Denis Law

by Alex Gordon

  There was a buoyancy about Scotland as they travelled to Switzerland for the second qualifier 11 days later. An unchanged team saw them concede an early goal, but come back to triumph 2-1 with headers from the diminutive Collins and the ever-dangerous Mudie. In the return against Spain in Madrid, Scotland were brought back to earth. They were well and truly walloped 4-1 and didn’t impress opposing coach Don Manuel Vallina, who sniffed, ‘Scotland’s defence was not compact enough. To my mind, it had no plan. It offered our forwards opportunities they should never have been given. I wasn’t impressed at all.’ No wonder. Spain were two ahead by the 20th minute after goals from Enrique Mateos and Kubala. Estanislao Basora claimed two after the interval with Hibs outside-right Gordon Smith hitting Scotland’s consolation effort.

  The situation for Scotland was now simple – a win over Switzerland at Hampden would secure a place in Sweden. It was a 2.30 p.m. kick-off to catch what would remain of the November daylight. Almost 57,000 turned out to see if Scotland could reach their second successive World Cup Finals. Clyde’s enterprising Archie Robertson put the Scots ahead, but that was cancelled by Fernando Riva’s effort. Mudie restored the advantage and Rangers’ Alex Scott, looking yards offside, thumped in number three. The Swiss reacted angrily and surrounded the referee who refused to change his mind. The goal stood. Just as well, too. Scotland had to fight a rearguard action for the final 20 minutes as their opponents bombarded Younger’s goal. Near the end they were rewarded when a close-range drive from Roger Vonlanden almost ripped a hole in the roof of the net. The Swiss were to be applauded, but it was the Scottish players who would be looking out their passports for Sweden.

  The Scottish Football Association, in their infinite wisdom and not before time, decided that the national team should have a manager. On 9 January 1958 they turned to Matt Busby, achieving some wonderful things at Manchester United. He was offered the part-time post only days after his club side had defeated Red Star Belgrade 2-1 in the European Cup quarter-final first leg at Old Trafford. Busby said, ‘I am delighted to accept the invitation. It is a great honour to be asked to manage my country. I hope I can do something to help Scotland win the World Cup. I aim not to have a team content merely to put up a respectable show in Sweden, but one that will take the field with the aim of winning the trophy.’

  Busby was fated not to lead his nation in those finals. On 5 February he was in Belgrade to see his United side draw 3-3 with Red Star Belgrade to claim a place in the European Cup semi-final. A day later on the flight home, the squad had a stopover in Munich. Their plane aborted one take-off attempt amid a blizzard. The captain tried again. The craft was barely airborne when it crashed and 23 people died, including eight Manchester United players. Busby was severely injured and lapsed into a coma. He was taken to intensive care at Munich’s Rechts der Isar hospital. The staff were put on emergency alert and Busby, receiving regular blood transfusions, was placed in an oxygen tent. He was given only a 50-50 chance of survival by the surgeons. He pulled through although his journey to full recovery would be slow. Dawson Walker, the Scotland trainer, was put in charge of preparations as the national squad gathered at the Ayrshire resort of Turnberry. The players trained daily at Girvan Amateurs’ ground and were told they would be paid £50 per game. They seemed happy with the arrangement.

  The SFA selectors were putting together their final group of 22 players and an 18-year-old making a name for himself in England was mentioned. It was Denis Law, then with Huddersfield Town. He was selected in the initial squad of 40 in March after impressing an SFA official. As luck would have it, he had to withdraw only a few days later, sidelined for six weeks with an ankle ligament injury.

  Possibly it was a blessing in disguise. The Swedish experience might have put his career into freefall.

