Alex Ferguson's 5 Finest Moments

On this day 26 years ago, Alex Ferguson was handed the managerial reins of a sleeping giant teetering on the edge of relegation.

Today, the 70-year-old Scot has turned Manchester Utd back into a global force, becoming one of the most-celebrated league managers of all time.

In commemoration of this milestone, it has been announced that Ferguson will join the esteemed ranks of Thierry Henry, Billy Bremner and, er, Michael Jackson and will have a statue erected in his honor.

Here are five of the most impressive moments from his illustrious career.

Winning the Inaugural Premier League in 1992-93

The man celebrating his 26th year at Old Trafford brought the Red Devils their first league title in 26 years in the 1992-93 season, making his side the inaugural Premier League winners.

After a heartbreaking title-race loss to Leeds the previous year, Utd fought off competition from Aston Villa and Norwich (how times have changed!) to bring home the silverware in Sir Alex's sixth season in Manchester.

At this stage, Ferguson had already won four league titles with St. Mirren and Aberdeen, and a FA Cup and a League Cup with Utd.

Signing Eric Cantona

He brought in one of the world's best goalkeepers Peter Schmeichel for just £350,000 in 1991, and paid just €15 million for a teenage Cristiano Ronaldo in 2003, but no signing encapsulates Manchester Utd's Ferguson-era dominance as much as Eric Cantona.

The fiery Frenchman was signed from Leeds in 1992 for £1.2 million when Fergie failed to secure the services of Alan Shearer, David Hirst and Dion Dublin.

It's hard to imagine Cantona as a fourth-choice signing now though, as he lead one of Utd's most successful line-ups, earning four Premier League titles and the nickname "King Eric."

Winning with "Kids"

After failing to win a title in 1994-95, Ferguson sold off experienced players like Paul Ince, Andrei Kanchelskis and Mark Hughes, choosing to back youth team players like Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers instead.

"You can't win anything with kids," declared pundit Alan Hansen after they lost the 1995-96 season opener to Aston Villa.

How wrong he was.

Beckham and his young cohorts took the league title back from Blackburn that season, and won it again in 1996-97.

Winning Utd's 19th League Title

Even though Liverpool have failed to secure a Premier League trophy, they frequently lauded their record 18 English league titles over their red rivals for much of the past two decades.

Those bragging rights ended in the 2010-11 season though, when Sir Alex delivered Manchester Utd's 19th league title.

When Ferguson took charge in 1986, Liverpool had won 16 titles and Manchester Utd just seven, showing just how much impact the Scot has had during his reign.

The 1998/99 Treble

The greatest moment in Alex Ferguson's career is surely the ten-day period in which Manchester Utd won the league, the FA Cup and the Champions League, a treble accomplishment unmatched by any English club.

The achievement was sealed in dramatic style at the Nou Camp on May 26th 1999, when Fergie's men scored two injury time goals to steal the European Cup from under Bayern Munich's nose.

The following month, Ferguson was bestowed with the honour of becoming a knight of the realm, an achievement also achieved by club legends Sir Matt Busby and Sir Bobby Charlton.