fame with Sir Alex, and expressed his love for Arsenal.
“I am very grateful to have been selected for the Premier League Hall of Fame. We always wanted to give something special to the fans and when you have players capable of remarkable things, the most important thing for me is the obligation of perfection.
“I’d like to be known as someone who loved Arsenal, who respected the values of the club and left it in a position where it can grow and become even bigger.
“To share this with Sir Alex is a great honour for me. It’s like two boxers, you fight like mad and go the distance together. At the end of the day, you have respect and it will be a great opportunity to meet with him, share a good bottle of wine and memories of our old battles,” Wenger said after his induction.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s Premier League record
Matches: 810
Wins: 528
Draws: 168
Losses: 114
Win percentage: 65.2%
Titles: 13
Arsene Wenger’s Premier League record
Matches: 828
Wins: 476
Draws: 199
Losses: 153
Win percentage: 57.5%
Titles: 3.
