by Alex Gordon
A teammate that evening was a slimly-built inside-right called John White who had already made such an impact at Falkirk that he had been transferred to Spurs for £22,000. Law and White would combine 17 times in the full international team. Celtic’s Dunky McKay, a right-back many thought was ahead of his time because of his attacking instincts, was also in the line-up in Wrexham and he would be a colleague of Law’s on six occasions at the highest level.
Alex Young, who would later join Everton from Hearts, scored the only goal of the game in front of 10,966 fans. The Scotland team was: Adam Blacklaw (Burnley); Dunky McKay (Celtic), Andy Milne (Cardiff City); Jimmy Gabriel (Dundee), Jackie Plenderleith (Hibs), Billy Higgins (Hearts); Willie Hunter (Motherwell), John White (Spurs), Alex Young (Hearts), Denis Law (Huddersfield Town) and Andy Weir (Motherwell).
Blacklaw, Gabriel, Plenderleith, Hunter and Weir, along with Law, White, McKay and Young, would go on to represent their country in full internationals. Higgins would play three more Under-23 games before disappearing off the scene. Milne never represented his country again at any level.
England’s Jimmy Greaves stole the show in Law’s next Under-23 appearance, a rollicking 4-4 draw at Ibrox on 2 March 1960. It was the first time Law had a close-up look at the frontman he later came to admire and name as the ‘complete striker’. Greaves fired three into the Scottish net, but it ended all-square with Ian St John (2), Alan Cousin and Dunky McKay, with a penalty-kick, scoring for the Scots while a crowd of 25,012 looked on. The team was: Blacklaw (Burnley); McKay (Celtic), Ian Riddell (St Mirren); Gabriel (Dundee), John Martis (Motherwell), Higgins (Hearts); Hunter (Motherwell), Cousin (Dundee), St John (Motherwell), Law (Huddersfield Town) and Weir (Motherwell).
Law’s big moment came the following year against the English on 1 March in front of 21,858 spectators at Middlesbrough’s ground, Ayresome Park. Law grabbed the only goal of the encounter with a typical effort, but he didn’t have similar good fortune a month later in the full international against England at Wembley. Scotland scored three; unfortunately England netted nine. The Under-23 team lined up: John Ogston (Aberdeen); John Hogan (Partick Thistle), Riddell (St Mirren); Pat Crerand (Celtic), Billy McNeill (Celtic), Ian Ure (Dundee); David Hilley (Third Lanark), Denis Law (Manchester City), John Hughes (Celtic), Alan Gilzean (Dundee) and Johnny MacLeod (Hibernian). McNeill and MacLeod would also suffer alongside Law in London. Celebrations and commiserations are never far away from each other in football.
Interestingly, the goalkeeper in the victorious Under-23 team was John Ogston – nicknamed ‘Tubby’ because of his girth – and who was well-known to Law. They had played alongside each other for Aberdeen Colts and the keeper went on to have a sound career at Pittodrie. Two weeks before the 1-0 win over England, Law played for the Under-23 side in an unofficial match against the British Army on 15 February watched by a crowd of 12,003 at Motherwell’s ground, Fir Park. Ogston was in goal for the Army and Law stuck two goals past his pal as the Scots triumphed 3-2. Ian St John got the other. Billy McNeill beat his Celtic teammate Frank Haffey to put through his own goal with Jimmy Kearns (Coventry City) claiming a second for the Forces. Ron Yeats (Liverpool) and Jim Baxter (Rangers) were among those who turned out for the Army.
The Scotland team read: Frank Haffey (Celtic); Pat Delaney (Motherwell), George Simm (Aberdeen); Frank McLintock (Leicester City), Billy McNeill (Celtic), George Miller (Hearts); Johnny MacLeod (Hibs), David Hilley (Third Lanark), Ian St John (Motherwell), Denis Law (Manchester City) and Bertie Auld (Celtic).
Law’s appearance against England in March 1961 was his last as an Under-23 player. Partick Thistle’s John Hogan and St Mirren’s Ian Riddell shared the same distinction. However unlike Law, they would never represent their country again at any level.
Chapter Five
AFTER THE BRAWL WAS OVER
Denis Law went on his first trip abroad with Scotland in May 1959 after injury forced him to miss the first two internationals that year, a 1-0 defeat against England at Wembley and a 3-2 victory over West Germany at Hampden. The tour started with an unofficial match against Jutland that ended in a 3-3 draw in Aarhus, Holland. Law scored the first goal in what transpired to be a fairly uneventful 90 minutes. Then it was on to Amsterdam to play the Dutch national side and the Huddersfield teenager remembered it ‘being a rough, tough game’. Celtic winger Bertie Auld, who had also played against Jutland, was sent off near the end.
