Alex Ferguson will celebrate the latest milestone in an astonishing career when he takes charge of Manchester United for the 1,000th time on Tuesday.

Over the past 18 years, the former trade union shop steward from Glasgow has transformed a struggling club into the richest in the world and become British football's most successful manager of all time.

Ferguson, 62, can already look back on a United career that has brought him sporting triumph, personal wealth, a knighthood and the respect of the world game.

Eight league titles, five FA Cups and the 1999 European Cup have been added to United's trophy room since Ferguson made an inauspicious start with a 2-0 defeat at Oxford United in November 1986.

Generations of players have come and gone, boardroom battles over transfer fees have been won and lost, and countless referees have borne the brunt of Ferguson's notorious temper in those 18 years.

When he settles down in the Old Trafford dugout for Tuesday's Champions League game against Olympique Lyon, Ferguson's passion will remain undimmed and his hunger for success unsatisfied.

Ferguson is neither the game's greatest tactician nor the shrewdest wheeler-dealer in the transfer market.

As a manager who instils the right combination of respect, dedication and fear, he has no equal.

United, who won the European Cup in 1968 under Matt Busby, had suffered years of mediocrity under a string of managers including Ferguson's predecessor Ron Atkinson.

DIFFICULT START

The Scot's early years, though, contained few hints of the glories to follow.

After United finished second behind Liverpool in 1988, there followed two disappointing league campaigns and a painful, though successful, battle against the drinking culture among his players.

Ferguson stuck to his task and the turning point in his tenure was a 1990 FA Cup final replay win over Crystal Palace.

Ferguson's revamp of the United youth system paved the way for a new generation of players who would sweep all before them.

David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary and Phil Neville, and Nicky Butt came through Ferguson's academy, and a handful of inspired purchases ensured United's success for the rest of the decade.

None captured the imagination more than a French rebel, artist and poet named Eric Cantona, who got the glory years rolling with United's first league title under Ferguson in 1993 and their 1994 and 1996 doubles.

His surprise retirement in 1997 saw the captain's armband pass to Roy Keane, a combative ball-winner and box-to-box runner.

The young generation, combined with prolific strikers Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, then propelled United to the club's most successful season, the 1999 treble year.

A Premier League title, the FA Cup and an unforgettable night in Barcelona when United scored twice in stoppage time to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in the Champions League final impressed even Ferguson's critics.

FIERCE RIVALS

Yet Ferguson has not had everything his own way; Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has become a source of torment for him.

Wenger's English doubles in 1998 and 2002, along with his 2003 FA Cup and 2004 league trophies, have effectively ended United's hegemony.

Ferguson and Wenger are fierce rivals and their teams have turned most of their recent encounters into scraps.

When trouble brews, Ferguson instinctively defends his men to the hilt. Behind closed doors, however, any serious transgressor can expect to face his volatile temper.

In his autobiography "Managing My Life", Ferguson recalls playing for Harmony Row, a team of 10 and 11-year-olds. His description of their manager bears an uncanny resemblance to the future boss of Manchester United.

"Mick McGowan...not only had a passionate enthusiasm for football but a fanatical, one-eyed, all-consuming commitment to Harmony Row," he wrote. "Nothing and nobody came before the interests of the club. He was an impossible man. We all loved him but at one time or another fell out with him."

Ferguson's temper rebounded on him when a wayward boot kicked during a fit of pique after United lost 2-0 to Arsenal in the FA Cup fifth round in February 2003 hit Beckham, cutting him above the eye and giving him the resolve to walk out on the club.

Change has become a recurring theme at United in recent years as Ferguson works on the transition from one era to the next.

Strikers Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney, along with defender Rio Ferdinand, are truly world-class, though at a combined cost of 75 million pounds they ought to be.

Rooney and Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo, both 19, will provide a formidable strike threat for years to come, and there is plenty of promise in Scotland's 20-year-old midfielder Darren Fletcher.

That he can continue to spot and groom some of the world's best footballing talent after a career spanning three decades is a testament to Ferguson's passion for the game.