But Ferguson had already earned himself a reputation as a wily set-piece schemer in Scotland, of course. And indeed across Europe, thanks to the signature moment of Aberdeen's 1983 Cup Winners' Cup campaign. The Dons looked to be heading out of the competition at the quarter final stage when, after a 0-0 draw at Bayern Munich, they were 2-1 down in the return leg at Pittodrie with 14 minutes to play.
But Ferguson had been working his men hard in practice. With the clock ticking, Aberdeen won a free-kick on the right. Gordon Strachan and John McMaster both went to take the set piece at the same time. The crowd groaned at the cock-up – but they were unaware that it had been pre-planned. As both players wandered disconsolately back to their starting points to take another run-up, Strachan checked, turned and whipped the ball into the area for Alex McLeish to head into the left-hand side of the net, with Bayern to a man on the back foot. So rocked were the German side by Aberdeen's audacity, they conceded the winning goal to John Hewitt almost straight from the restart.
Fergie's training ground industry had paid off. As had his determination to keep the plan under wraps: ahead of the game, he frequently stopped the team practicing the free-kick whenever old men walking their dogs passed by, on the off-chance they were Bayern spies.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/jan/28/joy-of-six-training-ground-goals