Farewell to The King
COLORSPORT - Legend: Denis Law, in the famous red of Manchester United,
wheels away in celebration after scoring in a 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace in 1971
18 Jan 2025 - Daily Mail
by Ian Ladyman
HE still came to Old Trafford whenever he could in his later years. With the collars on his raincoat pulled up to his ears. Almost as though he did not want anybody to know it was him.
But you could always tell it was Denis. The hair was still distinctive in its fairness. The glint in the eye still strong. Yes, you always knew when Denis was in the building. A footballer and a man who instinctively drew people to him with the same ease he once left opponents in his wake.
Denis Law — who died aged 84 yesterday — was a most natural footballer, a goalscorer who worked desperately hard at what those who knew him testified always came terribly easily. He was a poster boy for sporting glory, a film star footballer dressed in Manchester United red.
Street footballer: taking on schoolboys in his hometown of Aberdeen in 1961
There were other clubs as well, of course. Manchester City — rather famously — and also Torino and Huddersfield, where he started. Born in Aberdeen, he played 55 times for his beloved Scotland, too, and never lost a single flick of that beautiful, playful national lilt.
But it is with United that he will forever be associated. He spent 11 years at Old Trafford between 1962 and 1973 and played 404 times in the league, averaging well over a goal every other appearance.
If the game feels simpler back then, Law was the perfect salesman for the time. Effortlessly charming, effortlessly comfortable in his own skin and, most importantly of all, effortlessly effective with a ball at his feet.
There was rarely anything elaborate about things he did on a football field. He possessed an economy of movement and the ability to score goals simply. Ditto his celebration. Usually one arm raised and, if he was very excited, maybe two.
It was never lost on Law that one of his most unorthodox goals was the one he never really wanted to score. And even after time dulled the memory, he never took the remotest ounce of pleasure from being asked about. His backheel in City blue against United on the last day of the 1973-74 season brought him the goal that people like to say sent his old club down. The truth is that it didn’t. Other results that day would have relegated United regardless.
Nevertheless, memories of and questions about that moment followed Law around for the rest of his life. He never seemed to do an interview without it being brought up and when it was, he would always baulk a little.
Sometimes he would make a joke or pretend he couldn’t remember. It was his way of moving past the subject. To him it was just a goal, just one of the many he scored since making his debut for Huddersfield aged 16 on Christmas Eve 1956.
Law was a not a tall man, slight and almost delicate to look at. On joining Huddersfield, some there thought him too slender to have a chance. But then some people said that about George Best, too, and there they both stand now along with Sir Bobby Charlton, cast in bronze on the forecourt at Old Trafford.
A statue of the Holy Trinity. A hat-trick of natural sporting genius. A reminder of what it really is to be a United footballer.
Sir Matt Busby wanted Law at United almost immediately but Huddersfield wouldn’t sell. Indeed, when he did leave it was to City, almost four years later, for a British record fee of £50,000. An ambition and a core of determination to better himself that had already taken him from the Aberdeen tenements — Law was one of seven born to a fisherman, George, and his wife Robina — to the top level of English football when he was barely 20 was to propel him to Torino in Italy.
He stayed for just one unhappy season, then it was back to Manchester and a union with United that was perhaps overdue.
Much had changed for Law in terms of his standing in the game and in the world by then but some things remained steadfastly the same. He moved back in with the same landlady who had accommodated him when he played for City.
Law’s years at Old Trafford brought him all his major honours. This transpired to be his time. Joining a club still healing from the Munich disaster four years earlier, Law won two Division One titles, an FA Cup and, of course, a European Cup as Busby’s reborn United completed their valedictory circle of life at Wembley against Benfica.
Busby’s United team were not short of glamour. Best was its showbusiness, Charlton its heartbeat, its soul and its rampaging link to a tragic past. Law was just as effective, able to drive forward off either foot and possessing a drop of the shoulder that defenders would anticipate yet still surrender to its deftness. Law was like smoke, like a wisp. Impossible to hold, catch or restrain.
Team-mates loved him for his goals, courage and deference. A simple man simply blessed with extraordinary skills.
His second spell at City was notable largely for that goal and he retired at the age of 34 when it became clear first-team football at Maine Road would be available only on strict rations. Second fiddle, second rate. That was never going to be Denis’s thing.
