IT'S THE LAW-THE REF SAYS SO

Six years after winning the European Cup,  Manchester United were battling against relegation from the First Division (the old one) in 1973/74. Their last match of the season at Old Trafford was against Manchester City on Saturday April 27th 1974, They had to win to have any chance of suffering the embarrassment of "the drop". 

The City side included former United legend Denis Law and in the 81st minute, with the score at 0-0, Law back-heeled the ball into the United net for the only goal of the match. He didn't celebrate and was immediately substituted. In fact he retired without playing any more club football. Law later said 'I have seldom felt so depressed in my life as I did that weekend'.

It wasn't the goal that relegated Manchester United!! Even if Law hadn't scored and the match had ended 0-0 United, would still have gone down. But United fans knew what they were facing and with five minutes remaining they invaded the pitch, perhaps hoping for a second chance if the match was abandoned and subsequently replayed. 

Referee David Smith did abandon the match but the result was allowed to stand and Manchester United were condemned to the Second Division in 1974/5.

Almost exactly ten years before, the Juventus match another fixture at the Stadio Comunale had fallen victim to the weather. Following Denis Law's transfer from Manchester City to Torino in 1961 his first match for the Italians was to proved to be a disappointing start to a disappointing short spell in Italy for the Scot. On Wednesday 7th June 1961 in a friendly in Turin between the two sides Law turned out for Manchester City in the first half, scoring a goal before torrential rain waterlogged the pitch. The second half saw him turn out as a Torino player but because of the state of the pitch his debut for his new club lasted just a couple of minutes before the match was abandoned. Denis assumed that the match hadn't been abandoned during half time because everyone wanted to see him in the Torino colours. Then he found out the real reason - if they hadn't at least started the second half they would have had to give the spectators their money back! Times don't change!

Amazingly Denis Law once scored 6 goals for Manchester City in an FA Cup tie against Luton Town on January 28th 1961 but still finished on the losing side!

That fourth round tie at Kenilworth Road was abandoned after 69 minutes because of a waterlogged pitch with City winning 6-2 and Law having scored all their goals. The two sides had to start again from scratch on February 1st and this time Luton emerged as the winners, by a 3-1 margin, with Denis Law again scoring for City.

The six goals that Law scored in the first match were expunged from the record book. If they had stood the Scotsman would have finished the 20th Century as the century's top FA Cup goalscorer. Instead that honour went to Ian Rush with 44 FA Cup goals (Liverpool 39, Chester 4 and Newcastle United 1). Denis Law finished second with 41 'official' FA Cup goals to his credit (Manchester United 34, Manchester City 4 and Huddersfield Town 3).