Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had to retire 'a winner'

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he was determined to retire as "a winner" after narrowly missing out on the Premier League title last season.

The 71-year-old outlined his desire to reclaim the title from fierce rivals Manchester City, who snatched the crown in the dying seconds on the final day of the 2011/12 campaign.

The Manchester United manager, who retires after 26 years of unprecedented success at Old Trafford, admitted he discussed retirement with his wife Cathy over Christmas.

Speaking on stage at the club's end of season awards ceremony, Ferguson told MUTV: "When Cathy and I chatted about this at Christmas, at that point we had a five-point lead and I thought we had a great chance.

"I said 'I really need to go out a winner. We need to win something'. After the disappointment of last season we couldn't take a second one. I was hopeful we'd win it and we did.

"We had a terrific points lead. The problem is when you have a lead and you start to lose a point. When we lost to City in the Monday night game you start to think 'Christ, you can't throw this away'."

Ferguson takes charge for the final time at West Brom on Sunday, and he is fully focused on bowing out with another victory.

"We need to win the game on Sunday," he added. "We won the last home game against Swansea and I don't want to lose my last game, that's for sure."

Ferguson also explained why he felt fellow Scot David Moyes was the right choice to replace him at United.

"What I know of David is he's hard working, there's an integrity about him, he's got a work ethic about him and he's a serious football man," he said.

"These are qualities he's going to need. If you look at what he's done at Everton for instance. Eleven years without real financial backing, but he persevered and created some decent teams in the last few years.

"One thing you have to do here is sacrifice and persevere. It's not always a golden path of riches. There are hard days, there are difficult days, there are bad losses.

"Our supporters have suffered many things but they've also enjoyed many things."