Alex Ferguson's wife says she thought he was a 'thug' when they first met

Sir Alex Ferguson's wife has revealed she thought he was a "thug" when they first met.

The football legend had a cut to his face which he suffered playing in a match when wife Cathy saw him for the first time.

The former Manchester United manager said he looked like a "gangster" at the time but plucked up the courage to ask her out.

In a new documentary Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In, Cathy told of his clumsy efforts to impress her on their first date at the cinema.

He gave her a box of liquorice allsorts but then ate them all during the film and bought her a local paper on the way home.

The couple met when they were both working at the Remington Rand typewriter factory in Hillington, Glasgow, in the early 1960s and have been married for 55 years.

Cathy, 82, said: "I just saw him walking through and I thought he was a thug.

"Then I found out he was a footballer and that didn't make him any different to me.

"He bought me a box of liquorice allsorts at the movies, of which he ate all of them, and a local paper when we came out. That was my romantic day.

"We got married in Glasgow registry office in 1966 and that was the start. I went to my work and he went to his football."

Glasgow-born Ferguson, 79, was an apprentice toolmaker at the factory and playing part-time for St Johnstone when he met Cathy.

He said: "I was 22. I had this friend and she said to me 'There's a really nice girl that's just started'.

"I had suffered an injury at football and I had a plaster on my face. She thought I was either a gangster or a boxer.

"We got really close and I really loved her."

The documentary, directed by Ferguson's son Jason, documents his recovery from a brain haemorrhage he suffered in May 2018.

He tells how he feared he would never speak again and lose his memory after waking up from emergency surgery following the near death experience.

Ferguson, who also managed Aberdeen and the Scottish national team, retired from the Old Trafford hot seat in May 2013 after 27 years at the helm during which he won 38 trophies, including two Champions League titles.

Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In will be in cinemas from May 27 and on Amazon Prime from May 29.