Denis Law, now 81, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, to George Law, a fisherman, and his wife, Robina; Denis was the youngest of seven children, four boys and three girls. The Law family were not well off and lived in a council tenement flat at Printfield Terrace in Aberdeen. He went barefoot until he was 12 years old and wore handed-down shoes throughout his adolescence; his first pair of football boots came as a second-hand birthday present from a neighbour, which he received as a teenager.
He supported Aberdeen and watched them when he had enough money to do so, watching local non-league teams when he did not. His obsession with football led to him turning down a place at Aberdeen Grammar School because he would have had to play rugby there. Instead, he attended Powis Academy in Aberdeen. 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.
In 1974, a year when I was finishing university, it was Denis Law who was in the dog house after a career pinnacle at Manchester United. One time favourite of the Stretford End, Law produced "the unkindest cut of all" , as he sentenced his former team mates to life in the Second Division at Old Trafford, on Saturday April 27th.
Playing with United's greatest rivals, Manchester City, Law cheekily backheeled a pass from Francis Lee past Alex Stepney, with 8 minutes remaining. City won 1-0 and condemned United to the next division down.
A pitch invasion was sparked but quickly cleared. Soon, however, David Smith, the referee, had to abandon the game, and with fewer than 8 minutes left, the game was done and dusted. Two hundred fans were ejected from the stadium. 33 were arrested during an afternoon United would want to forget.
City came 14th in Division One (top one then) and Unijted were second from bottom, relegated with Sotuhampton (20/22) and Norwich, bottom.
The Football League was not persuaded to declare the match void and allowed the result to stand. Could United have equalised in those remaining few minutes? Blame the crowd.
Once a young professional with Huddersfield Town, under Bill Shankley, Law was up for sale in March 1960 and City grabbed the opportunity, buying him for a British record of £55,000. 15 months later Torino made an offer that City couldn't refuse, as Law went to Italy for £100,000 worth of Lira! 12 months later Law was back in Manchester, this time at United.
With Bobby Charlton and George Best alongside Law, Matt Busby had a trio of exciting players to call on. Law was, however, ageing and suffering with injuries so although he did his stuff he was not a regular and indeed, he missed United's European Cup Final triumph. He went back to City in 1973.
Law had a contract with Manchester City for the 1974–75 season, but new manager Tony Book told him that he would only be playing reserve team football if he stayed at the club. He did not want to end his career in this way, so he retired from professional football in the summer of 1974. Law played two games for Manchester City in the season 1974–75, in the pre-season Texcao Cup tournament, scoring the last goal of his career in the game away at Sheffield United on 6 August 1974. His last professional game was the 2–1 victory against at Maine Road v Oldham on 10 August 1974. He formally retired on 26 August 1974.
In his final league game it was Law who had decided where United would go in 1974.
Law declared that he never wanted to play in this "last game" and was depressed for a week after the result.
In 1974-5, United won the Second Division by 3 points from Aston Villa and came 3rd in the top division the following season.
If you read any of recent press, you will find articles about Denis Law and his struggle with Alzheimer's and Vascular dementia. Six of his team mates from the 1968 European Cup winning squad, suffer from the same disease, as do many footballers around the country (world). Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles, Tony Dunne, Bill Foulkes and David Herd have all been diagnosed with the same illness.
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