.jpg) Law in 2011 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Denis Law | ||
| Date of birth | (1940-02-24)24 February 1940 | ||
| Place of birth | Aberdeen, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 17 January 2025(2025-01-17) (aged 84) | ||
| Place of death | Aberdeen, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1955–1956 | Huddersfield Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1956–1960 | Huddersfield Town | 81 | (16) |
| 1960–1961 | Manchester City | 44 | (21) |
| 1961–1962 | Torino | 27 | (10) |
| 1962–1973 | Manchester United | 309 | (171) |
| 1973–1974 | Manchester City | 24 | (9) |
| Total | 458 | (227) | |
| International career | |||
| 1959–1961[1] | Scotland U23 | 3 | (1) |
| 1958–1974 | Scotland | 55 | (30) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Denis Law (24 February 1940 – 17 January 2025) was a Scottishfootballer who played as aforward. His career as a football player began at Second DivisionHuddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed byManchester City for an estimated transfer fee of £55,000, which set a new British record. Law spent one year there beforeTorino bought him for £110,000, this time setting a new record fee for a transfer involving a British player. Although he played well in Italy, he found it difficult to settle there and signed forManchester United in 1962, setting another British record transfer fee of £115,000.
Law spent 11 years at Manchester United, where he scored 237 goals in 404 appearances. His goals tally places him third in the club's history, behindWayne Rooney andBobby Charlton. He was nicknamed "The King"[3] and "The Lawman" by supporters, and "Denis the Menace" by opposing supporters. Law was also known as part of the "United Trinity", along with Charlton andGeorge Best. He is the only Scottish player to have won theBallon d'Or award, doing so in 1964, and helped his club win theFirst Division in 1965 and 1967, as well as theFA Cup in 1963 and twoCharity Shields. He missed theirEuropean Cup final triumph in 1968 through injury.
Law left Manchester United in 1973 to return to Manchester City for a season, and representedScotland at the1974 FIFA World Cup. He played only two competitive games in the 1974–75 season, retiring before the start of the League programme proper. Law played for Scotland a total of 55 times and jointly holds the Scottish international record goal tally with 30 goals. Law holds a Manchester United record for scoring 46 competitive goals in a single season.
Denis Law was born inAberdeen, Scotland on 24 February 1940,[4] to George Law, a fisherman, and his wife, Robina; he was the youngest of seven children, four boys and three girls. The Law family were poor and lived in a council tenement flat at Printfield Terrace inWoodside.[5][6] 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.[5][7]
Law supportedAberdeen and watched them when he had enough money to do so, watching local non-league teams when he did not.[5] His obsession with football led to him turning down a place atAberdeen Grammar School, because he would have had to playrugby there; instead, he attendedPowis Academy in Aberdeen. Despite having a serioussquint, he showed great promise once he was moved from full back to inside-left, and was selected for Scotland Schoolboys.[5]
In the1954–55 season, he was spotted by Archie Beattie, a scout forHuddersfield Town, who invited 14-year-old Law to go for a trial. When he got there, the manager said, "The boy's a freak. Never did I see a less likely football prospect – weak, puny and bespectacled." However, to Law's surprise, they signed him on 3 April 1955. While he was at Huddersfield, he had an operation to correct his squint, which greatly enhanced his self-confidence.[8]
Huddersfield's relegation to what was then theSecond Division made it easier for Law to get a game, and he made his debut on 24 December 1956, aged only sixteen, in a 2–1 win overNotts County.[9] Manchester United's managerMatt Busby shortly offered Huddersfield £10,000 for Law (equivalent to £315,262 in 2023), a substantial amount of money for a teenage footballer at that time, but the club turned the offer down.Bill Shankly was manager of Huddersfield between 1956 and 1959, and when he left forLiverpool he wanted to take Law with him, but Liverpool were unable to afford him at that time.[10][7]
In March 1960, Law signed forManchester City for what was then a British record transfer fee, estimated to be £55,000 (equivalent to £3,059,859 in 2023) although Law's share of the fee was "precisely nothing".[11] Once again, Busby had attempted to sign Law for Manchester United, but United'scross-city rivals beat them to Law's signature.[5]
City had narrowly avoided relegation from Division 1 the previous season, and Law genuinely felt that Huddersfield had a better team at the time.[12] He made his debut on 19 March, and scored in a 4–3 defeat toLeeds United. In April 1961, he scored two goals in a 4–1 win overAston Villa that ensured City's survival in Division One.[citation needed]
Although he had thought about leaving,[13] he was playing well and in 1961 Law scored six goals in anFA Cup tie againstLuton Town. However, the match was abandoned with twenty minutes to go, so his six goals did not count.[7] Luton won the replay 3–1, and City were knocked out of the Cup; Law had scored City's goal.[14]
