DAVID Beckham and a host of footie legends were in Glasgow today to pay their respects at the funeral of Sir Alex Ferguson’s late wife.
Lady Cathy’s service was held at St Andrew’s Cathedral in the heart of the city this morning.
She passed away earlier this month aged 84, leaving the football world in mourning.
Beckham, 48, was joined by fellow Manchester United heroes including Darren Fletcher, 39, Gary Neville, 48, Nicky Butt, 48, Michael Carrick, 42, Ji Sung Park, 42, Bryan Robson, 66, and Steve Bruce, 62.
Scotland legend Kenny Dalglish, 72, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers, 50, and ex-Rangers assistant Archie Knox, 76, were also at the service.
Sir Alex followed his late wife’s coffin out of the cathedral before shaking his hands with Canon Andrew McKenzie who conducted the service.
Outside Beckham mingled with other mourners on the pavement opposite the River Clyde.
Two cops watched from across the road while others sat in a police van keeping an eye.
Passersby watched in amazement as the ex-England captain chatted outside for around ten minutes until he was picked up by a Mercedes with blacked out windows.
Sir Alex and Lady Cathy’s son Jason read an emotional eulogy
“FIRST of all I just want to start with a few thank yous. To Father McKenzie and everyone here for such a beautiful service.
“To Willie Haughey for all his help organising today and making sure we are here in this incredible venue.
“My dad is probably the best place to start, married to my mum for 57 years. They got married on March 12 1966.
“To celebrate my dad went straight off to play for Dunfermline against Hamilton.
“And my mum went off to sort out the party.
“That really set the tone, that is not a criticism because my mum had no interest in football, because all she wanted was him to do well.
“She supported him as a player and it’s been said a million times before, my dad couldn’t have achieved what he did without her.
“She had no interest in football, she never went to the games, apart from the cup finals where she would sit with my aunty Bridget and just chat through the game completely oblivious to what was going on.
“For other games, she used to have Teletext on the telly in the kitchen and check in at half time and full time.
“So my dad got on with football and my mum raised the kids. I’ve heard my dad say before that was a sacrifice, for my mum it wasn’t. It was what she wanted to do and what she was good at.
“She had three boys, me, Mark and Darren. Darren was fine, all he wanted to do was play football and eat.
“Me and Mark, all we did growing up was argue and fight. And you’d get the classic, wait ‘til your dad gets home. Sometimes she would tell him but most of the time not.
“She loved being a granny. She couldn’t walk passed a clothes shop and used to hide all the bags from my dad in a room downstairs.”
Jason went on the reveal how his mum had suffered with ill health in her final weeks.
He said: “My mum had a torrid time over the last few months. But she kept fighting, fighting through each set back until it was too much even for her.
“I’m sure a lot of you have been in similar circumstances. The doctors try to prepare you bit by bit and then the inevitable happens and you think you are prepared but you’re not.
“For my dad and all of us as a family, the most important thing today was to honour my mum and pay tribute to her.
“Today, this venue is a huge part of that.”
And he told how the family has welcomed new life since his beloved mum passed away.
He said: “Last Saturday, two days after my mum passed, there was a little girl born in Aberdeen, my granddaughter, my mum and dad’s great granddaughter.
“And that little girl is called Isla Cathleen, and that’s a tribute, the perfect tribute. And believe it or not, just before we walked in here today, my son’s wife went into labour. You couldn’t make it up.
“That is what my mum was all about, she was all about family, you know. I used to ask myself a question about my mum and dad, are they really simple, basic people, or are they actually really complicated people.
“I think the answer is they are both the same. They are complicated people who are underpinned by simple basic values.
”As a family, we are obviously devastated but right now standing here I am happy, I’m happy she got the send off my dad wanted.
“I’m happy she got the send off she deserves and I am happy she is at peace.
“My dad said to me the other day, which that I thought sums it up.
“That ‘The Gorbals girl has come home’. God bless you mum.”
Local businessmen James Mortimer and Willie Haughey were also at the funeral.
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Sir Alex, 81, first met Cathy in 1964 when he was just 23 and playing with Dunfermline Athletic. They married shortly after in 1966 shortly before his move to Rangers.
In his autobiography, Sir Alex wrote: “I had the good fortune to meet a wonderful girl who has been my rock for almost 50 years.”
The couple have three sons – Mark, born in 1968, and twin boys Darren, manager at Peterborough United, and Jason, a football agent, born in 1972. They also have 12 grandchildren.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
