Denis Law, born Aberdeen, Scotland, February 24, 1940. Denis Law gave sterling service to Huddersfield Town, Manchester City, Torino, and Manchester United during a football career that lasted for almost two decades. All in all, the Scotland international striker managed to score an astonishing total of 300 goals in 585 first class matches for his various teams.
Denis Law initiated his goal scoring career playing for Aberdeen Lads Club, but towards the end of the 1954-55 season the precociously talented youth player left The Granite City to join forces with English Second Division club Huddersfield Town where he was handed his first appearance in an evenly contested and narrow 2–1 League Division Two triumph against Notts County in front of almost 10,000 spectators at Meadow Lane on the 24th of December 1956. Law quickly became an automatic selection and he proceeded to score 16 goals in 81 Football League matches for Huddersfield Town between 1956 and 1960. Reputedly, Matt Busby wanted the youngster to appear for Manchester United, but he was turned down by the West Yorkshire outfit. Bill Shankly, who was the manager at Huddersfield Town at the time, then tried to take the Leeds Road favourite with him to Liverpool but The Anfielders didn’t have the money to sign the young sharpshooter and instead he went to old rivals Manchester City who paid a transfer fee of £55,000 for him at the back end of the 1959-60 campaign. The Law Man found the back of the net on his Division One debut for City in a 4–3 defeat against Don Revie´s Leeds United, a club with the motto “For the King and the Law”, at Elland Road on the 19th of March 1960 and managed to score 21 goals in 44 League matches for The Light Blues before he eventually was sold to Italian Serie A side Turin for a transfer fee of £110,000 at the start of the 1961-62 season.
Always a man for the big occasion, Denis Law was on target on his Serie A debut for Turin in an entertaining and high-scoring 3-3 draw with Lanerossi Vicenza at the Stadio Comunale on the first day of the 1961-62 campaign and went on to register four goals in his first six matches for his new employers, but unfortunately fair play was not exactly the order of the day in the boot country. Not a shrinking violet himself, Law could always live with that, but what he could not tolerate were some of the blatantly violent methods that his opposing defenders used to stop him. The Scot quite simply had problems with their way of playing soccer, which at that time was far too defensive minded and he finally grew sick and tired of the elbowing and kicking that were going on in Italian football. Following a comparatively short stay with Turin, the increasingly frustrated forward subsequently returned to England to join Manchester United for a fee of £115,000 in the hot summer of 1962 after having clocked up ten goals in 27 Serie A outings for The Clarets. Now back in Manchester, Law soon settled down at United and he would go on to prove that he was worth every penny.
After finding the net on his First Division debut for Manchester United in a 2-2 home draw with West Bromwich Albion on the opening day of the 1962-63 season, Law scored his first brace for the club in a 3-2 loss at home to old team Manchester City on the 15th of September. Thriving in his new conditions, he scored one of the goals in a 5-2 home defeat against Burnley a week later and hit another goal in a 3-1 home win over West Ham United on the last Saturday of October. On the 3rd of November, he bagged four goals in a 5-3 triumph over reigning First Division Champions Ipswich Town at Portman Road and confirmed his form by grabbing a brace in a 3-2 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux a fortnight later. The lethal goal poacher got on the score sheet again in a 5-1 trashing of Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford on the 8th of November, but then came the freezing winter of 1962-63 and his next goal would not come until the 2nd of March as he scored the opener in a 2-2 draw against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. He continued to score goals and hit a hat-trick in a 5-0 FA Cup Third Round win over former team Huddersfield Town at home on the 4th of the same month and got himself on the scoresheet again in a 2-1 FA Cup Fifth Round victory at home to Chelsea five days later. After bagging another hat-trick in a 4-3 defeat to Leicester City at Filbert Street on the 16th of April, he was on target again in a 1-1 draw with Sheffield United at Old Trafford on the 20th of the same month before hitting the winner in a 2-1 triumph over Wolverhampton at Old Trafford two days later. He then netted the winning goal 1-0 FA Cup Semi-Final win against Southampton at Villa Park on the last Saturday of the month and also scored the winner in a 1-0 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor on the first Saturday of May. With the 1962-63 campaign approaching its end, he registered a brace in a 3-2 home defeat to Arsenal on the 6th of May and netted a consolation in a 2-1 away loss against Birmingham City on the 10th of the same month before scoring another goal in a 3-1 victory at home to already relegated Leyton Orient eight days after that.
