Sir Alex Ferguson knows the secret to marriage

Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson, 66, says the secret to a happy marriage is to have children. Speaking in the recent issue of a football club magazine, he said, 

There will always be ups and downs in any marriage but having a family helps. It gives you something to work together for. That was the case with us. I’ve been married 41 years now.

Sir Alex and his wife Cathy have three sons, Mark, 40, and twins Darren and Jason, 36.

Source: The Sun

Do you agree with his statement that having a family can help a marriage?

Comments

I think it can go either way. If you have a good marriage to begin with, having children can strengthen that bond, and solidify your marriage. However, if you have a rocky relationship from the start and then bring kids into the equation, it could tear the couple (and family) apart. I think too many people try to save a bad marriage by having kids, which isn’t fair for anyone, especially the kids.

- Bonnie on May 6th, 2008

totally agree. too bad my husband and i are having such a hard time trying to have children.

- Kara on May 6th, 2008

Bonnie I agree with you 100%.

- chris on May 6th, 2008

An unhappily married couple should never have children.

- Yasmin on May 6th, 2008

I have to disagree with him. If that was the secret to a happy marriage, there wouldn’t be so many divorces in the world. He’s giving the credit to have children to have a happy marriage, and i think that’s not fair. There are couples who can’t even have babies, or simply decide not to have children and they are happy that way.

His comment doesn’t make sense to me. He should simply say that he’s happy to have a wife and family but not give all the credit to the fact that they had kids, for them to have a happy marriage.

- Bugs on May 6th, 2008

anything Sir Alex says is right. :]

- josy on May 6th, 2008

i think it can help in a way that when a couple gets complacent on their relationship, being reminded of the family kind of renews their sense of commitment as a couple and help them get back on track.

i don’t think Sir Alex explicitly said that it is the be all and end all of a happy marriage. he just said that having his family encourages him and his wife to work on their marriage and make it better. and there’s nothing wrong with having the family as a motivation right?

- amandine on May 7th, 2008