Alex Ferguson toasted what he called his greatest achievement in football with champagne yesterday as Arsenal's 3-2 defeat by Leeds handed Manchester United their eighth English crown in 11 years and claimed he had never doubted his team would do it.
The 60-year-old Scot admitted he had questioned the players' hunger after the 3-1 derby defeat by Manchester City in November but in the end he was satisfied they had what it took to win the title.
"I never doubted that we could do it," said Ferguson, who has become the most successful manager in British football.
"Once you've been with a group of players for a long time you get to know them well. However, after the Manchester City game I did question the hunger of the players and whether they were hungry enough.
"You must ask that question of very rich players who have had a lot of success," added the former Aberdeen boss.
Nevertheless, Ferguson said they had shown their character and by having won it had given him his greatest achievement in football, even putting the 1999 Champions League title behind it.
"It is the greatest achievement as we were up against it. However we have shown perseverance and determination allied to natural ability and we never gave up," he said.
Ferguson revealed that the early part of the season had been the hardest part as his side struggled and Arsenal made an explosive start which led to their manager Arsene Wenger claiming they could win the title without losing a match.
"We had a lot of injuries at the start of the season but we decided to bite the bullet and take the poison and wait for those players to return fit," he said.
Ferguson admitted he had kept his promise of not watching the Arsenal match as he attended his grandson's birthday party yesterday.
"I turned my phone on at six o'clock and a friend of mine phoned me to tell me Leeds had scored and I waited nervously for five minutes until the final whistle went," said the Scot.
However Ferguson, who only last season had revised his decision to retire form the post, said there was much still to be done particularly in the Champions League.
"It's simply not good enough for a club the size of this to have only won it twice," he said. "It is the most important thing remaining to me in a football sense that I want to achieve - bringing in another Champions League title," he added.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was adamant his side are still better than United despite letting the Premiership trophy slip from his grasp.
"It was a very small difference between the two teams in the league," Wenger insisted.
"But if you look at the FA Cup and the championship, we are the best team in England."
It is the second time Wenger has failed to keep hold of the Premiership, but the Frenchman believes if Arsenal had beaten Bolton on April 26th they could have retained their status as champions.
"I'm bitterly disappointed," Wenger revealed. "Last week at Bolton was the turning point of the championship. We had the title in our hands with 15 minutes to go.
"If we had won, we would certainly have kept the title. This was worse than 1999 because we were so much closer." Wenger also insisted that given United's financial superiority, finishing as runners-up was no disaster.
"We look to the future and will try to finish first next season.
But with 50 per cent less budget than Manchester United, second place is not too bad.
"Last year, when United lost the championship, they responded by buying a player for £30 million. I certainly won't be doing that. Our most expensive player cost £12 million."
"I don't think United were flying, they were just consistent, but their last two games were quite easy," Wenger said of United's recent run that has given them an unassailable eight point lead.
"We can just congratulate them now. Winning the championship means you have been the best in the league. But I think it was very, very close."
"I have given every last drop of blood and energy to keep the championship. Now I have to go home and think why I did not do it. The players must ask themselves the same."
