Ferguson has private expertise of the affect of dementia.
“I've a scenario myself, with my brother,” he says. “It isn't simple. I've to be in contact with him rather a lot. He recognises me [but] the reminiscence's not nice.
“However he isn't unhealthy. He is not getting any worse, let's put it that means, which may be very encouraging.”
Requested if dementia is a topic that occupies his thoughts, Ferguson's reply is affirmative.
“It's, yeah, as a result of I am his brother,” he says. “I am solely a 12 months forward of him and I've just one brother so he's necessary to me.
“It is behind my thoughts on a regular basis. You assume, ‘I ponder if he is in simply now', or if I ought to give him a cellphone [call]. I attempt to do this every day.
“I maintain telling him: ‘Write issues down.' I feel he tries to do this, however he forgets a number of the time.
“While you get to my age, you do have a bit of fear about whether or not your reminiscence goes to face up.
“I am 84 in December and there are moments once I neglect issues. I in all probability did that 20 years in the past, 30 years in the past… no-one's blessed with a 100% reminiscence. However in terms of soccer, once I was a supervisor, the reminiscence has all the time been necessary. Now I do a number of crosswords, I sing rather a lot and browse.
“I have a tendency to enter historical past – the American civil warfare. I went to some of the battlegrounds in America, which I actually loved.”
Ferguson's spouse, Girl Cathy, died on 5 October 2023. The couple had been married for nearly 58 years.
“After my spouse handed, I used to be caught in the home rather a lot,” he says.
“I moved home, into the nation, subsequent door to my son – but it surely's not adequate simply to sit down watching TV, so I made a decision to journey. I went to Saudi [Arabia], Hong Kong and Bahrain.
“Occupy your self. Coping with the dementia group has been good for me. It is one thing that I take pleasure in.”
Ferguson, who received 38 trophies throughout a 26-year tenure at Outdated Trafford, remains to be an everyday at United matches.
His legacy lives on – and it appears his recollection of his well-known information conferences is as clear as that of the journalists who attended them.
“I all the time seen the press conferences as one in all my challenges as a result of no matter you say in a press convention is there for all times,” he says. “In the event you've had a nasty outcome there may be going to be a query: ‘How did that occur?'”
