Sir Alex Ferguson received a phone call from Jurgen Klopp in the middle of the night, mere hours after one of the proudest days in Liverpool history
At 3am, with the Premier League finally secured, Jurgen Klopp reached for his phone. Liverpool had just ended a 30-year wait for a league title – and the man he wanted to speak to was Sir Alex Ferguson.
On the surface, it sounded like the ultimate gloat. A Liverpool manager ringing Manchester United’s greatest ever figure in the middle of the night was the kind of act that would make most Old Trafford icons recoil. But this call was different.
Ferguson didn’t bristle. He didn’t ignore it. He was genuinely pleased. Klopp, after all, had just achieved something monumental, guiding Liverpool back to the summit after three decades of frustration – and even the fiercest rivalries can make room for respect.
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That respect was laid bare later that year when Klopp was named LMA Manager of the Year. Ferguson, a record 11-time winner of the award, was chosen to speak at the ceremony – and used the occasion to publicly salute the man who had momentarily dragged him out of bed in the early hours.
“Jurgen, fantastic,” said Sir Alex, who went on to mention their late-night phone call. “Liverpool, 30 years since winning that league: incredible. Really thoroughly deserved.
“The performance level of the team, really outstanding. Your personality ran right through the whole club. I think it was a marvellous, marvellous performance.
“I’ll forgive you for waking me up at half past three in the morning to tell me you’d won the league. Thank you. But anyway, you’ve thoroughly deserved it, well done.”
When Klopp took to the stage, the admiration was mutual. Fully aware of how it might sound coming from a Liverpool manager, he admitted it felt “inappropriate” to heap praise on a United legend – yet couldn’t hide the influence Ferguson had had on him.
“I am absolutely delighted to get this title,” he said. “There are a lot of Liverpool names on this trophy – Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny looks like he is all over the trophy. Brendan Rodgers, too.
“But the main name is Sir Alex Ferguson. I know it is not 100 per cent appropriate as Liverpool manager, but I admire him. He was the first British manager I met and we had breakfast together – I am not sure if he remembers but for me, it was like meeting the Pope. I never thought then I would be holding the Sir Alex Ferguson trophy in my hands.”
Klopp may not boast a trophy cabinet as bulging as Ferguson’s, but like the Scot before him with Arsene Wenger, he shared an era-shaping rivalry with Pep Guardiola – a duel that came to define domestic dominance.
In 2024, Klopp’s nine-year reign at Anfield came to an end. The FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League were all secured along the way – but his defining legacy was re-establishing Liverpool as a constant force at the summit of English and European football and lifting them back onto the “perch” Ferguson once promised to knock them off.
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