Although he enjoyed his time at City,[15] he wanted to play in a more successful side and was sold to the Italian clubTorino in the summer of 1961 for a British record of £110,000.[7]
Law moved to Torino for a fee of £110,000 (equivalent to £30,927,951 in 2023), establishing a record fee for a transfer involving a British player,[16] and was accompanied byJoe Baker who had signed from Scottish sideHibernian.[17] Another Italian club,Internazionale, tried to prevent him becoming a Torino player as soon as he arrived, claiming he had signed a pre-contract agreement with them, although they dropped this claim before the season started.[5][17]
Players in the UK were not treated well at the time, and themaximum wage for footballers had only recently been abolished, so Law was pleasantly surprised to find that pre-season training was based in a luxury hotel in theAlps.[5] However, Torino usedperformance-related pay scheme, giving the players large sums of money when the team won, but little, if any, when they lost.[18] Like many British footballers who have gone to play in Italy, Law did not like the style of football and found adapting to it difficult. The ultra-defensivecatenaccio system was popular there at the time, so forwards did not get many chances to score.[19]
On 7 February 1962, he was injured in a car crash when his teammate Joe Baker drove the wrong way around aroundabout and clipped the curb as he tried to turn the car around, flipping it over. Baker was almost killed, but Law's injuries were not life-threatening.[20]
By April, he had put in a transfer request, which was ignored.[17] The final straw for Law came in a match againstNapoli when he was sent off. After the match, he was told that Torino's coach,Beniamino Santos, had instructed the referee to send him off because he was angry at Law for taking a throw in, which he had been told not to do.[21] Law walked out, and was told that he would be transferred to Manchester United. A few days later, however, he was told that he was being sold toJuventus and that thesmall print in his contract committed him to going there whether he wanted to or not. He responded by flying home to Aberdeen, knowing that Torino would not get a penny in transfer fees if he refused to play at Juventus.[5] He eventually signed for United on 10 July 1962, for a new British record fee of £115,000.[note 1][5][22]
The lifestyle and culture of a foreign country was an eye-opener for the young Scotsman, and the medical expertise and sports science in Italy was far ahead of what was available in the UK at the time.[17] Ultimately though, Law found the football to be joyless and overly defensive, with him being subjected to violent man marking and heavy tackling on a frequent basis.[17] His total of 10 Serie A goals stood as a record for a Scottish player untilLewis Ferguson ofBologna surpassed it 61 years later.[23]
Law moved back toManchester, boarding with the same landlady with whom he had lived during his time as a City player. His first match for United was againstWest Bromwich Albion on 18 August 1962, and he made an excellent start, scoring after only seven minutes. The match finished in a 2–2 draw. However, United's form had been erratic since theMunich air disaster in 1958, and because of their inconsistency they spent the season fighting relegation. In a league match againstLeicester City, Law scored ahat-trick but United still lost. They found form in theFA Cup though, with Law scoring another hat-trick in a 5–0 win against his old club Huddersfield Town, and they went on to reach the final against Leicester City. Leicester were 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.[24] He also married his wife Diana that season, on 11 December 1962.[25]
An incident took place that season that Law felt had repercussions in later years. In a match against West Brom on 15 December 1962, the referee Gilbert Pullin consistently goaded Law with taunts such as "Oh, you clever so and so, you can't play", and after the match, Law and his managerMatt Busby reported the matter tothe Football Association.[26] A disciplinary committee decided that Pullin should be severely censured, but he did not accept their verdict and quit the game. Law later said that "in the eyes of some referees, I was a marked man" and blamed the incident for the "staggeringly heavy punishments" that he received later in his career.[27]
Law scored a number of goals early in the1963–64 season and was selected to play for aRest of the World side againstEngland atWembley, scoring their goal in a 2–1 defeat.[28] He later described this as the greatest honour of his career.[29] His season was interrupted by a 28-day suspension for a sending off that he received againstAston Villa. The unusually cold winter forced United to play many of their fixtures in a short time, and their results suffered. Law later blamed this for United's failure to win a trophy in that season. Despite the lack of silverware, Law enjoyed a prolific goalscoring season and finished the campaign with 46 goals in all competitions, still a club record today.[30]
In1964–65, Law won theBallon d'Or award,[31] and Manchester United won their first league title since Munich.[32] 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 againstPoland on 21 October 1965. He had previously had an operation on the same knee while at Huddersfield,[33] and the injury was to trouble him for the rest of his career.
