Long before Eric Cantona became footballing royalty at Old Trafford, there was another king in town. And that man was Denis Law, the ‘King of the Stretford End’.
Law, or ‘The Lawman’ as her was also known, was a natural goalscorer and was loved at every club that he served. Huddersfield Town, Manchester City, Torino and Manchester United fans had the honour of seeing him play for their club. Scottish football fans were privileged to see Law don the famous blue jersey 55 times and score 30 goals for his country.
Brought down from Scotland by Huddersfield Town at the age of 14, Law made his first team debut at the tender age of 16. He was nutured by Bill Shankly, who would leave Town to join Liverpool and create a dynasty in 1959 and Law would depart shortly after.
Manchester City secured Law’s signature two weeks before the end of the 1959/60 season, spending a British record £55,000 to bring him to Maine Road.Law found the net on his debut and the following season scored 23 goals before joining Torino of Italy. Several players had left British clubs to join the Serie A and despite scoring ten goals in his first season in Turin, the Scot was not happy and forced a move back to England.
It was Manchester United who secured Law’s signature and he scored on his debut, just like he had when playing for the blue side of Manchester.With an impressive 29 goals in his first season at United, Law won his first honour in club football when Leicester City were beaten 3-1 and Law opened the scoring at Wembley.
Law was already an established Scotland international at this point and ended 1963 with eleven goals for his country. It was a season to remember as Law hit a real purple patch, winning the Ballon d’Or in 1964 after scoring an incredible 46 goals in 42 games for Manchester United.
Law joined George Best and Bobby Charlton to create a formidable strike-force at United. The trio were dubbed ‘The Holy Trinity’ and have gone down in Manchester United and British football history as one of the most celebrated forward-line of any era.
With no sign of letting up, honours were sure to follow and United won the league championship in 1964/65 and 1966/67. After the latter, United went on a fantastic run in the European Cup the following season and won the competition. Law did not play in the final though, missing out after injury earlier in the tournament.
After scoring 30 goals in the 1968/69 season, Law was out of action through injury for most of the following campaign. Sir Matt Busby had left Old Trafford at this point and been replaced by Wilf McGuinness who sensationally transfer listed Law a month before the end of the season.
After finishing eighth in the league in the 1970/71 season, the Manchester United board sacked McGuinness and replaced him with Frank O’Farrell. Law had lost his goalscoring touch somewhat at the turn of the decade after scoring so many goals in the latter half of the 60’s.O’Farrell was replaced by Tommy Docherty, who promptly released Law on a free transfer at the end of the 1972/73 season. Coincidentally, Bobby Charlton had also decided to retire at the end of that campaign and with George Best often going AWOL, United were in dire straits and The Holy Trinity were no more.
Manchester City came calling and Law returned to Maine Road for the second time in his career. They were to be his final club and in his last season, Law scored 12 goals in 29 matches.The most famous of them was his final career goal, a backheel to win the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford. United were relegated that day and even if Law hadn’t scored, results went against them. Law did not know this at the time and didn’t celebrate his goal although his team-mates did. A full article about this goal can be found here.
Law featured for Scotland at the World Cup at the end of the season in West Germany but retired from the game shortly after through injury. He ended his career with 303 goals in 602 games and was widely regarded as one of the finest players of his generation.
After news broke of Law’s passing six days ago, floral tributes quickly gathered at the statue of The Holy Trinity outside Old Trafford. A minute’s applause were honoured throughout the country and impeccably observed and the footballing world united to pay their respects to a true footballing great.
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