Then, on the 25th of May, Law scored the opener in the 3-1 FA Cup Final win against Leicester City at Wembley Stadium, taking his tally to 29 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions. On a near perfect day for football, Leicester enjoyed a number of early scoring chances, but The Foxes repeatedly failed to capitalise on them. As the first half progressed, Manchester United started to dominate both possession and territory and had their opening goal on the half-hour mark as Paddy Crerand found Law who brilliantly turned and knocked the ball into the far side of net. Twelve minutes into the second half, David Herd hit his first goal of the final after a shot from Bobby Charlton had been parried out by Leicester goalkeeper Gordon Banks. With some ten minutes left to play, Leicester managed to reduced the arrears through a header from Ken Keyworth, a bargain £9,000 buy from Rotherham United in the summer of 1958, and they seemed back in the contest, but their hopes vanished when Herd made the score 3-1 in Manchester United´s favour in the 85th minute as he hammered home his second goal of the day after Banks had dropped a difficult high ball from Johnny Giles.
Law did even better the next season as he scored 30 First Division goals in the same amount of appearances despite a 28-day suspension for a sending-off in a 4-0 defeat against Aston Villa at Villa Park on the 16th of November. After hitting a brace in a 2-0 triumph at home against Ipswich Town on the 28th of August, he scored twice again in a 5-1 home victory over Everton on the last day of the month. On the 3rd of September, he plundered four goals in a 7-2 trouncing of poor Ipswich at Portman Road and added another goal to his tally in a 3-0 win over Blackpool at Old Trafford on the 11th of the same month. Law´s form didn´t go unnoticed and the Manchester United favourite was picked for the Rest of the World team which suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat against Alf Ramsey´s England at Wembley on the 23rd of October. Southampton forward Terry Paine gave The Three Lions the lead with a close range effort six minutes past the hour mark, only for Law to equalise for the Rest of the World as he collected a pass close to the edge of the eighteen-yard-area and cooly put the ball past the goalkeeper and into the bottom left-hand corner of the net just seven minutes later. But with the scoreboard clock winding down, Tottenham Hotspur ace Jimmy Greaves ultimately scored the winner for England when he tapped home from inside the six-yard box in the last minute of normal time.
Law continued his goal-scoring exploits as he scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win against Tottenham at Old Trafford on the 9th of November and was on target twice in a 2-1 victory over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane three weeks later. Following a four-goal performance in a 5-2 win at home to newly promoted Stoke City on the 7th of December, he notched a brace in a 4-1 triumph away against West Bromwich Albion on the 18th of January and scored Manchester United´s second goal in a 3-1 home victory over Arsenal on the the 1st of February. He kept on searching for more goals and made the score sheet in a 3-2 defeat against Leicester City at Filbert Street on the 8th of the same month and registered his fifth brace of the season in a 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park two weeks later. And after scoring a goal in a 3-2 win over Tottenham in front of a crowd of 56,000 people at White Hart Lane on the 21st of March, he hit the opener in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Old Trafford two days later and then joined David Sadler on the score sheet in a 2-2 draw to Fulham at Craven Cottage on Easter Friday. On the 6th of April, he hit the winner in a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa on home soil and scored one of the goals in a 2-1 win at home to Sheffield United the following Monday before netting a brace in a 3-1 home win over Nottingham Forest in the final fixture of the campaign. Totally, he scored an incredible 46 goals in 42 games and was deservedly named European Footballer of the Year in 1964.
In 1964-65, Denis Law won his first Championship title with Manchester United. He opened his scoring account for the season with a goal in a 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford on the 22nd of August and added another in a surprise 3-1 defeat to West Ham United at Boleyn Ground two days later. This was followed by goals against Leicester City away and West Ham United at home, making it four in four games. Law´s good scoring form continued and the prolific performer netted 14 more goals for the side before the turn of the year. On the 16th of January, he grabbed himself a brace in a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest at County Ground and hit the equaliser in a 1-1 draw to Stoke City at Old Trafford the following week. He bagged a goal in a comprehensive 4-0 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford on the 13th of March and finished the Football League campaign with braces against Blackpool, Liverpool, and Arsenal. All in all, he amassed 39 goals in 52 outings in all competitions and became the club´s top scorer for three consecutive seasons. Alas, a knee injury the following campaign set him back and he struggled to reproduce his scoring prowess for United.
