Arsenal icon Wilson details Ferguson gesture after deaths of wife and daughter

25 March 2024 , 12:47

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Bob Wilson and his wife were together for seven decades

The moments where Sir Alex Ferguson showcased his class still remain with Arsenal great Bob Wilson as he dealt with personal grief.

The legendary goalkeeper made more than 300 appearances for the Gunners, later becoming a coach with the north Londoners - a role he would hold for 28 years before calling it a day in 2003. During that latter part of that lengthy spell Arsenal had become embroiled in a fierce rivalry with Manchester United.

Arsenal were the only club to challenge United's authority and, as a results, Ferguson and Arsene Wenger had their moments - as did the players on the pitch. Nevertheless, Ferguson knew where to leave the rivalry and his human side left its mark on Wilson after the passing of his wife, Megs, whom he'd been with for 70 years.

The Gunners dedicated a page to Wilson's wife in a matchday programme with Ferguson among those present at her recent Memorial Service at a full St Albans Cathedral.

Wilson told the Telegraph: “It showed Arsenal’s class. Alex [Ferguson] drove four hours, came to the service, went back. I made sure Frank McLintock and George Graham were right by him. I got a message two days after from a close friend who said, ‘There were these three Scottish blokes in the row behind me and I gather one of them is very famous. Well, my husband and I could not understand one word they said!’”

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Ferguson had also taken the time out to phone Wilson back in 1998 when their daughter, Anna, died of cancer at the tragic age of 31. That was during United's treble winning season, in which Arsenal were their main rivals in the Premier League and the FA Cup.

Wilson recalled: “Three nights after Anna died, the phone rang. ‘Hiya Bob, it’s Alex’. I was, ‘Alex??’ He was, ‘Yeah, Alex Ferguson ’. He spoke to me, said, ‘You sound as if you are holding up but where’s Megs?’ He then spoke to her for 20 minutes. I’ll never forget that.”

Sir Alex Ferguson's gestures have stuck with Bob Wilson

Anna's death led to the beginning of their Willow Foundation charity, for which Megs was the driving force. So much so that Wilson initially tuned down his OBE in 2007 because it had not gone to his wife. “I said, ‘You deserve this more’. She went berserk. She said, ‘It’s not just for Willow, it’s what you have done in football’.”

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Samuel Meade