Sir Alex Ferguson Offers Man United Tickets to Daniel Craig, Is Turned Down

We probably should have known Sir Alex Ferguson is a Sean Connery man, but how were we to know Daniel Craig's allegiances?

The quirky football/movie news of the day begins with the apparent fact that Ferguson, the legendary manager of Manchester United, is a fan of the James Bond film franchise. The latest film in the series, Skyfall, is in theaters now and it turns out that Ferguson had a brush with James Bond himself recently.

Well, almost.

According to British newspaper The Sun, Ferguson sat next to Craig's mother on a recent flight to the United States. Craig plays Bond in Skyfall, and Fergie reportedly jumped at the chance to have James Bond in the seats at Old Trafford for a match sometime.

So he asked. And he got shut down.

"I said to her, 'There’s a ticket for Daniel at Old Trafford any time.' She looked at me as if I had horns on my head! She replied, 'I don’t think Daniel will want to go and see United.'"

Craig, it turns out, is a Liverpool supporter. (For confirmation, see this Liverpool Echo report from 2009.) The 44-year-old English actor hails from the Wirral, a peninsula in North West England, and roots on United's most traditionally hostile rival.

If we're comparing this to U.S. sports, this would be like Nick Saban offering Bama tickets to Charles Barkley. Right?

Anyway, ever the master of mind games, Ferguson had a zinger ready for Craig. According to The Sun, Ferguson is a Connery fan. Both are Scots, and Connery would presumably accept tickets for the Stretford End, even in the old days.

“He has to be the best Bond—he’s Scottish," said Ferguson.

Take that, Danny boy.

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