Duncan Cowan Ferguson (born 27 December 1971) is a Scottish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. Ferguson was the

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker'' * '' The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital * Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

of Everton in 2019 and 2022. He began his career at

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

in 1990, and moved to Rangers in 1993 for what was then a British transfer record fee. He spent the remainder of his career in England, moving to Everton in 1994 before a stint with Newcastle United between 1998 and 2000, after which he returned to Everton where he retired in 2006. During his career, Ferguson won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

with Everton in 1995. He was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

seven times, playing at

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having qualifi ...

, but made himself unavailable for selection for the national team from 1997 due to a dispute with the Scottish Football Association. He has scored more goals than any other Scottish player in England's

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

since its creation in 1992. Ferguson's aggressive style of play resulted in a career total of nine red cards, as well as a three-month prison sentence following an on-field assault of

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...

John McStay John McStay (born 24 December 1965 in Larkhall, South Lanarkshire) is a Scottish former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He is a cousin of former Celtic player Paul McStay. ...

in 1994. Eight of those red cards were in the English Premier League, where he holds the joint record for dismissals alongside

Patrick Vieira Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. Vieira began his career at ...

and

Richard Dunne Richard Patrick Dunne (born 21 September 1979) is an Irish former footballer and current television pundit for BT Sport, who played as a defender. He made 431 Premier League appearances, including 253 for Manchester City. Dunne began his prof ...

. He is known by the nicknames "Big Dunc" and "Duncan Disorderly". Ferguson was promoted to the first team coaching staff at Everton in 2014. Following the dismissal of Everton manager

Marco Silva Marco Alexandre Saraiva da Silva (; born 12 July 1977) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of club Fulham. He played for a variety of Portuguese clubs, finishing his career with a six-year spell at ...

in December 2019, he was named as the team's caretaker manager until Silva's replacement

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti , (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...

was appointed manager a few weeks later, at which point Ferguson was made assistant manager. He became caretaker manager again in January 2022.

Club career

Dundee United

Born in

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

, Ferguson played for the juvenile side Carse Thistle.

signed him as a schoolboy and he went on to win the BP Youth Cup in 1990. Later that year Ferguson made his professional debut for them against Rangers at

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox, Glasgow, Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers F.C., Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest List of foot ...

on 10 November 1990. His first goal was an extra time winner against East Fife in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, The following

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

saw him become a first team regular, with 41 appearances and 16 goals he became the club's top scorer. His good form continued in

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

with 33 appearances and 15 goals. The form he displayed at Dundee United also saw him win a call up to the Scottish national team.

Rangers

Ferguson moved to Rangers in 1993 for a transfer fee of £4 million, which set a new British record. During a match with

in April 1994, Ferguson headbutted the visitors'

in the south-west corner of the Ibrox pitch. Referee Kenny Clark did not see the incident, but Ferguson was subsequently charged and found guilty of assault. As it was his third conviction for assault, in addition to two other convictions, he received a three-month prison sentence in October 1995. The SFA banned Ferguson for 12 matches before the court case was heard. Ferguson scored a last-minute winner against Motherwell, from a

Brian Laudrup Brian Laudrup (, born 22 February 1969) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a winger, forward or as a midfielder, and was regarded as one of the most talented players of his generation. He currently works as a football co ...

pass, in the first game of the season. Four days later, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 6–1 win over Arbroath. Of Ferguson's time at Rangers, one of his strike partners

Mark Hateley Mark Wayne Hateley (born 7 November 1961) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his career with Coventry City F.C. in the First Division of English football. A spell followed at English Second Divisi ...

said: "Duncan was a really good player, but I think he came to Rangers a couple of years too early.

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

wanted me to take him under my wing. He was a boisterous young lad who wanted to play all the time. It was a period in his career where he'd gone from being a big fish in a small pond to being a small fish in the big pond at Rangers. He probably found that a bit difficult.""MARK HATELEY , Open Goal Meets... Former Rangers, England, AC Milan & Monaco Striker"
– Open Goal,

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, 29 November 2021

Everton

In October 1994, Everton were struggling under the management of Mike Walker and looking for options to reinvigorate their faltering season. The solution enacted was to take two Rangers players on a loan deal,

Ian Durrant Ian Durrant (born 29 October 1966) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is currently a first team coach at East Kilbride. During his playing career, Durrant played as a midfielder for Rangers for 13 years and was par ...

for one month and Ferguson for three. Ferguson's move to Everton was later made permanent by Walker's successor

Joe Royle Joseph Royle (born 8 April 1949) is an English football manager and former footballer. In his playing career as a striker, he debuted for Everton at the age of 16 and went on to play for Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the ...

