“DENIS LAW COULD DANCE ON EGGSHELLS” – BILL SHANKLY…..
WITH THE TERRIBLY SAD NEWS THAT MUCH-LOVED FOOTBALLING LEGEND DENIS LAW PASSED AWAY ON 17th JANUARY 2025, WE WANTED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HIM….
DENIS LAW WAS A SCOTTISH FOOTBALLER WHO BEGAN AT HUDDERSFIELD TOWN IN 1956. AFTER FOUR YEARS THERE, HE WAS SIGNED BY MANCHESTER CITY FOR AN ESTIMATED £55,000 (WHICH, AT THE TIME, SET A NEW BRITISH RECORD!) HE WAS THEN TRANSFERRED TO TORINO FOR £110,000, WHICH AGAIN, SET A NEW RECORD TRANSFER FEE INVOLVING A BRITISH PLAYER! HE PLAYED WELL THERE, BUT FOUND IT HARD TO SETTLE IN ITALY, AND WAS TRANSFERRED BACK TO MANCHESTER UNITED IN 1962, SETTING ANOTHER BRITISH RECORD TRANSFER FEE OF £115,000, WHERE HE SPENT 11 YEARS, SCORED 237 GOALS AND MADE 404 APPEARANCES! HE LEFT MAN UNITED TO RETURN TO MAN CITY IN 1973, AND REPRESENTED SCOTLAND AT THE 1974 FIFA WORLD CUP. DENIS LAW PLAYED FOR SCOTLAND A TOTAL OF 55 TIMES, AND JOINTLY HOLDS THE SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL RECORD GOAL TALLY WITH 40 GOALS, AND A MANCHESTER UNITED RECORD FOR SCORING 46 GOALS IN A SINGLE SEASON!
DENIS LAW WAS NICKNAMED “THE KING”, AND “THE LAWMAN” BY SUPPORTERS (PLUS, ALSO, “DENNIS THE MENACE” BY OPPOSING SUPPORTERS!) AND HE WAS THE FIRST SCOTTISH FOOTBALLER TO WIN THE BALLON D’OR AWARD IN 1964, AND HELPED HIS CLUB WITH THE FIRST DIVISION IN 1965 AND 1967, AS WELL AS THE FA CUP IN 1963!
DENIS LAW IS CONSIDERED AS ONE OF THE GREATEST BRITISH FOOTBALLERS, NOT ONLY FOR HIS MANY, MANY GOALS, BUT ALSO HIS DRIBBLING, PASSING AND SOME OF HIS DEFENSIVE TECHNIQUES. HE MODELLED HIS GAME AFTER ALFREDO DI STEFANO AND WAS A MUCH MORE COMPLETE PLAYER THAN HE’S OFTEN REMEMBERED FOR, EVEN WHEN BUSBY HAD ORDERED HIM TO STAY UP FRONT AND SCORE GOALS INSTEAD OF ROAMING ALL OVER THE PITCH, TRYING TO WIN THE BALL BACK OR TO HELP OUT A PARTNER WITH A CLEVER ONE-TWO.
DENIS LAW WAS NAMED “THE KING OF OLD TRAFFORD” AND BROUGHT THE CLUB BACK TO SUCCESS, WINNING THEIR FIRST LEAGUE TITLE AFTER THE MUNICH DISASTER AS WELL AS THE BALLON D’OR IN 1964. (THE FIRST MANCHESTER UNITED PLAYER TO DO SO, AND THE FIRST SCOTTISH MAN TO DO SO.) HE IS KNOWN TO BE PART OF A “HOLY TRINITY” ALONGSIDE GEORGE BEST AND SIR BOBBY CHARLTON.
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DENIS LAW WAS WELL-LOVED AMONGST HIS SPORTING PEERS, WHO ONLY HAD WONDERFUL THINGS TO SAY ABOUT HIM…
“Denis Law was my hero as a player. I idolised him. For me, he epitomised everything a Scotsman is about. He was daring and courageous, he had that bravado about him and he had style. He was a truly fantastic footballer.”
— Sir Alex Ferguson
“He was a phenomenal footballer and there was hardly anything of him, he was so slight. You would have thought defenders would have snapped him in two with crunching tackles, but you would be wrong. Denis mixed it with the biggest physically, but it was they who came off second best. He scored fantastic goals throughout, yet there were countless ones from one or two yards. He was also a superb all-round footballer, not just a goalscorer. He is a super guy and I am proud to have him as a friend.”
– David Sadler
“Denis was fast, arrogant, tough, skilful, sharp, good in the air and it all just boiled down to a fantastic player. Denis was a fierce competitor too – not long after that I played against him for England when we came up against Scotland, and he tried to kick me in the first minute! He was right up for it and he could handle himself, all right. If somebody fouled him he would be up and telling them he’d chin them!”
– Sir Bobby Charlton
“Manchester United has had some great finishers – Ruud van Nistelrooy, Robin van Persie – but Denis was the best of the lot. If I’m not mistaken, he was the first player to employ the scissor kick and scored some spectacular goals.”
– Willie Morgan
WE SEND OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS TO THE FAMILY OF BRITISH NATIONAL TREASURE DENIS LAW, INCLUDING HIS WIDER FAMILY OF LEGIONS OF FRIENDS, AND SUPPORTERS.
