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Law was a tremendous success at United, winning the ] in ] and the ] in ] and ]. He missed United's ] win (1968) through injury, but was crowned ] in ] | Law was a tremendous success at United, winning the ] in ] and the ] in ] and ]. He missed United's ] win (1968) through injury, but was crowned ] in ] | ||
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Revision as of 23:55, 19 May 2005
Denis Law (born February 24 1940 in Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom) is a Scottish football player, who enjoyed a long and successful career as a striker from the late 1950s to the early 1970s.
Growing up
He was the son of a fisherman, and the youngest of seven childen. He was an Aberdeen supporter, and would go and watch them when he had enough money, watching local non-league teams when he didn't. His obsession with football led to him turning down a place at grammar school, as he would have had to play rugby there instead. Despite having a serious squint, he showed great promise once he was moved from full-back to inside-left, and was selected for Scotland schoolboys.
Huddersfield Town
In the 1954/55 season, he was spotted by Archie Beattie, a scout for Huddersfield Town, who invited him to go for a trial. When he got there, the manager said "The boy's a freak. Never did I see a less likely football prospect - weak, puny and bespectacled.". However, to Law's surprise, they signed him on 3 April, 1955. While he was at Huddersfield, he had an operation to correct his squint, which greatly enhanced his self confidence (and meant he no longer had to play with one of his eyes closed).
Huddersfield's relegation to what was then the Second Divsion made it easier for Law to get a game, and he made his debut on 24 December, 1956 aged only sixteen, in a 2-0 win over Notts County. Matt Busby shortly offered Huddersfield £10000 for Law, a lot of money for a footballer at that time, but the club turned it down. Bill Shankly was briefly manager of Huddersfield between 1957 and 1959, and when he left for Liverpool he wanted to take Law with him, but Liverpool were unable to afford him at that time.
Manchester City
In March 1960, Law signed for Manchester City for what was then a British record transfer fee of £55,000, although Law's share of the fee was "precisely nothing". Although a First Division side, City had narrowly avoided relegation the previous season, and he genuinely felt that Huddersfield had a better team at the time. Law made his debut on 19 March, scoring in a 4-3 loss to Leeds United. In April, he scored two goals in a 4-1 win over Aston Villa that ensured City's survival in division one.
Although he had thought about leaving,he was playing well and in 1961 Law scored an incredible six goals in an FA Cup tie against Luton Town. Unfortunately for him, the match was abandoned with twenty minutes to go, so his six goals didn't count. To make matters worse for him, he scored in the replay but Luton won the match, and City were out of the cup. The following November, Law represented the Football League in a match against the Italian League, losing 4-2.
Although he enjoyed his time at City, he wanted to play in a more successful side and was sold to Torino in the summer of 1961.
Torino
Law's time in Italy may not have gone according to plan, but it was eventful from start to finish. As soon as he arrived, Inter Milan tried to prevent him becoming a Torino player, claiming he had signed a pre-contract agreement with them, although they dropped this claim before the season started.
Players in England were not treated well at the time, and the maximum wage for footballers had only recently been abolished there, so he was pleasantly surprised to find that pre-season training was based in a luxury hotel in the alps. Torino took performance-related pay to something of an extreme, giving the players bags full of money when the team won but little, if anything, when they lost. Like many British footballers who have gone to play in Italy, Law didn't like the style of football and found adapting to it difficult. The ultra-defensive catenaccio system was popular there at the time, so forwards didn't get many chances to score..
On 7 February, 1962, he was injured in a car crash when his team mate Joe Baker drove the wrong way around a roundabout and clipped the kerb as he tried to turn the car around, flipping it over. Baker was almost killed, but Law's injuries were not life-threatening.
By April, he had requested a transfer, which was ignored. The final straw for Denis came in a match against Napoli when Law was sent off. After the match, he was told that Torino's coach, Beniamino Santos, had instructed the referee to send him off because he was angry at Law for taking a throw in, which he had been told not to do. Law walked out, and was told that he would be transferred to Manchester United. A few days later, however, he was told that he was being sold to Juventus and that the small print in his contract committed him to going there whether he wanted to or not. He responded by flying home to Aberdeen, knowing that Torino wouldn't get a penny in transfer fees if he refused to play at Juventus.
He eventually signed for United on 10 July, 1962 for a British record transfer fee of £115,000.
Manchester United
Law was a tremendous success at United, winning the FA Cup in 1963 and the League in 1965 and 1967. He missed United's European Cup win (1968) through injury, but was crowned European Footballer of the Year in 1964
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Back to Manchester City
The Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty gave Law a free transfer in the summer of 1973, and he moved back to Manchester City. He only stayed for one year, retiring after representing Scotland in the 1974 World Cup. In City's last game of the 1973-74 season, However, Law famously scored a goal against Manchester United which guaranteed their relegation from the Football League First Division, only eight years after the European Cup final that he had missed. Law's backheel gave City a 1-0 win, but he was devastated to have relegated United and he did not celebrate the goal, walking off the pitch with his head down as he was substituted immediately afterwards.
International honours
Law was capped fifty-fives times for the Scottish national team, scoring thirty goals, a national record he shares with Kenny Dalglish (although Law did it in less games).
After football
Since retiring from football after playing for Scotland in the 1974 World Cup, he has often worked as a summariser for radio and television.
Clubs:
- Huddersfield Town (1956-1960)
- Manchester City (1960-1961)
- Torino (1961-1962)
- Manchester United (1962-1973)
- Manchester City (1973-1974)
Honours:
(Law was a Manchester United player when the team famously won the European Cup in 1968, but he missed the match through injury).
Preceded byLev Yashin | European Footballer of the Year 1964 |
Succeeded byEusebio |
Bibliography
The King. Law, Denis and Harris, Bob, Bantam Press 2003. ISBN 0-593-05140-8.
References
- The King p29
- Ibid, p44
- Ibid p52
- Ibid p53
- Ibid p54
- Ibid p55
- Ibid p67
- Ibid p68
- Ibid p80