, and Ferguson played a key role in saving Everton from relegation, and also helping them win the 1994–95 FA Cup. The subsequent 1995–96 season was less successful for Ferguson. A persistent

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the groin. Groin herni ...

problem caused him to be unavailable for large amounts of time, as did his prison sentence during the first half of the season. On 28 December 1997, Ferguson scored a

against Bolton Wanderers in a 3–2 victory, the first time that a trio of headers had been scored in the Premier League. Everton finished the season surviving relegation only on goal difference. Ferguson was sold to Newcastle United for a fee of £8 million in November 1998. The deal was done to sell Ferguson by the Everton chairman, Peter Johnson, without the knowledge of

. Ferguson wrote a two-page goodbye letter in the club magazine to fans, stating his sadness at leaving and that he would never forget them.

Newcastle United

After bringing Ferguson to Newcastle, manager

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a Dutch footballer and subsequent manager who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s as a defender, midfielder or forward. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all ...

was rewarded when Ferguson scored twice on his debut against Wimbledon in the

. The final result was a 3–1 victory to Newcastle. At the start of 1999, Ferguson suffered a hernia injury, meaning that he played only seven times in the 1998–99 season. He made his comeback on 11 April, coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 extra-time FA Cup semi-final win over

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

, and did the same in the

1999 FA Cup Final The 1999 FA Cup Final was an association football match that took place on 22 May 1999 at the old Wembley Stadium in London to determine the winner of the 1998–99 FA Cup. It was contested between Manchester United and Newcastle United. Goa ...

, which Newcastle lost to Manchester United. In 1999–2000, Ferguson scored in three rounds of the FA Cup as Newcastle beat Tottenham 6–1,

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

4–1 and

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

3–2, before a semi-final elimination by Chelsea. He scored six league goals, including two in a 5–0 home win over

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 16 January 2000.

Return to Everton

On 17 August 2000, Ferguson moved back to Everton for a fee of £3.75 million. The transfer had previously been close to collapse as he sought a £1 million "loyalty payment" from Newcastle for not personally asking for a transfer; he had made the same amount of money from Everton when he transferred in 1998 on the same basis. Two days after signing, he played his first game in a 2–0 loss at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

, coming on for Stephen Hughes after 56 minutes. On 23 August, on his return to Goodison Park, he scored twice in a 3–0 win over

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

after coming on for

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City. During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, an ...

in the 67th minute. On 1 April 2002, Ferguson was sent off after 20 minutes for elbowing Bolton Wanderers'

Kostas Konstantinidis Kostas Konstantinidis ( gr, Κώστας Κωνσταντινίδης; born 31 August 1972) is a former professional footballer who works as technical director of Greece national team. A defender, he spent most of his career in Greece and Germa ...

in an off-the-ball incident in a 3–1 win for a struggling Everton side. In August 2003, Jamie Jackson of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called Ferguson "arguably the biggest waste of money of all", citing his high transfer fees and wages compared to his injury record and age. By that point, he had scored 12 times in 41 games in three years at Everton, while earning over £5 million in salary. His 192 minutes of play in 2002–03 as a goalless substitute cost the club £9,000 per minute. Ferguson was accused of racial abuse by Fulham's

Luís Boa Morte Luís Boa Morte Pereira (; born 4 August 1977) is a Portuguese football coach and a former professional football player who played as an attacking winger, forward and centre midfielder. Having come through the youth ranks with Sporting CP, ...

after an FA Cup fourth round match in January 2004. The accusation was dismissed by the Football Association, who found insufficient evidence. On 28 December that year, Ferguson came on for

Marcus Bent Marcus Nathan Bent (born 19 May 1978) is a retired English professional footballer. A former England under-21 international, the journeyman striker played 573 games and scored 113 goals for fourteen different clubs. His numerous transfer fees ...

in the 74th minute of Everton's 2–0 loss at Charlton, and within ten minutes he was sent off for an elbow on

Hermann Hreiðarsson Hermann Hreiðarsson (born 11 July 1974) is an Icelandic former professional football player and coach. He played as a defender and spent 15 seasons in England, gaining a total of 315 appearances in the Premier League. Hermann was relegated fr ...

. During the 2005–06 season, Ferguson was sent off against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

for violent conduct. His confrontation with Paul Scharner and subsequent fracas with

Pascal Chimbonda Pascal Chimbonda (born 21 February 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Chimbonda began his professional career in 1998 with Le Havre, where he featured over 100 times combined for the club's first team ...

resulted in a seven-match ban and saw his Premier League red–card count reach eight, equalling

's record. On 7 May 2006, against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

at Goodison Park, Ferguson was named captain in the game that marked the end of his Everton career. His 90th-minute penalty kick was saved by

Tomasz Kuszczak Tomasz Mirosław Kuszczak (; born 20 March 1982) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Krosno Odrzańskie, Kuszczak previously played for Śląsk Wrocław in Poland, as well as for the German clubs KFC ...

