ALTHOUGH there was 25 years between them, both Sir Alex Ferguson and his Old Trafford successor David Moyes found their footballing feet on the fields of Drumchapel.

Coming from opposite ends of the city – Sir Alex from Govan and David from the more upmarket Bearsden – the players both turned out for the youth teams of Drumchapel Amateurs.

Now, Sir Alex has stepped down as manager of Manchester United after 26 years, and Everton boss David Moyes has signed a six-year contract for the biggest job in club football.

Jim Wood, president of the Drumchapel club, said he was "over the moon" to hear David would succeed Sir Alex.

He said: "I have known Fergie since I was a youngster and then known Davie since he was a youngster.

"For two players from our club to have achieved so much is fantastic."

Known as The Drum, the club was formed in 1950 and has produced stars such as Andy Gray, John Wark and Archie Gemmill.

David's father, David Snr, and Sir Alex's brother, Martin, as well as Sir Alex are directors at the club, which Jim describes as a "close knit family."

And their ground is filled with Man United memorabilia, courtesy of Sir Alex.

Plaques bearing famous names adorn the walls of the dressing room – David's names sits proudly under number five, just down from Sir Alex's number 10.

Jim, 74, and from Yoker, was playing under 18s when Sir Alex was in the under 15s squad at Drumchapel.

And he remembers David as a driven young man, always aiming for a career as a coach.

He recalled David, as a 22-year-old playing with Celtic at the time, rushing back to Drumchapel to fit in some coaching with the younger players.

Jim said: "Young David has always wanted to be a coach.

"He knew he was going that way, and his father was his mentor.

"He started very young. He has always been very ambitious in his football, he always wanted to better himself.

"Sir Alex was the same. He was a rascal when he was young, he just wanted to play football all the time."

Jim said he first got to know Sir Alex the manager well when he became boss of St Mirren in 1974, where Jim took on the role of coach.

He said: "He was just the way he was with Man United, he was the boss, you do as Fergie tells you."

The Under-18 team were out training yesterday as the news about David's appointment spread around the club.

In 2005, in the Glasgow Hilton hotel, Sir Alex and David Moyes sat at the top table with Walter Smith and other big names from Scottish football.

It was a fundraising dinner for the club and more than 250 people were there.

Dougie Smith, who founded the club, and was involved until his death in 2004, is credited with kick starting the careers of Sir Alex and David.

Jim said: "The discipline of Douglas Smith, who had both of them under his wing, this was the start of them.

"Fergie, in his autobiography, reckons that Dougie Smith was his mentor when he was young.

"He is the link between all this that has happened, starting them off when they were young, showing them the way that football should be played and how to conduct yourself."

When Sir Alex's mind turned to retirement, he also had to think about his replacement.

There was never any doubt he'd opt for his old Drumchapel pal Moyes.

Sir Alex said: "We unanimously agreed on David Moyes.

"David is a man of great integrity with a strong work ethic. I have admired his work for a long time and approached him as far back as 1998 to discuss the position of assistant manager here.

"There is no question he has all the qualities we expect of a manager at this club."

matty.sutton@ eveningtimes.co.uk