Denis Law
The second installment in our Blast from the Past series will highlight goal-scoring machine, Denis Law, whom fans crowned the King of Stratford End.
A tenacious striker with the uncanny ability to score goals from every conceivable angle, Denis was a firm favourite with the fans and team mates alike.
His great friend George Best described him as: “Up there with the all-time greats. Electric - As a bloke and as a pal he’s different class.”
"Denis was the best in the business, he could score goals from a hundredth of a chance never mind half of one".
He is one of three Ballon d’Or winners the club has produced – the other two being Sir Bobby Charlton and George Best, with whom Denis formed the so-called Holy Trinity. A statue of the trio is now located on Sir Matt Busby Way opposite Old Trafford and another statue of Denis stands on the Stretford End concourse as a lasting monument to his impact on Manchester United.
Born on the 24th of February 1940 in Aberdeen, Scotland, Denis Law began his professional football career with Huddersfield Town in 1956 where he spent 4 years before moving to Man City in 1960 for a British transfer fee record of £55,000.
After a successful season, he was sold to Torino for 110,000, which was a record between a British and Italian club. Although he did well in Italy, Denis did not like the Catenacio style of play and did not manage to settle in the area, which allowed Sir Matt Busby to lure him to the Red Devils in 1962 for another British transfer fee record of £115,000.
The first time United fans saw Law score for the Reds was on 18 August 1962, on his debut against West Bromwich Albion. He was to repeat the feat a further 236 times for United, many of those celebrated with what became his trademark - arm in the air, hand clutching his sleeve, finger pointing at the sky. It was a move aped in the playground by thousands of boys up and down the country, no matter their allegiance.
In his first season at Old Trafford, Denis helped the team reach the final of the FA Cup, where they faced 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 FA Cup final of his career.
During a match against West Brom that season, an unfortunate incident took place, which Law felt had negative repercussions for years to come. The referee, Gilbert Pullin, consistently goaded Denis with insulting taunts and after the match, Law and Sir Matt Busby reported the matter to the Football Association. A disciplinary committee decided that Pullin should be severely censured, but he did not accept their verdict and quit the game. Law later claimed that "in the eyes of some referees, Law was a marked man" and blamed the incident for the "staggeringly heavy punishments" that he received later in his career.
In his second year at United, Denis Law famously scored 46 goals in all competitions - a record which Cristiano Ronaldo attempted to achieve last season. Law was also selected to play for a Rest of the World side against England at Wembley, scoring their goal in a 2–1 defeat. He later described this as the greatest honour of his career.
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.
The following season, Law injured his right knee while playing for Scotland against Poland on 21 October 1965. He had previously had an operation on the same knee while at Huddersfield and the injury was to trouble him for the rest of his career.
Law continued to score goals at a prolific rate and helped Untied to a second First Division title in 1967.
In 1968, Law endured a start-top season blighted by injury and only scored 7 goals in the league. Even though United became the first British club to win the European Cup, his knee injury was causing him serious problems and he missed both the semi-final and the final as a result.
Sir Matt Busby resigned the following year after United went out of the European Cup, losing the semi-final to AC Milan. United lost the first leg in the San Siro 2–0, winning the second leg at Old Trafford 1–0 with a Bobby Charlton goal. Law put the ball over the line only to see it kicked away by a Milan defender. Law claimed a goal but the referee waved play on and United went out on aggregate.
In the summer of 1973 Tommy Docherty gave Law a free transfer and he moved back to Manchester City.
In City's last game of the 1973–74 season, Law famously scored a goal against Manchester United which guaranteed their relegation from the First Division, only six years after the European Cup final that he had missed. Law's back-heel gave City a 1–0 win, but he was devastated to have relegated United (it turned out they would have been relegated even if the match had been drawn, but Law did not know this at the time) and he did not celebrate the goal, walking off the pitch with his head down as he was substituted immediately afterwards. This game was the last of his professional career, as he retired shortly afterwards, not wanting to be confined to the reserve team of a City side who were bringing in younger players.
Law was recognized in 2003 by the Scottish Football Association as the greatest Scottish footballer of the previous fifty years and was thereby made Scotland's nominee as 'Golden Player' in celebration the Golden Jubilee of UEFA in 2004.
On November 25, 2005, Law was at the bedside of former United team-mate George Best as he died of multiple organ failure.
Denis Law is still married to his wife, Diana, and they still live in the Manchester area. They have five children, and their daughter, also called Diana, works as a press officer for Manchester United.