Denis Law

Denis Law is one of the greatest footballers to ever come out of Scotland.

An instinctive finisher, capable of scoring all types of goals; an excellent team player, who was as unselfish as he was deadly inside the penalty box; and with the heart of a lion as bold as the rampant on the Scotland crest.

The Manchester United legend sadly passed away at the age of 84. He had been diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2021.

To this day he is still the joint-record goalscorer for the Scotland national team (with Sir Kenny Dalglish) and he remains the only Scot to have won the Ballon d'Or.

He is beloved in Manchester where he made his name and revered in Scotland, for whom he loved to represent on the international stage.

Law wore the dark blue of Scotland with pride on 55 occasions but it was something he did OFF the pitch that showed his passion for his country more than anything else.

It was the summer of 1966 and Law was at something of a loose end.

He was the best striker in the country at the time but he and his Scotland team mates hadn't qualified for the World Cup - which was made even tougher by the fact it was being held in England.

And we needn't remind you that Sir Alf Ramsey's men made it all the way to the final at Wembley.

But, Law's cheeky actions on the day England were playing in that final made him more than just a Tartan Army talisman.

Despite the fact team mates such as Bobby Charlton were playing in the game and other Manchester United pals were gathering to watch it, Law had no interest in seeing it.

So what did he do instead? Play the game Scotland gave to the world: golf.

That's right, he took to the golf course rather than watch England's greatest football triumph.

Law told the story in a documentary for the BBC called Kicking and Screaming, which was aired way back in 1995.

Law hoped to avoid any celebrations but his seemingly ingenious tactic failed.

And he infamously joked that as he heard news of the Three Lions' win, that it was the end of the world.

Deployed alongside Best and Charlton in a United side masterfully constructed from the wreckage of Munich by Sir Matt Busby, Law scored the opening goal of the 1963 FA Cup final victory over Leicester and was crucial to the First Division title wins of 1965 and 1967.

In 1964 he also won the Ballon d’Or and, four years later, was primed to make the difference in the European Cup final but missed out on what was United’s defining success of the era due to a knee injury.

The post-Busby era was one of painful transition at United and Law struggled to adapt as much as anyone at the club. He returned to City on a free transfer in July 1973 and, a year later, scored the last and arguably most famous goal of his career – the backheel shot at Old Trafford that compounded United’s relegation to the Second Division.

Law asked to be substituted soon after, such was his anguish at making the home crowd miserable, and it says everything about how much he was loved by United fans that many mobbed him as he departed from view. For them ‘the King’ remained a red, despite what he had just done in blue.

Law’s last game for Scotland came against Zaire at that summer’s World Cup in West Germany.

His last goal, meanwhile, came in a 2-0 win against Northern Ireland in May 1972, while his most famous was probably his strike against England, then world champions, in a 3-2 win at Wembley in April 1967. An outstanding servant for his country, Law was rightly inducted into Scottish football’s hall of fame in 2004.

Ultimately, it will be for what he did at United that Law is best remembered. Reacting to his dementia diagnosis, the club described him as a “legend” and that status is encapsulated in the two statues of Law that reside at Old Trafford, one on the Stretford End concourse and the other as part of the monument to the “Holy Trinity” that overlooks the stadium’s forecourt. In so many ways, Denis Law will never be forgotten by those who watched him play.