Law’s dream move to Italy soon turned into a living horror show

18 Jan 2025 - The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)

BY PAUL THIRD

ITALIAN STALLION GAMES: 27 GOALS: 10

I COULDN’T BELIEVE THE WELCOME WE GOT IN TURIN. 

THERE WERE 10,000 FANS AT THE AIRPORT WAITING FOR US 

– former Torino teammate Joe Baker

Denis Law’s legacy as one of Scottish football’s greatest players was almost stopped in its tracks during his brief spell in Italy.

February 7 1962 was the day when Law’s move to Torino was almost brought to a premature end when he was involved in a car crash which left his friend and team-mate Joe Baker fighting for his life in a coma.

The duo were in Baker’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta with Law’s brother, Joseph, when Baker drove the wrong way around a roundabout and, after swerving to avoid the onrushing traffic, the car flipped six times.

Italian media reported the car had been travelling at between 70kph and 80kph when it clipped the curve, with the coverage of two foreign players crashing met with disdain by the local media.

Law, who was six months into his spell in Italy and was already growing weary of his every move being followed by the paparazzi, said he was “tossed about like a rag doll” before ending up unconscious.

In many ways he was the lucky one.

Baker, was not so fortunate as he suffered a broken jaw, nose, both cheekbones and the roof of his mouth. His facial injuries were so severe it required four surgeries to reconstruct his face and he would never play for Torino again.

Despite walking away relatively unscathed, decades later Law, who was 21 when he swapped living in the lodgings of his landlady in Manchester for a luxury apartment in Turin, insisted he remained haunted by the incident.

He said: “Joe was seriously injured and in a coma for several days.

“He was thrown completely out of the car and hit the tarmac face first.

“I was knocked out and woke up in hospital but could not remember anything about the crash. Joe suffered very serious injuries to his face and had to go through major operations.

“He was in hospital for seven weeks and was fed through a drip attached to his neck. Thankfully, he did not break any of his legs and could still play football.

“My brother Joseph was in the back seat. I was tossed like a rag doll into the driver’s seat where Joe (Baker) had been.

“That saved my life as where I had been sitting the car roof was flush with the dash-board – completely flattened. I shuddered when I saw the photograph.

“About a year later, I had a pain in my hand and could not understand what it was. Then a piece of glass worked its way out. It had been there all the time, embedded since the crash.”

It was a far cry from the fanfare that greeted Law and Baker, a £75,000 signing from Hibernian, when they arrived in Turin in the summer of 1961.

Four goals followed in Law’s first six games, which included a victory over arch-rivals Juventus.

However, the style of football was not to Law’s liking with a focus on preventing goals rather than scoring them.

The goals soon began to dry up and the constant glare from the paparazzi began a downward spiral for the two young Scots.

Baker once recounted how the pair struggled to get any privacy.

Law later said: “The media were different to what we experienced back in England.

“Just every day was a press conference. And it was a long process because we didn’t speak Italian.

“Each day it just did your brain in really.”

By April, shook by the crash and having failed to settle, Law submitted a transfer request but his club denied his plea to return to Britain.

He was sent off in his final game against Napoli and later found out the call to dismiss him had come from his own coach Beniamino Santos, who was incensed at his striker defying his instructions by taking a throw-in.

Law, who had scored 10 goals in 28 games for Torino, walked out days later and was told he would be sold to Manchester United.

Days later, however, he was told he was not going to Old Trafford and would instead remain in Italy with Juventus.

Law was adamant his time in Italy had come to an end and promptly returned to Aberdeen.

He eventually had his wish granted when he was sold for a new British record fee of £115,000 to the Red Devils in July 1962.

It was a sad and bitter end to what had been an eventful period in Italy and, while Law was happy to return home to Britain, he did so believing he had become a better player for his Italian experience with the medical expertise and sports science on offer in Italy proving an enlightening educational experience.

Law once recalled: “Everything was great about Italy bar the football.

“It was very defensive – nine defenders, two attackers.

“It was only Joe and I up front and the rest of the team were at the back.

“I enjoyed everything else about Italy. 

“The people were lovely, the football was awful.”

CULTURE SHOCK: Scottish stars Denis Law, right, and Joe Baker found 

life tough dealing with the Italian paparazzi constantly hounding them.

***

Scots duo tormented by media intrusion

Denis Law earned his move following his display for an English Football League Select against an Italian League Select side at the San Siro.

The visitors lost 4-2 but Law’s display, capped by one of the goals, was enough to have Italian agents offering their services.

His club Manchester City could not match an offer from Serie A and, with additional bonuses paid for goals scored, it was too good a deal for the Aberdonian to resist.

Agent Luigi Peronace, who had negotiated John Charles’ transfer to Juventus in 1957, brokered the deal which saw Law move to Italy for a then record transfer fee of £110,000 for a British player – with Joe Baker joining him after being recruited from Hibernian.

The duo were hailed as superstars before a ball had been kicked and thousands greeted their arrival.

Law, however, soon found life in Italy was far from straightforward as Inter Milan claimed they had signed Law on a precontract agreement and demanded he be released from his Torino deal.

It was eventually smoothed out and once the football started Law made a flying start, scoring four goals in his opening six games, one of them coming in a win against bitter rivals Juventus.

Law did not enjoy the cynical and negative brand of football, however, and when the team did not win those promised riches were not forthcoming.

He said: “I joined Torino to play football.

“Unfortunately, the football was the only thing I did not like about Italy. You felt whoever scored first would win the game.”