To nobody’s surprise, Law proved himself skilled in front of a
TV camera. It turned out that, after years of playing football so well, he could talk about it, too.
Having revealed he had prostate cancer in 2003, he recovered to become a committed raiser of awareness surrounding the disease. When Best succumbed to the rigours of addiction in 2005, Law was by his bedside and subsequently carried his coffin. More recently, it was revealed that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s.
To think of Law so diminished was painful because it was so at odds with the vibrancy we remember. Law was not only a magnificent footballer but also an unbreakable link to what United should always be about.
Don’t think of United as they have become. Think of them as what they once were. Dennis Law embodied that as much as anybody. Today we are more thankful than ever for that beautiful statue. In the days and weeks to come, it will be quite the sight.
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Kidd leads the tributes to a man ‘with the heart of a lion’
18 Jan 2025 - Daily Mail
by Chris Wheeler
TRIBUTES were paid to Denis Law last night after the Manchester United legend died at the age of 84.
Law, who revealed in August 2021 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia, is one of the United Trinity immortalised in a statue at Old Trafford alongside George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton. To fans, he was simply known as The King.
A statement from the Law family last night read: ‘It is with a heavy heart that we tell you our father Denis Law has sadly passed away. He fought a tough battle but finally he is now at peace. ‘We would like to thank everyone who contributed to his wellbeing and care, past and much more recently. We know how much people supported and loved him and that love was always appreciated and made the difference. Thank you.’
A Ballon d’Or winner in 1964, Law won the European Cup, two English titles and the FA Cup in his 11 years at Old Trafford. He is United’s third-highest goalscorer of all time behind Wayne Rooney and Charlton with 237 in 404 games, and Scotland’s joint-top scorer with 30 goals from his 55 caps.
Born in Aberdeen, Law began his career with Huddersfield Town, had two spells at Manchester City and also played in Italy for Torino.
United also issued a statement last night, saying: ‘Everyone at Manchester United is mourning the loss of Denis Law, the King of the Stretford End, who has passed away, aged 84. With 237 goals in 404 appearances, he will always be celebrated as one of the club’s greatest and most beloved players.
‘The ultimate goalscorer, his flair, spirit and love for the game made him the hero of a generation. Our deepest condolences go out to Denis’s family and many friends. His memory will live on for ever.’
Law was the sixth member of the United squad that won the European Cup under Sir Matt Busby to suffer from dementia. Charlton, who passed away in October 2023, Nobby Stiles, Tony Dunne, David Herd and Bill Foulkes were also diagnosed before their deaths.
Law’s United team-mate, Brian Kidd, led the tributes last night, saying: ‘He was slight, with the heart of a lion. An unbelievable finisher, he scored every type of goal. Sir Matt loved him. We all did. He was the King of the Stretford End.’
United captain Bruno Fernandes posted a picture of Law on social media last night with the one-word caption: ‘Legend.’ Huddersfield, where Law joined as a 15-year-old and spent the first four years of his senior career, wrote: ‘All at Huddersfield are profoundly saddened to learn of the passing of Denis Law. ‘A legend of not only our great club, but an immortal of the sport as a whole, he will be deeply missed and his memory cherished by us all.
‘Our collective thoughts are with Denis’ family and loved ones at this time. Once a Terrier, always a Terrier.’
***
A giant on the pitch and a gent off it
18 Jan 2025 - Daily Mail
by Bryan Robson
WE have lost one of football’s giants both as a player and a gentleman. It’s incredibly sad. Denis was more than just a fantastic footballer, he was a fantastic man. So generous with his time and everything delivered with that great sense of humour of his.
He will always be in my greatest Manchester United XI. He was a player so many of his peers idolised and with good reason, that iconic image of him with his sleeves pulled down and the one-arm salute after scoring. I was a little nervous on first meeting him, as with Sir Bobby Charlton. But I had even more respect for Denis once I met him. He was so warm in his welcome and I had an instant regard for the man he was, and the personality he had.
I was lucky enough to work alongside him for so many events in an ambassadorial role and that wicked sense of humour, no matter what the occasion, always shone through. He was so full of life, and invariably with a cup of tea in his hand. No one could represent what Manchester United stood for better than him. Full of flair on the pitch and a gentleman off it.
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