, but he subsequently scored from the rebound, netting his final goal for the club. Ferguson was not given a new Everton deal and retired, moving his family to Mallorca and spurning advances from a number of clubs. Ferguson played for Everton in a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

in his honour on 2 August 2015 against

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

International career

Ferguson made his first full international appearance for

on 17 May 1992, in a 1–0 win over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He was selected for

in Sweden, making one substitute appearance against reigning champions the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

on 12 June. He withdrew from

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

in England due to surgery on a recurring hernia. He made seven Scotland appearances in all, with his last appearance coming in February 1997. Ferguson refused international selection after 1997, partly in protest against his treatment by the SFA after his conviction for assault on John McStay and in particular the imposition of a 12-game ban on top of his three-month prison sentence.

Coaching career

Having spent five years in Mallorca following his retirement from playing, Ferguson contacted his former manager at Everton, David Moyes. Ferguson asked if he could work with the Everton academy students at

Finch Farm Finch Farm is the training ground for Everton F.C., in Halewood, in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside within the Liverpool City Region. The School of Science is the nickname given to the complex by some supporters, referring to a ...

. Initially Ferguson was a voluntary worker at the academy, working for Alan Irvine, a former mentor of his from his playing career. Although Ferguson remains disappointed with the Scottish FA for what he sees as a lack of support following his sentencing in 1995, he enrolled on a nine-day Scottish FA organised coaching course in

Largs Largs ( gd, An Leargaidh Ghallda) is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" (''An Leargaidh'') in Scottish Gaelic. A popular seaside resort with a pier, the town mark ...

, Scotland to earn a UEFA B-Licence. In May 2012, he returned to Largs to achieve a UEFA A licence and in January 2013 he enrolled on a further course and is working towards a UEFA Pro Licence. In February 2014 Ferguson was promoted to the first team coaching staff at Everton. His first game in the role was a home game against West Ham United on 1 March 2014. Following the dismissal of manager

on 5 December 2019, Ferguson was named as caretaker manager of Everton. In his first game in charge two days later, Everton beat Chelsea 3–1 to lift themselves out of the relegation zone. Following the appointment of

as the new manager later that month, Ferguson was made assistant manager, a role he retained under

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under- ...

who joined the club following Ancelotti's departure to Real Madrid in June 2021. On 18 January 2022, Ferguson was again appointed caretaker manager following the sacking of

. He oversaw one game as caretaker, a 1–0 home loss to Aston Villa, before

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...

was appointed as the new manager.

Personal life

Burglary attempts at his homes

In 2001, two burglars broke into Ferguson's home in

Rufford, Lancashire Rufford is a village in West Lancashire, England, where the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway, the A59 and the River Douglas meet. Rufford is also a civil parish, which includes the neighbouring village of H ...

. Ferguson confronted them and was able to detain one of them, who subsequently spent three days in hospital. The second man managed to flee but was eventually caught. Both men were sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment for their actions. In January 2003, Ferguson caught another burglar at his home in

Formby, Merseyside Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 22,419 at the 2011 Census. Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under "For ...

; the burglar attacked Ferguson, who retaliated. The burglar was hospitalised and later alleged that Ferguson had assaulted him, but this was dismissed by police.

Convictions for physical altercations

Ferguson has had four convictions for assault – two arising from

taxi rank A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

scuffles, one an altercation with a fisherman in an Anstruther pub, and one for his on-field headbutt on Raith Rovers defender

in 1994 while playing for Rangers, which resulted in a rare conviction for an on-the-field incident. The first incident led to a £100 fine for headbutting a policeman and a £25 fine for a Breach of the Peace, while the second resulted in a £200 fine for punching and kicking a supporter on crutches. He was sentenced to a year's

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

for the third offence."Football: Trials of the pounds 4m man: James Traynor looks at the troubled life and career of Rangers' record signing"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 24 October 1993 For the 1994 on-the-field headbutting, he received and served a three-month jail term for assault. Ferguson's troubles with the law and his imprisonment inspired Finnish composer

Osmo Tapio Räihälä Osmo Tapio Everton Räihälä (born 15 January 1964; name sometimes spelled without umlauts) is a Finnish composer of contemporary music. He has mainly written instrumental music for various chamber music line-ups, five concertos (one for mallet ...

to write a symphonic poem as a "musical portrait" of Ferguson, titled '' Barlinnie Nine''.

Campaigning

Ferguson has pledged his support to the "Keep Everton in Our City" campaign, saying:

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics

Honours

Dundee United *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

Rangers *

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

: 1993–94 *Scottish Cup runner-up: 1993–94 Everton *

: 1994–95 Newcastle United *FA Cup: runner-up 1998–99Double joy for Man United
BBC News, 22 May 1999 Individual *

Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 10 ...

: February 1995

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Duncan 1971 births Living people Scottish expatriates in Spain Dundee United F.C. players Everton F.C. players Association football forwards Newcastle United F.C. players Scottish Football League players Premier League players Rangers F.C. players Scotland international footballers Scottish footballers UEFA Euro 1992 players Scottish people convicted of assault Scotland under-21 international footballers Everton F.C. non-playing staff Scottish football managers Everton F.C. managers Premier League managers Association football coaches Sportspeople convicted of crimes FA Cup Final players