During the 1966-67 campaign, however, Denis Law notched up 23 goals in 36 First Division appearances, helping Manchester United win the Football League title for the second time in three years. He began the season in excellent form, plundering 15 goals before the end of December, including three braces against West Bromwich Albion, Everton, and Blackpool. On the 11th of February, he scored the winner in a 1-0 win at home to fellow title contenders Nottingham Forest and maintained his scoring form by netting a goal in a 4-0 home hammering of bottom-of-the-table Blackpool a fortnight later. More goals followed against Leicester City, West Ham United, Southampton, and Aston Villa and brought him to a tally of 21 from 35 matches played. Arguably, Law´s most memorable match at club level came in the penultimate fixture of the season on the 6th of May when Manchester United, who were playing in an all-white strip, totally outclassed lowly placed West Ham United at Boleyn Ground. Busby´s side took the lead through World Cup winner Bobby Charlton within two minutes before Paddy Crerand beat 28-year-old West Ham custodian Colin Mackleworth with a header to make it 2-0 on seven minutes. As the first half wore on, Bill Foulkes registered the third goal of the day after ten minutes and then George Best made it 4-0 in the 25th minute of proceedings. West Ham defender John Charles reduced the arrears for The Irons one minute into the second period, but Law restored Manchester United´s four goal advantage with a well-executed penalty-kick three minutes past the hour mark and the same man added another goal with eleven minutes remaining on the referee´s watch, making it 6-1 to the visitors.
Unfortunately, persistent injuries kept him sidelined for much of the 1967-68 campaign and he missed several matches, including the 1968 European Cup Final against Portuguese top-dogs Benfica at Wembley where Manchester United defeated The Eagles by four goals to one. In 1968–69, Law slowly but surely recovered from niggling injuries and managed to notch up 30 goals in 45 appearances in all competitions in a season where Manchester United finished 11th in the First Division. Having now reached the age of 60, Sir Matt decided to move upstairs to become general manager in the summer of 1969 and Wilf McGuinness was appointed as his successor. A former Manchester United wing half, McGuinness had made 81 First Division appearances for the club between 1954 and 1959 and had replaced Jimmy Murphy as reserve team manager in 1964. The 1969-70 campaign saw Manchester United finish eighth in the top-flight table and reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup, but Law missed almost the entire season because of various injuries and only managed to amass three goals in 16 first team appearances. And to top it all, he was put on the transfer list by Busby.
Prior to the 1970-71 campaign, McGuinness was officially given the title team manager instead of chief coach. Law opened his scoring for the season with a brace in a much-needed 2-0 win against Burnley at Turf Moor on the 25th of August and he was taken off the transfer list. He was on target again in a 3-1 League Cup Second Round win over Aldershot at Recreation Ground on the 9th of September and he registered the winner in a 2-1 home victory against West Bromwich Albion on the 24th of October before scoring Manchester United´s first goal in a 2-2 draw with Stoke City on home soil on the first Saturday of November. On the 5th of December, Law gave one the best performances of the latter part of his career in a hard-fought and thrilling 2-2 draw against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. McGuinness´s side broke the defensive deadlock three minutes past the half-hour mark when a cross from winger John Aston was headed down by George Best into the path of Law who scored a trademark goal from just outside the six-yard box. Manchester United doubled their advantage twelve minutes into the second period of the tie as Best took down a high ball from John Fitzpatrick and neatly put it past Spurs shot stopper Pat Jennings to notch up his 100th Football League goal for his club. England international Martin Peters quickly reduced the deficit for Tottenham, though, when the sublime midfield playmaker headed home a precise cross from offensive thinking left fullback Cyril Knowles in the 63rd minute of the encounter. And only six minutes later, another exquisite cross by Knowles found dangerman Alan Gilzean whose unstoppable header flew past United custodian Jimmy Rimmer and into the goal, making the final scoreline read two-all. Results deteriorated, however, and McGuinness was sacked after a chaotic 4-4 draw against Derby County at a snow covered Baseball Ground on Boxing Day where Law recorded a brace.