In 1966, Law asked United's manager Matt Busby to give him a pay rise at his next contract renewal, and threatened to leave the club if he did not get one. Busby immediately placed Law on the transfer list, announcing that "no player will hold this club to ransom, no player". When Law went to see him, Busby pulled out a written apology for him to sign, showing it to the press once he had done so.[34] Law later said that Busby had used the incident to warn other players not to do the same thing, but had secretly given him the pay rise.[35] Law scored 23 goals in 36 league appearances during1966–67, helping United win the league title again.[32][36]
In 1968, United won theEuropean Cup for the first time, but Law's knee injury was causing him serious problems. He missed both the semi-final second leg and thefinal as a result, withJohn Aston taking his place for the final.[37] Law was regularly givencortisone injections to ease the pain, but playing while the knee was still injured was causing long-term damage. He visited a specialist in January 1968 who wrote to United claiming that a previous operation to remove the cartilage from the knee had failed and recommending that a second operation be performed, but Law was not shown the report for several years and had to continue full training.[38]
In1968–69, United reached the semi-final of the European Cup, playingAC Milan. United lost the first leg in theSan Siro 2–0, winning thesecond leg at Old Trafford 1–0 with a Bobby Charlton goal. Having scored seven times in the 10–2 aggregate first round victory overWaterford United, Law finished as top scorer in the tournament with 9 goals.[39]
Wilf McGuinness took over as first team coach at the start of the1969–70 season.[40] United finished eighth in the league, but Law missed almost all of the season through injury, and in April 1970 he was transfer listed for £60,000. Nobody made a bid for him, so he stayed at United.[41]
After a poor1970–71 season, United appointedFrank O'Farrell as manager. They made a good start to the1971–72 season and finished 1971 five points clear at the top of the league, with Law having scored twelve goals. However, results deteriorated and they finished the season in eighth place.[42] Law scored in the first match of the following season,1972–73, but his knee injury was troubling him again, and he failed to score for the rest of the season. The poor results continued and O'Farrell was dismissed in December 1972 after a 5–0 defeat byCrystal Palace.[43]
Law recommended that United replace O'Farrell withTommy Docherty, whom he knew from his time playing with the Scottish national side.[41][44] The club followed his recommendation, and things started well, with the team's improved results lifting them into mid-table.[41] Law was given a free transfer by Tommy Docherty in the summer of 1973,[41] after 11 years at the club during which he had scored a total of 237 goals in 404 games in all competitions, as well as collected two league title medals and an FA Cup winner's medal. OnlyBobby Charlton (who retired in 1973) andWayne Rooney have scored more goals for United.[45][46]
Law was offered a contract by Manchester City managerJohnny Hart. He scored two goals on his second debut for City, againstBirmingham City in the opening game of the 1973–74 season.[47] He made 27 full appearances and two as substitute in that season, including City's 2–1 defeat in theLeague Cup final againstWolves.[48] In City's last game of the1973–74 season against Manchester United atOld Trafford, Law's 81st-minute back-heeled goal gave City a 1–0 lead but, thinking his goal might relegate United, Lawdid not celebrate the goal. Results of the day's other matches meant that United were relegated whatever their result, but Law did not know that at the time. A number of pitch invasions by United fans followed, and Law walked off the pitch with his head down as he was substituted. The pitch invasions forced the referee to abandon the game in the 85th minute. After a review, theFootball League decided that the result should stand.[41]