  Scotland, displaying incredible naivety, arrived in Sweden on 2 June, only six days before their opening game against Yugoslavia in Vasteras. Remarkably, they had even arranged to play a local side 24 hours before the first encounter. Thankfully, no-one was injured in a 2-0 win over the amateurs of Eskilstuna. Collins and Mudie were the scorers in a full-strength 11. Six minutes into the real thing, Younger, who, along with Tommy Docherty, gave the team talks in the absence of Busby, was picking the ball out of his net, put there by Aleksander Petkovic. However, Hearts’ Jimmy Murray headed in the equaliser after a neat ball from Eddie Turnbull, so often an opponent in Edinburgh derbies. It ended 1-1 and Scotland appeared quite satisfied with their point.

  Next up were Paraguay in Norrkoping three days later. Someone at the SFA had the foresight to send squad members Tommy Docherty and Archie Robertson to spy on the opponents. They came back with notes informing the selectors that the Paraguayans were ‘rough, very fit, good on the ball and were excellent at passing’. Sadly, no-one took a blind bit of notice. Sammy Baird, Dave Mackay and Docherty, three muscular players who could mix it with the best of them, were ignored. A lightweight side was fielded and once again the dithering Scottish defence gifted their opponents an early advantage with Juan Aguero, a lively winger, racing in to poke the ball through the legs of Younger in the fourth minute. Mudie duly equalised in the 25th minute after a shot from Graham Leggat had been cleared off the line. So, it was stalemate with only seconds to go to half-time. Could Scotland hold out? Remember, this is Scotland we are talking about. Everton defender Alex Parker failed to intercept a pass from Jose Parodi and it was worked to Cayetano Re whose shot bounced off Younger, struck an upright and ended up in the net. The Liverpool custodian wasn’t having the best of days and that was highlighted with 15 minutes to go when he allowed a routine cross to slip from his grasp straight to the feet of the delighted Jorgelino Romero who poked it home from close range. Collins pulled one back – the 500th goal scored in World Cup Finals – but it was too little, too late. The 3-2 defeat meant the Scots were bottom of Group 2.

  Docherty, who didn’t get a kick of the ball in Sweden, would often joke later that one thing was certain in World Cup Finals. ‘The Scottish team will be home before their postcards,’ he would grin. He was proved right again. Younger’s abysmal performance against Paraguay saw him dropped, his international career ending there and then at the age of 28. Dundee’s Bill Brown, only two years his junior, replaced him against France in Orebro on 15 June. The new man picked the ball out of the rigging twice in the first-half, beaten by efforts from Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine. Scotland’s plight wasn’t helped when defender John Hewie squandered a penalty-kick just after Kopa’s opener. The full-back clattered the post with his misjudged effort. Sammy Baird’s strike just before the hour mark put a better complexion on the scoreline, but it didn’t matter. Scotland, just as in Switzerland four years earlier, were out and were still waiting for a win at this level. It could hardly have been termed a glorious failure. There would be no thousands turning out to welcome them home on their return to Scotland.

  There had been no replacement manager for the most important competition on the planet and there had been little or no supervision of the players at the team’s hotel where they were given a full breakfast, two three-course meals during the day and cream buns and all sorts of pastries at 10 p.m., supper time in that part of Sweden. This was the international set-up in 1958, a country going in no particular direction except down, sucked into a whirlpool of mediocrity. A confused bunch of officials and footballers miserably lost in a maze of mistakes. There was little to inspire anyone, on or off the field. It was all very depressing. Optimism had been buried among the debris. A newspaper report at the time summed it up perfectly: ‘Scotland learned nothing, absolutely nothing, from the World Cup Finals of 1954. Every mistake in Switzerland was repeated in Sweden.’ Who would lift the sagging spirits of the nation? Was there anyone out there with an answer?

  Enter Denis Law.

  It’s a preposterous thought in these enlightened times, but there was actually some opposition to the SFA selectors even considering the blond teenage attacker who was making such an enormo
us impact across the border. Matt Busby had the courage of his convictions to name an all-Anglo forward line against Wales at Cardiff on 18 October 1958. It read: Graham Leggat (Fulham), Tommy Docherty (Arsenal), Denis Law (Huddersfield Town), Bobby Collins (Everton) and Jackie Henderson (Arsenal).

