The recent end to the boycott of the BBC by Sir Alex Ferguson has led many people to wonder how it actually begun in the first place. This is a common problem with long running arguments; we sometime forget how it all started.
The conversations between Sir Alex and Mark Thompson, BBC director general, will probably never be known as both parties have agreed to not comment on the talks. The only reason for Ferguson’s original boycott was the BBC airing the documentary ‘Fergie and Son,’ in 2004 – he never actually mentioned what it was in the documentary that affronted him and caused him to boycott the BBC.
The only time he spoke of the BBC since 2004 was in 2007, when he accused the broadcaster of being incredibly arrogant and saying they would never apologise for the content of the documentary. He said the film was very insulting to his son and damaged his honour. He also accused the BBC for making up the contents of the documentary.
The documentary focused on Ferguson’s son, Jason. Alex Millar directed the programme and went back to examine the revelations that the agents Jason had once worked for had got £25,000 for the transfer of Massimo Taibi, a goalkeeper. Other transfers were also examined in the film.
John Magnier and J P McManus, former friends of Ferguson’s had asked nearly one hundred questions about the football clubs financial propriety. These questions were leaked to the Daily Mail and United faced much greater scrutiny. As a response to this, the club decided to conduct a review of all its transfer dealings.
Before the airing of the documentary, the BBC released information about some of the findings that Millar had made. Unexpectedly, and in an attempt to pre-empt the revelations in the film, the club publicly announced that it was reviewing its transfers.