Law had a contract with Manchester City for the 1974–75 season, but new managerTony 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.[49] Law played two games for Manchester City in the 1974–75 season, in the pre-seasonTexaco Cup tournament, scoring the last goal of his career in the game againstSheffield United atBramall Lane on 6 August 1974. His last professional game was the 2–1 victory againstOldham Athletic atMaine Road on 10 August 1974.[50] He formally retired on 26 August 1974.[51]
Law was not chosen to play for Scotland in the1958 FIFA World Cup, but was given his debut in aBritish Home Championship match againstWales on 18 October 1958 byMatt Busby, who managed Scotland on a temporary basis for two matches. Law scored Scotland's second goal in a 3–0 win over the Welsh atNinian Park.[52][53][54] He played but did not score in Scotland's match againstEngland on 15 April 1961. Scotland lost the match 9–3, and Law described it as his "blackest day".[55]
Law was chosen for theRest of the World team that faced England in theFA Centenary match in 1963.[28] Law scored the only goal for Rest of the World as England won 2–1.[28]
Law injured his right knee while playing for Scotland againstPoland on 21 October 1965. Law scored in Scotland's famous 3–2 victory over England on 15 April 1967 in the1967 British Home Championship, less than a year after England had become world champions. Manchester United won the league that season, but Law felt that the victory over England was even more satisfying.[56]
Scotland reached theWorld Cup finals in the summer of1974, for the first time since 1958. Although he had not played much first team football in the preceding season, Law was included in the squad and played in their first match, againstZaire. He did not score, but Scotland won 2–0. Law was "very disappointed" not to be picked for the following match againstBrazil,[57] and was not selected for the following match againstYugoslavia either. Although Scotland were not defeated in any of their matches, they did not qualify for the second phase and were out of the World Cup.[58] The match against Zaire proved to be the last of Law's 55 appearances for Scotland.
Law jointly holds the Scottish international record goal tally with 30 goals.[59][note 2]
Law first met his wife, Diana, in anAberdeenshire dancehall when they were both teenagers.[60] They married in December 1962 and went on to have five children.[61] Their daughter, also called Diana, worked for several years in the Manchester United press office.[62]
Since retiring as a player, Law often worked on radio and television summarising and presenting games. He was one of the first sport news presenters ofGranada Reports and was the sub-presenter ofGranada Television'sKick Off Match, the equivalent ofLWT'sThe Big Match. He appeared as a special guest on the TV guest showThis Is Your Life on 19 February 1975, months after retiring as a player.[63]
.jpg)
He was made an Inaugural Inductee of theEnglish Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game. On 23 February 2002, a statue of Law (alongside George Best and Bobby Charlton) was unveiled atOld Trafford, in the part of the stadium known as theScoreboard End.[64] He had a successful operation to treatprostate cancer in November 2003[65] and was awarded honorary degrees from the Universities ofAberdeen andSt. Andrews in 2005,[66] andRobert Gordon University in 2017.[67]
The emergence ofDutch internationalDennis Bergkamp in the 1990s uncovered a story that the player's parents were fans of Law and named their son after him.[68] However, Dutch authorities refused to recognise the name unless it was spelt with twon's as they felt it was otherwise too similar to the female nameDenise.[69]
On 25 November 2005, Law was at the bedside of former United teammateGeorge Best as he died of multiple organ failure.[70]
In May 2008, at the City of Manchester Stadium, he (with UEFA presidentMichel Platini) presented the medals to the winners of the UEFA Cup,Zenit Saint Petersburg, and their opponents, Scottish sideRangers.
