Several former and current Manchester United stars gathered at Old Trafford on Friday to attend the unveiling of a statue of the club’s iconic manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

'The Scotsman,' after whom the club had named one of the Old Trafford stands, depicted the Scottish manager with his arms crossed.

The 70-year-old Ferguson said it was a "proud moment," and then joked, "normally people die before they see their statue, or people see their statue. I'm outliving death!"

In addition to 2,000 fans and celebrities, several other Manchester notables attended the ceremony: Peter Schmeichel, the Danish legend described by Ferguson as the “buy of the century;” Norwegian forward Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who scored United's injury-time winner in the 1999 Champions League final; Eric Cantona, often regarded as having played a key role in the revival of Manchester United as a footballing force; Ruud van Nistelrooy, who is closely linked to the club’s success in the 2000s.

"I'm really happy on his behalf today because when he came out and said 'normally people would be dead who get to this point,' and he gets to see this and I think it's so well deserved because I don't think there is a single person in this country and in the world of football who has been more influential than he has,” Schmeichel said.

“He is the best manager I played for and I think he's the most successful manager ever. So to be able to work with him for five years is a long time and I cherish those times,” Van Nistelrooy, who also spent four years at Real Madrid, said.

Current Manchester United players, including Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, also got a look at the nine-foot bronze statue.

Ferguson joined Manchester United as manager on November 6, 1986, when he replaced Ron Atkinson.

Since then, his team has won the UEFA Champions League twice (1999 and 2008), the Inter-Continental Cup (1999), the FIFA Club World Cup (2008) and twelve English Premier League titles (1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011), along with five FA Cups (1990, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004), four English League Cups (1992, 2006, 2009, 2010), one UEFA Cup Winners Cup (1991) and the UEFA Super Cup (1992).

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