As the calendar flipped from 1970 to 1971, Busby returned as manager of Manchester United and results started to pick up again. On the 30th of January, Law grabbed the winner in a 2-1 win over Division One new boys Huddersfield Town at Leeds Road and, after missing five matches with a broken nose, he showed he was back in scoring form by netting the opening goal in a 2-0 victory against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford on the 31st of March. And after grabbing a consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat to Derby County at Old Trafford on the 10th of April, he registered a hat-trick in a high-scoring 5-3 triumph against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park the following week. Buoyed by the home crowd, Crystal Palace went ahead within four minutes of play as Alan Birchenall fired a fierce shot from inside the area which rocketed past Alex Stepney and into the goal. The South Londoners carried on pushing forward and doubled their advantage twenty minutes later thanks to an effort from Bobby Tambling, but Manchester United pegged one back in the 43rd minute when Law beat John Jackson from a few yards out. After the restart, United managed to level the score on 48 minutes thanks to a spectacular overhead-kick by Law and eventually went into the lead in the 58th minute as Best hammered home. Best then recorded his second goal of the afternoon five minutes past the hour mark to make it 4-2 before Law completed his treble a minute later. Palace reduced the deficit with eight minutes left of normal time when Gerry Queen found the net with a close range header, but it was too late for The Glaziers to make a comeback. Law´s thirst for goals remained and he scored an early opener in a 1-1 draw against already relegated Blackpool in front of a 30,000 crowd at Bloomfield Road on the 1st of May before he netted his last goal of the campaign in a 4-3 victory over rivals Manchester City at Maine Road four days later.
In the summer of 1971, Manchester United appointed Frank O’Farrell as manager and they made an excellent start to the 1971–72 season. Still a menace in the penalty box, Law began the campaign by netting one of the goals in a 2-2 draw with Derby County at Baseball Ground on the opening day and followed that up by grabbing a brace in a 3-1 triumph over table propping Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on the 11th of September. His purple patch continued as he found the net in a comeback 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield a fortnight later before hitting Manchester United´s second goal in a 3-0 routing of Huddersfield Town at Leeds Road on the 9th of October. Then, after scoring two goals in a 3-1 home win over League Cup holders Tottenham on the 13th of November, he netted another brace in a 3-2 triumph at home to Leicester City the following week before notching the winner in another 3-2 victory; this time against bottom-placed Nottingham Forest on home turf on the 4th of December. With Christmas approaching, he scored a headed equaliser in a 1-1 draw to Stoke City at Victoria Ground on the 11th of December and also contributed a goal in a 2-2 draw with Coventry City at Old Trafford on the 27th of the same month. But as O´Farrell´s team slumped in the second half of the season, Law´s form also suffered and he finished the campaign on 13 goals in 42 appearances.
In 1972-73, which was his final season at Manchester United, he was limited to just 14 first team appearances; and once again due to niggling injuries. He bagged a consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat to Ipswich at Old Trafford on the opening Saturday of the campaign and then got himself on the scoresheet in a 2-2 League Cup Second Round draw with Division Two side Oxford United at Manor Ground on the 6th of September, but with the arrival of new manager Tommy Docherty, who was appointed successor of O’Farrell on the 22nd of December, he quickly realised that his time at Old Trafford would be up. After serving Manchester United for over a decade, he made his last first class appearance for the club in a 1-0 home win over fellow relegation strugglers Norwich City on the 7th of April, with Republic of Ireland international Mick Martin scoring the winner for the hosts in the 78th minute of the tussle. A prolific and prodigious performer, Law was without doubt among the most significant players ever to pull on the legendary red shirt in the long and proud history of Manchester United, and when the swashbuckling campaigner returned to his former employers Manchester City in the summer of 1973, he knew that he had played with some of the best footballers in the business.
Now back with Manchester City, Denis Law´s first match of the 1973-74 campaign came against First Division newcomers Burnley in an FA Charity Shield fixture at Maine Road which The Clarets won 1-0 thanks to a goal by Colin Waldron. Forming a striking partnership with previous Fulham and Queens Park Rangers star Rodney Marsh, Law recaptured his old magic and found the back of the goal twice in an enthralling 3-1 triumph against Birmingham City in front of an attendance of close to 35,000 spectators at Maine Road on the 25th of August. Showing his consistency, he registered the equalising goal in an evenly contested 1-1 draw against lowly placed Stoke City at Victoria Ground on the 1st of September and then grabbed the opener in a close 2-1 victory over fellow mid-tablers Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on the 20th of October. A month later, however, former Norwich City head coach Ron Saunders replaced ex-Manchester City inside forward Johnny Hart in the red hot-seat at Maine Road, but the new manager immediately had personal problems with several of the established players. Law nonetheless kept on doing his job and proved his professionalism by hitting home the equaliser in a 1-1 draw with none other than Norwich at Carrow Road on the 29th of December.