  Law said, ‘The Scottish media weren’t too happy about it and there was a great deal of controversy north of the border because one of the Anglos was only a young Second Division player with a team in England called Huddersfield. “Who?” they asked. I had not even played for the Under-23s before my full debut against the Welsh and, indeed, I had won six full caps before my first Under-23 game against Wales in Wrexham.’ Huddersfield were due to play Ipswich Town at Portman Road the same afternoon as the Welsh match but Law, an ever-present since the start of the season, was allowed time off to represent his country. It probably helped that his club manager was Bill Shankly. Without Law’s goal threat, Huddersfield settled for a goalless draw.

  At the same time, another ambitious young player also wondered what international football had in store for him. Twenty-three-year-old Dave Mackay, then an old-fashioned, barrel-chested wing-half with Hearts, had played in the World Cup loss against France and pondered his immediate future. He was to be pleasantly surprised. Mackay recalled, ‘I was selected to play in the Home International against Wales later that year. When I arrived at our hotel I was puzzled when I was told Matt Busby wanted to see me. He was weak and frail after suffering terrible injuries in the Munich air crash. The fact that not only was he back managing Manchester United, but had now also resumed control of the national side, was incredible. Matt told me he was appointing me team captain. Now captains are normally senior in years and have been long established in the side. I was preparing to play only my third international. Tommy Docherty, then playing at Arsenal, and Bobby Collins, of Everton, were both in the team and far more experienced and respected than I was.

  ‘Busby was adamant, though. He told me, “Davie, you are the man for the job, be in no doubt. You are hungry. You never admit defeat. You inspire those around you and you have many years ahead of you. I want to build this Scotland side around you. You are an old head on young shoulders.” I was extremely flattered and proud. Matt fielded an experimental side against the Welsh with four players making their debuts, John Grant, Willie Toner, David Herd and Denis Law. Denis was only 18 years old and was already receiving rave reviews in the English game. He was good and he knew it, but not big-headed. He was a cheeky chappie who could see fun in everything and his general good humour and mischievousness were infectious. We became pals straight away. I was not surprised that he became both one of the most admired forwards of his generation and one of the greatest Scottish players in history. You would be surprised how many former professionals rate Denis as the best player they have competed against or alongside when asked in private.’

  Law was primed and ready to go as he raced onto the Ninian Park pitch in Cardiff to take his international bow. A healthy crowd of 60,000 turned out as English referee Eric Leafe blew his whistle to allow battle to commence. Mackay remembered, ‘Denis scored on his debut – our second – after I had missed an early penalty-kick. Bobby Collins and Graham Leggat got the others. We played an excellent game of football and were comfortable 3-0 winners. Later in the game, goalkeeper Bill Brown, who would become a good friend and teammate at Tottenham Hotspur, took a nasty knock in an aerial clash and was forced to have treatment off the field. It was the days before substitutes, so I went into goal. At one stage I charged from my line in an attempt to catch the ball, but I realised it was sailing over my head. I looked round expecting the inevitable. Never fear, the boy wonder, Denis Law, was standing on the line grinning as he cleared the ball away.’

  There seems some confusion surrounding Law’s historic first goal for his country and flickering black-and-white film footage is of little aid. Denis admitted, ‘I scored – if I can use that term – my first international goal in the second-half when David Herd crossed the ball and I jumped for it with Dave Bowen, whose firmly-struck headed clearance hit me on the head and flew in past a startled Jack Kelsey.’ Not a classic, then, but we’ll take it, nevertheless. One down, 29 to go.

  The modest Law was involved in the other two goals that day. A superb sweeping pass allowed Jackie Henderson to scamper down the touchline and the Arsenal winger swung in a superb cross for Leggat to bury a positive header beyond Kelsey. Law did it again when he nodded down a long ball from Grant into the path of Mackay and he teed it up for Collins to stroke in the third. Denis added, ‘I had to read the newspapers the following day to see what I had done and how the goals came about. To me, it was all a blank. In fact, I had no recollection of Dave Mackay’s penalty miss until he reminded me years later.’

