Footballer, born in Aberdeen, NE Scotland, UK. He never played at senior level in Scotland, his career being spent almost entirely in England. He began his career as a forward with Huddersfield Town in 1956, made his international debut when only 18 years old, and shortly afterwards moved to Manchester City. After a disappointing spell in Italy with Turin, he joined Manchester United (1962), the club with which he is indelibly associated, for a then British record transfer fee of £115 000. With them he won every major domestic honour, although injury excluded him from the European Cup success of 1968. In 1964 he was voted European Footballer of the Year. He returned to Manchester City (19734), and retired after playing for Scotland in the 1974 World Cup, gaining a total of 55 caps for his country.
| Denis Law | ||
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Denis Law (seated) signing for Manchester United in 1962. United's manager Matt Busby is on the right in the picture. |
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Denis Law | |
| Date of birth | February 24, 1940 | |
| Place of birth | Aberdeen, Scotland | |
| Nickname | The King, The Lawman | |
| Position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | retired | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
|
1956-1960 1960-1961 1961-1962 1962-1973 1973-1974 |
Huddersfield Town Manchester City Torino Manchester United Manchester City |
91 (19) 50 (23) 27 (10) 309 (171) 26 (12) |
| National team** | ||
| 1958-1974 | Scotland | 55 (30) |
|
* Professional club appearances and goals |
||
Denis Law (born February 24, 1940, in Aberdeen, Scotland) is a retired Scottish football player, who enjoyed a long and successful career as a striker from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Law's career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. Law left Manchester United in 1973 and returned to Manchester City for a season, then represented Scotland in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Law is also United's second highest goalscorer behind Bobby Charlton
Growing up
Denis was the son of George Law, a fisherman, and his wife Robina, and was the youngest of seven children. Manchester United's manager Matt Busby shortly offered Huddersfield £10,000 for Law, a lot of money for a footballer at that time, but the club turned the offer down.
Manchester City
In March 1960, Law signed for Manchester City for what was then a British record transfer fee of £55,000, although Law's share of the fee was "precisely nothing".
Although he had thought about leaving, he was playing well and in 1961 Law scored an incredible six goals in an FA Cup tie against Luton Town.
Manchester United
The glory years
Law moved back to Manchester, boarding with the same landlady that he had lived with during his time as a City player.
Unfortunately, an incident had taken place that season which Law felt had repercussions in years to come. 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 manager Matt Busby reported the matter to the Football Association.
Law scored a number of goals early in the 1963/4 season and was selected to play for a Rest of the World side against England at Wembley, scoring their goal in a 2–1 defeat.
In 1964/5, Law won the European Footballer of the Year award, and Manchester United won their first league title since Munich.
The following season, Law injured his right knee while playing for Scotland against Poland on 21 October 1965.
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 didn't get one.
Law scored in Scotland's famous 3–2 victory over England on 15 April 1967, less than a year after England had become world champions.
In 1967/8, United won the European Cup for the first time, but Law's knee injury was causing him serious problems and he missed both the semi-final and the final as a result.
In 1968/9, United reached the semi-final of the European Cup, playing AC Milan, but were knocked out after Law had a goal disallowed.
Law recommended that United replace O'Farrell with Tommy Docherty, whom he knew from playing for Scotland.
Final season (1973-74)
Docherty gave Law a free transfer in the summer of 1973, and he moved back to Manchester City. In City's last game of the 1973/4 season, Law famously scored a goal against Manchester United which guaranteed their relegation from the First Division, only six years after the European Cup final that he had missed. Law's backheel gave City a 1–0 win, but he was devastated to have relegated United (it turned out they would have been relegated even if the match had been drawn, but Law did not know this at the time) and he did not celebrate the goal, walking off the pitch with his head down as he was substituted immediately afterwards. 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, against Zaire.
After football
Law still had a contract with Manchester City, but their manager Tony Book told him that he would only be playing reserve team football if he stayed there.
The emergence of Dutch international Dennis Bergkamp in the 1990s uncovered a story that the player's parents, who were fans of Manchester United in the 1960s, named their son after Law, although Dutch authorities refused to recognise the name unless it was spelt with two n's as they felt it was otherwise too similar to Denise.
On November 25 2005, Law was at the bedside of former United team-mate George Best as he lost his battle against multiple organ failure.
Career summary
Clubs:
Huddersfield Town (1956–1960) Manchester City (1960–1961) Torino (1961–1962) Manchester United (1962–1973) Manchester City (1973–1974)Honours:
FA Cup (1963) English First Division (now called the Premiership) (1965, 1967) European Footballer of the Year (1964)(Law was a Manchester United player when the team won the European Cup in 1968, but he missed the match through injury).
Inaugural Inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame (2002) Scotland's Golden Player (most outstanding player of the past 50 years) by the Scottish Football Association (November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee)Club appearances and goals by season
In all competitions:
| Season | Club | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956-57 | Huddersfield Town | 18 | 3 |
| 1957-58 | Huddersfield Town | 20 | 6 |
| 1958-59 | Huddersfield Town | 26 | 2 |
| 1959-60 | Huddersfield Town | 27 | 8 |
| 1959-60 | Manchester City | 7 | 2 |
| 1960-61 | Manchester City | 43 | 21 |
| 1961-62 | Torino | 27 | 10 |
| 1962-63 | Manchester United | 44 | 29 |
| 1963-64 | Manchester United | 41 | 45 |
| 1964-65 | Manchester United | 52 | 39 |
| 1965-66 | Manchester United | 48 | 24 |
| 1966-67 | Manchester United | 38 | 25 |
| 1967-68 | Manchester United | 27 | 9 |
| 1968-69 | Manchester United | 36 | 21 |
| 1969-70 | Manchester United | 20 | 12 |
| 1970-71 | Manchester United | 34 | 16 |
| 1971-72 | Manchester United | 41 | 13 |
| 1972-73 | Manchester United | 12 | 3 |
| 1973-74 | Manchester City | 26 | 12 |
| TOTAL | 587 | 300 |
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