It was a first professional manager’s job for the 34 year-old and he had taken over a team that had lost their seven previous Division Three matches.
Ferguson’s first game was at title-chasing Lincoln City and the hosts won it 1-0 thanks to a Mark Stallard goal 15 minutes from time. Ferguson suffered two defeats and a draw before winning his fourth game in charge, 3-0 at home to his former club Wrexham.
Ferguson takes charge of Posh for the 500th time in a Championship fixture against Huddersfield at the Weston Homes Stadium tomorrow (November 2).
Here is the first team Darren Ferguson ever picked as Posh manager almost 15 years ago with details about what happened to the 14 players involved.
1. MARK TYLER
The Posh goalkeeper only gave up his attempt to reach 500 appearances for the club last May at the age of 44. He finished on 493 - the second highest total after Sir Tommy Robson (559) and remains at the club as goalkeeper coach.
2. ADAM NEWTON
It's not obvious fom the team sheet what formation Ferguson played in his first game, but there were three centre-backs in the side so maybe Newton was a wing-back! Newton was a consistent performer in 249 games over six years with Posh. He left London Road in June, 2008. He went on to play for Brentford, Luton and Woking before passing 'the Knowledge' to become a London taxi driver.
3. GUY BRANSTON
Bruiser Guy Branston played in Ferguson's first team and made 50 Posh appearances in total before leaving the club in January 2008. Played for another 11 clubs after leaving Posh! A brief spell as Chesterfield caretaker-manager and now loan manager at Leicester City. He keeps tabs on Leicester loanees and was a regular at Posh games when Josh Knight was here on loan.
4. CRAIG MORGAN
The Welsh international centre-back signed for Posh a couple of weeks before Ferguson arrived, but stayed to help the club to back-to-back promotions before rejoining Ferguson at Preston in July, 2010. Ferguson had been sacked by Posh in November, 2009. Morgan made 144 appearances for Posh. After Preston, Morgan played for Rotherham and Fleetwood who released him in September. 2019.