Humble Scot will leave city lasting legacy

18 Jan 2025

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)

BY MARC THOMSON

DENIS WAS MY HERO. HE EPITOMISED 

WHAT A SCOT WAS – AS A FOOTBALLER 

HE HAD COURAGE, HE WAS DASHING

   - fellow Old Trafford icon Sir Alex Ferguson

The esteem in which Aberdeen holds one of its greatest sons was immortalised in November 2021 when a 16ft statue of Denis Law was erected in the heart of the city.

Law returned to his birthplace to witness the accolade as his likeness – named Legend – was unveiled next to Provost Skene’s House.

The sight of the then-81year-old Law beaming with pride and looking happy and relaxed as he joked with onlookers belied his Alzheimer’s diagnosis just months earlier.

He admitted “the memory is not as good as it used to be” but also declared the city “means everything” to him.

Dons great Sir Alex Ferguson accompanied his idol to the ceremony as the statue of Law in famous figure-pointing goal-celebrating pose was revealed.

The former Aberdeen and Manchester United manager raised a laugh from the man of the moment when he quipped: “I think this statue definitely captures him – the only thing I don’t see is him wiping his sweater on his nose.”

The statue is a fitting tribute to Law, a site where so many of his fellow Aberdonians gathered to pay their respects and leave tributes after news of his death broke.

Law may not have pulled on the jersey for the Dons team he supported as a child but his influence on – and love for – the city never waned. 

He helped establish the Denis Law Legacy Trust, a charity that provides free programmes and activities for thousands of young people in the Granite City – including the flagship Streetsport project run in conjunction with Robert Gordon University (RGU).

  

LIGHT OF OUR LIVES: The proud Aberdonian and wife Diana were 

guests of honour for the Christmas lights turn-on. Picture by Kami Thomson.

The trust also set up the Cruyff Court Denis Law facility just off George Street to encourage children to take up the beautiful game.

On the same day Law was in town to open the free sports pitch in July 2017, he was receiving another accolade

– his honorary degree of doctor of laws at RGU in recognition of his achievements throughout his football career and his work with the trust.

Law’s crusade to get young Aberdonians out playing – as well as picking up university accolades – stretches back further still.

After years of campaigning, in 2015 he finally got Aberdeen to remove all No Ball Games signs in the city’s parks – and he had the honour of removing the first one in Powis.

A decade earlier he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen for his services to sport.

But few honours would have made Law prouder than the one that came on November 25 2017 when he was awarded the Freedom of the City.

After signing the Freedom Roll and having the Burgess Ticket pinned to his hat, a Scotland cap provided by the Scottish Football Association, Law said: “To get the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen is a real highlight in my life and something I will never forget.” 

The following day the footballing hero and his wife Diana were the guests of honour of a parade down Union Street for the Christmas lights turn-on.