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. Manchester United's manager 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

The Glory Years

Law moved back to Withington, boarding with the same landlady that he had lived with during his time as a City player. His first match for United was against West Brom on 18 August, 1962, and he made an excellent start, scoring after only seven minutes. The match finished 2-2. However, United's form had been erratic since the Munich air disaster and their inconsistency meant they spent the season fighting relegation. An example of this was a league match against Leicester City in which Law scored a hat trick but the team still lost. They found form in the FA Cup though, with Law scoring another hat trick in a 5-0 win against his old club Huddersfield, and they went on to reach the final against Leicester City. Leicester were strong favourites, having finished fourth in the league, but Law scored the first goal as United won 3-1 in what turned out to be the only F.A. cup final of his career.

Law scored a lot of goals early in the 1963-64 season and was selected to play for a Rest of the World side against England at Wembley, scoring their goal in a 2-1 defeat. His season was interrupted by a 28 day suspension for a sending off that he received against Aston Villa, and the unusually cold winter forced United to play a lot of fixtures in a short space of time, and their results suffered. Law later blamed this for United's failure to win a trophy in that season.

In 1964-65, Law won the European Footballer of the Year award and Manchester United won their first league title since Munich. Law's 28 league goals that season made him the First Division's top scorer.

In 1967 Law asked United's manager Matt Busby to give him a pay rise at his next contract renewal, and threatened to leave the club if he didn't get one. Busby immediately placed Law on the transfer list, announcing that "no player will hold this club to ransom, no player." When Law went to see him, Busby pulled out a written apology for him to sign, showing it to the press once he had done so. Law later claimed that Busby had used the incident to warn other players not to do the same thing, but had secretly paid what was asked for.

In 1967-68, United won the European Cup for the first time, but a knee injury was causing Law serious problems and he missed both the semi-final and the final as a result. The following season, they reached the semi-final against AC Milan but were knocked out after Law had a goal disallowed. Busby, who had now been knighted, resigned at the end of the season and United's decline began.

The Decline

Wilf McGuinness took over as first team coach at the start of the 1969-70 season. United finished eighth in the league but Law missed almost all of the season through injury, and in April 1970 he was transfer listed for £60,000. Nobody made a bid for him, so he stayed at United.

After a poor 1970-71 season, Frank O'Farrell took over as United manager. They made a good start to the 1971-72 season and finished 1971 five points clear at the top of the league, with Law having scored twelve goals. However, their results deteriorated and they finished the season in fifth place. Law scored in the first match the following season (1972-73) but his knee injury was causing serious problems again and he failed to score for the rest of the season. The poor results continued and O'Farrell was sacked.

Law recommended that United replace O'Farrell with Tommy Docherty, whom he knew from playing for Scotland. The club followed his recommendation, and things started well with the team's improved results lifting them into mid-table.

Back to Manchester City

Docherty gave Law a free transfer in the summer of 1973, and he moved back to Manchester City. He played in City's 2-1 defeat in the League Cup final, against Wolves. In City's last game of the 1973-74 season, 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. He retired from professional football the following summer, after representing Scotland in the 1974 World Cup.

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 fewer 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. He still lives in the Manchester area.

On 23 February, 2002, a statue of Denis Law was unveiled at Old Trafford, in the Stretford End. He had a successful operation to treat prostate cancer in November 2003.

Career Summary

Clubs:

Honours:

FA Cup (1963)
Football League Championship (1965, 1967)
European Footballer of the Year (1964)

(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
Ibid p170
Ibid pp170-171
http://www.manutd.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=13552&itype=466&icategoryid=123
The King p208
Ibid p217
manchesteronline.co.uk (11 December, 2003)

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