In February 2010, Law was named as patron of the UK based charity Football Aid, taking over from the lateSir Bobby Robson.[71]
In 2012, he established the Denis Law Legacy Trust, a registered charity that operates programmes and activities focussed around community engagement and widening sporting participation.[72] The charity aims to reduce instances of youth crime and anti-social behaviour; promote health and wellbeing and encourage inclusivity through sport, physical activity and creative endeavour[73] collaborating on community projects like Scotland's firstCruyff Court inAberdeen.[74]
In 2012, a statue to Law, commissioned by the Denis Law Legacy Trust, was unveiled at the entrance toAberdeen Sports Village (a facility he had formally opened two years earlier) depicting his pose after scoring for Scotland against England in 1967.[75][76]
Law was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the2016 New Year Honours for services to football and charity.[77] In 2017, he received theFreedom of the City of Aberdeen.[78][79]
On 18 November 2021, Law andSir Alex Ferguson unveiled a second statute of Law in Aberdeen, created in bronze by sculptor Alan Herriot. Commissioned by Aberdeen City Council, it is located next toProvost Skene's House, inMarischal Square.[80][81]
In August 2021, it was announced that he had been diagnosed withAlzheimer's disease andvascular dementia.[82][83]
Law died on 17 January 2025, at the age of 84.[84][85]
A tribute mural was created in his home city of Aberdeen.[86]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other[a] | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Huddersfield Town | 1956–57 | Second Division | 13 | 2 | 5 | 1 | – | – | – | 18 | 3 | |||
| 1957–58 | Second Division | 18 | 5 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | 20 | 6 | ||||
| 1958–59 | Second Division | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 26 | 2 | ||||
| 1959–60 | Second Division | 24 | 7 | 3 | 1 | – | – | – | 27 | 8 | ||||
| Total | 81 | 16 | 10 | 3 | – | – | – | 91 | 19 | |||||
| Manchester City | 1959–60 | First Division | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 7 | 2 | |||
| 1960–61 | First Division | 37 | 19 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 43 | 23 | |||
| Total | 44 | 21 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 50 | 25 | ||||
| Torino | 1961–62 | Serie A | 27 | 10 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 28 | 10 | |||
| Manchester United | 1962–63 | First Division | 38 | 23 | 6 | 6 | – | – | – | 44 | 29 | |||
| 1963–64 | First Division | 30 | 30 | 6 | 10 | – | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 46 | ||
| 1964–65 | First Division | 36 | 28 | 6 | 3 | – | 10 | 8 | – | 52 | 39 | |||
| 1965–66 | First Division | 33 | 15 | 7 | 6 | – | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 24 | ||
| 1966–67 | First Division | 36 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 38 | 25 | |||
| 1967–68 | First Division | 23 | 7 | 1 | 0 | – | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 10 | ||
| 1968–69 | First Division | 30 | 14 | 6 | 7 | – | 7 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 30 | ||
| 1969–70 | First Division | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 16 | 3 | |||
| 1970–71 | First Division | 28 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 34 | 16 | |||
| 1971–72 | First Division | 33 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 42 | 13 | |||
| 1972–73 | First Division | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 14 | 2 | |||
| Total | 309 | 171 | 46 | 34 | 11 | 3 | 33 | 28 | 5 | 1 | 404 | 237 | ||
| Manchester City | 1973–74 | First Division | 24 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 29 | 12 | ||
| Career total | 485 | 227 | 64 | 43 | 15 | 4 | 33 | 28 | 5 | 1 | 602 | 303 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 1958 | 2 | 1 |
| 1959 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1960 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1961 | 3 | 2 | |
| 1962 | 3 | 5 | |
| 1963 | 7 | 11 | |
| 1964 | 5 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 6 | 2 | |
| 1966 | 2 | 2 | |
| 1967 | 3 | 1 | |
| 1968 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1970 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1971 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1972 | 7 | 2 | |
| 1973 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1974 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 55 | 30 | |
Manchester United
Scotland
Individual
My father was a Denis Law fan, not a Manchester United fan.
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