  Bobby Collins smiles at the recollection of Law’s fairly memorable – well, to everyone else! – first game for Scotland. Collins, the original Wee Barra, said the raw teenager made an immediate impact on him. He revealed, ‘Denis was even better than we had anticipated. He was one of those players who grew in stature the moment they stepped onto the football field. Some have that ability; some haven’t. Denis had plenty of it.

  ‘He was only 18 years old when he played at Cardiff. If he was nervous he didn’t show it. His disguise was perfect. His chest seemed to swell as he raced out of the tunnel, preparing to go straight into folklore as one of the best players football has ever produced. He knew he had ability, he must have realised what destiny had in store, but this was no big-headed kid with a mouth to match. Far from it. George Best once said it was impossible to be miserable when you were in Denis’s company and I couldn’t agree more. The guy just has this rather special aura. It’s apparent all the time; he doesn’t switch it on and off. He thoroughly deserves all the good things and the adulation that have come his way. He was a special player and he’s a special guy.’

  Law, as expected, kept his place in the line-up for the next international against Northern Ireland at Hampden the following month. In fact, Matt Busby was so pleased with the performance against the Welsh that he announced an unchanged team. It was to be memorable for Law – for all the wrong reasons. He said, ‘The Irish team was a strong one and had reached the last eight in the World Cup Finals that year. Undoubtedly, their star performer was Danny Blanchflower, of Spurs. He was a majestic and influential player who could take complete control of a game. Matt Busby naturally asked us to keep a close eye on him, but sometimes, when you are young, you can take things too literally. Matt said to me before the game, “Make sure you stop him because he is the guy who starts everything for them.” To be honest, I am embarrassed to this day by what I did to that great player.’

  The 72,732 fans who turned up on 5 November, Guy Fawkes Night, were looking for fireworks from the young Huddersfield player whose reputation was beginning to soar in his native land. It was Hampden’s first look at Law and if those supporters were in attendance to witness his marvellous and deadly prowess in the penalty box or his all-round excellent play elsewhere on the pitch, they were to be sadly disappointed. In Law’s own words he gave Blanchflower ‘a good kicking’ as he followed him around for 90 minutes. It was effective for a time as the Scots, with goals from David Herd and Collins, were leading 2-0, but, after more defensive lapses, they had to settle for a 2-2 draw. Law admitted, ‘I didn’t play any football. I’ve apologised to Danny many times since that game.’ Fortunately, the Northern Ireland purveyor of perfect passes was also a gentleman and accepted the young Scot’s apology. Later on, they would become good friends.

  Blanchflower noted, ‘Denis could have done with a bit more experience. Nearly every tackle was a foul. But he wasn’t kicking me so much as always coming in late. I knew he had ability or he wouldn’t have been in the Scotland team. He wasn’t a tough player, but he had strength and vital energy and was direct and determined. When I came out of the Hampden dressing room afterwards, Bill Shankly, who had taken over as manager from Andy Beattie at Hudder
sfield, was standing there saying what a great player Denis was. I decided not to argue and walked away. I wasn’t bitter. However, I would give him credit. For a skinny kid with a squint to develop into such a magnificent striker who was fast and fierce was like growing from a toad into a prince. It was a tribute to his determination.’

  Law’s mother and father were in the Hampden stand that day to watch their son as a professional footballer for the first time. Like all the other witnesses they saw a different player from the one expected. Remarkably, neither ever saw their son in action again for club or country. Law added ruefully, ‘To cap it all, my parents were injured in a car crash on their way home.’ Thankfully, not seriously.

  Overall, it had been a good year for Denis Law. And it would be even better in 1959.

  Chapter Four

  HISTORY-MAKER

  Denis Law is unique among Scottish footballers. He is the only player to make his debut for the Under-23 side after playing six times for the full international team. Remarkably, Law had faced Wales and Northern Ireland in 1958 and Holland, Portugal, Northern Ireland and Wales in 1959 before his call-up to play against the Welsh Under-23s at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham on 25 November later that year.