A brace in a 5-2 FA Cup Third Round win against Second Division opponents Oxford United at Manor Ground on the 5th of January was followed by a goal in a 2-0 home triumph over surprise side Leicester City the following Saturday and he then grabbed one of the goals in a fine 4-2 League Cup Quarter-Final Replay victory at home to First Division Coventry City four days later. On the 19th of January, Law netted the equaliser in a 1-1 draw against relegation battling Birmingham City at St Andrew´s, but was then injured in a 1-1 League Cup Semi-Final First Leg draw with Third Division team Plymouth Argyle at Home Park four days later. After missing the 4-1 FA Cup Fourth Round defeat to Second Division outfit Nottingham Forest at City Ground on the 27th of the same month, he was back in the side which beat The Pilgrims by 2-0 in the second leg at Maine Road the following Wednesday and was on the scoresheet again in a 2-0 success over Southampton, another relegation candidate, at The Dell on the 23rd of February. And despite failing to score in a narrow 2-1 League Cup Final defeat to Bill McGarry´s Wolverhampton at Wembley on the 2nd of March, he enjoyed a good match and was a constant threat to the Wanderers defence. Then, on the final day of the season in his last competitive game at club level, he scored the winner and only goal at Old Trafford to give Manchester City a highly dramatic 1-0 victory against a struggling Manchester United side, a result that confirmed the relegation of the latter.
An international for Scotland, Denis Law was handed his long-awaited senior debut for The Tartan Terriers by none other than Manchester United manager Matt Busby in a 3-0 British Home Championship triumph against Wales at Ninian Park on the 18th of October 1958. In front of a crowd of almost 60,000 spectators in Cardiff, Fulham´s Graham Leggat gave Scotland the lead on the half-hour mark before Law doubled the advantage for the visiting outfit when he beat Arsenal shot stopper Jack Kelsey twenty minutes into the second period. And with time ticking down, Everton midfielder Bobby Collins added a third goal for the dark blue shirts in the 79th minute of the encounter to put the result beyond reach for The Welsh Dragons. His next goal arrived in a 3-2 international friendly defeat at home to Poland on the 4th of May 1960 and was followed by the opener in a 5-2 British Home Championship win against Northern Ireland on home soil on the 9th of November the same year. On the 26th of September 1961, he registered a brace in a 3-2 World Cup Qualifier victory against the Republic of Czechoslovakia at Hampden Park and he added another international goal to his tally in a 3-2 British Home Championship triumph against Wales at Ninian Park on the 20th of October 1962.
Then came the 7th of November 1962 when he netted four of the goals in a 5-1 battering of Northern Ireland at Hampden. Watched by a crowd of around 60,000 people, Northern Ireland went ahead thanks to a goal from Everton´s Billy Bingham in the eighth minute of the contest. With the first period approaching its end, the hosts managed to level the score through Law in the 40th minute and the frontman scored again in the 64th and 77th minutes to complete his hat-trick. And only two minutes later, Rangers winger Willie Henderson made it 4-1 before Law netted his final goal in the 87th minute of the one-sided affair. After bagging himself a brace in a 4-0 international friendly win over Austria at Hampden on the 8th of May, he registered a hat-trick in a 4-3 international friendly defeat against an aggressive Norway side at Brann Stadium in Bergen on the 4th of the following month and then netted a goal in the incredible 6-2 friendly triumph over General Franco´s Spain in front of over 40,000 spectators at Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid nine days later before grabbing four goals in a 6-1 mauling of Norway in the reverse friendly at Hampden on the 7th of November the same year.
Denis Law´s goal scoring continued with goals against Wales, Finland, England, and Poland, bringing his already impressive international tally to 24 in 31 appearances. A natural born hit-man, he would go on to register a total of 30 goals from 55 full appearances for the country of his birth before he finally decided to retire from the professional game of soccer in the summer of 1974 after making his final international appearance in a 2-0 group stage victory against the Republic of Zaire on the 14th of June at Westfalen Stadium in Dortmund in the World Cup in West Germany. The Aberdonian was a great inspiration to his fellow teammates and he was often seen encouraging them to rise to their potential. Widely known for his positive approach to life, the laughing cavalier of football also closely resembled American actor and comedian Danny Kaye when he performed some of his antics both on and off the soccer field. Denis Law Playing Career: Huddersfield Town, Manchester City, Turin, Manchester United, Manchester City. Playing Honours: Football League First Division 1965, 1967, English FA Cup 1963, English FA Charity Shield 1965, 1967, UEFA European Cup 1968.