Man Utd vs Man City: Sir Alex Ferguson’s match-day role revealed for FA Cup final

The FA have announced Manchester United’s legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson will walk out with the match ball at Wembley ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester City.

The 81-year-old will also be joined by Mike Summerbee, who played 449 times for City during a decade at the club. The pair will deliver the Mitre Ultimax Pro Emirates FA Cup Football match ball onto the pitch, before the FA’s President, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, will lead the presentation party to both sets of players.

Ferguson won the FA Cup five times as a manager, the last coming in 2004 when the Red Devils beat Millwall in the final, while Summerbee played and scored in City’s 1969 triumph in the competition. The appearance of two iconic figures from both clubs will only enhance the atmosphere in the ground, ahead of the first all-Manchester cup final.

As well as Ferguson and Summerbee’s pre-match roles, Abide with Me, the FA Cup final’s traditional pre-match hymn, will be played at Wembley, along with United and City anthems This Is The One and Blue Moon, before Jasmine Faulkner will sing the national anthem.

Meanwhile, United have announced they will provide ‘limited-edition bucket hat and hand waver flag’ to fans in an effort to create a ‘red-and-white wall of support’. The Red Devils are also aiming to ensure Ferguson’s record as the only manager in English football to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League remains intact. City have already won the league this term and play in the Champions League final next week against Inter Milan.