Sir Alex Ferguson’s shock decision to retire catapulted him to the top global trending topic on social media within eight minutes of the announcement, generating 6m tweets within 24 hours, according to Twitter.
At its height, 20 minutes after breaking, the story was generating a voracious 13,000 tweets per minute
The microblogging site calculates that Fergie’s departure generated a frenzy of discussion that was rivalled only by the re-election of US president Barack Obama and the appointment of Pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who were name checked 31m times and 7m times respectively within a day of being appointed.
In a tweet Twitter noted: “Just over 24 hours since @ManUtd_PO confirmed on Twitter #SAF was retiring. There were 6m mentions of the story on Twitter during that time."
Speculation has been further fuelled by discussion of who might supplant Ferguson as manager, with former Everton boss David Moyes thought to be the front runner.
Ferguson isn't the only likely high-profile departure from the club with volatile star striker Wayne Rooney also rumoured to be heading for the exit.