‘That was my introduction to international football,’ said Auld, who, years later, would be likened to Desperate Dan, the character in the Dandy comic paper, by Law. ‘The Dutch were trying to kick lumps out of us and the Portuguese referee didn’t want to know. He gave us precious little protection. A couple of their defenders had a kick at me and if they were trying to show me who was the boss, they were up a gum tree. I had played against harder guys on the streets of Maryhill when I was just a kid. They were wasting their time. One of their defenders, a thug called Jan Notermans, thought it might be fun to use me as a football throughout the game.
‘Denis wasn’t intimidated, either. He was putting it about with the best of them, much to the consternation of the Dutch. Far from being terrified, Denis looked as though he was actually enjoying it. My wee pal Bobby Collins played and scored in that game, too. Bobby was a mere five foot four inches and if their defenders thought they could boot him around all day, too, they were in for a shock. The Wee Barra never took any prisoners when he played. There might not have been much of him, but what was there was genuine Glasgow grit. As I recall, he was outstanding in that game.’
Centre-half Bobby Evans, another Celtic player who became a huge favourite and lifelong friend of Auld, was skipper and said, ‘Aye, that was a hard game. I haven’t a clue what triggered off the Dutch, but they were determined to give us a good kicking. We had young lads like Denis Law and John White in the team and it must have been a real eye-opener for them. At the same time, though, it would have been a bit of an education. It certainly toughened them up because no team can carry passengers at that level.’
Cornelius van der Gijp put Holland ahead in the 19th minute with an effort that whizzed past Blackpool keeper George Farm, who was representing his country for the second-to-last time. Bobby Collins equalised in the 61st minute and the Olympic Stadium was in uproar when Graham Leggat notched a second four minutes later. Auld said, ‘Someone must have forgotten to tell the Dutch players and fans it was a friendly game. No medals would be getting handed out after it; no huge cash bonuses for the winners. The remaining 25 minutes were pandemonium. The supporters were throwing cushions onto the pitch; they must have had particularly comfy seats at Ajax’s old ground! I went over to take a throw-in and they were snarling and screaming at me and making all sort of rude gestures. When you have sampled the heat of a Glasgow derby then you can overcome anything. I just smiled at them. That seemed to make them even madder.
‘There was a massive bust-up about three minutes into injury time. Everyone seemed to be involved and certainly Denis and Bobby were in the thick of it. Punches were thrown and I was astonished when I was singled out by the match official and sent off. Apparently, my sparring partner Notermans had taken a sore one on the chin. I tried to protest my innocence, but the ref was having none of it. I looked into his eyes and I could see he had “gone”. He was burbling away in Portuguese and I might have said something in my Scottish brogue about his parentage before I walked off. Once again, the fans were hissing and booing. I smiled back.’
Law and Auld teamed up again a week later for a meeting with Portugal in Lisbon. A crowd of 30,000 at the Estadio Jose Alvalade witnessed their nation’s 1-0 win with Lucas Matateu the solitary marksman in the 25th minute. Auld looked back, ‘Thankfully, there were no fisticuffs during that encounter. It was tough, but quite tame in comparison to the Dutch game. The fans, though, seemed rather animated and, as in Amsterdam, they were throwing cushions onto the field. Some fabric manufacturer must have been making a fortune at the time!’
Law and Auld were back in tandem in November for the visit of Wales to Glasgow. John White was one of three Spurs players on display, the others being Bill Brown in goal and Dave Mackay at right-half. Only two other Anglos were in the team; John Hewie, of Charlton, and Denis Law, of Huddersfield Town. Almost 56,000 paid to watch the action and, but for a small section of visiting fans, they were silenced in the eighth minute when John Charles scored from a free-kick. Scotland won 20 corner-kicks in this confrontation and had success from one. Auld flighted in a swirling cross that was met perfectly by Leggat and keeper Jack Kelsey was well beaten. For the second time in two years, Mackay had to answer the SOS to take over in goal when Brown was forced to go off with a head injury with 15 minutes to go. As in Cardiff in 1958, Mackay proved a capable deputy and didn’t concede a goal.
It was the last time Law and Auld would play alongside each other. The legendary Celt sighed, ‘That was a pity because I really liked Denis’s company, on and off the pitch. He was a real character and you could see he was going to make a genuine impact on the world of football. It was when he changed his style to play mainly within sight of goal that he really came into his own. As a youngster he would roam all over the place. He would even go deep into his own half to take the ball off the full-backs. He just wanted to be involved all the time. But when he switched to taking care of business in and around the penalty area he was something else altogether. I called him a predator; that’s exactly what he was. Denis was onto rebounds in a flash and would punish any lapse in concentration from a goalkeeper or his defenders. What a player to have in your team. He had a great sense of humour, too, and he still thought he was 16 when he was 60!’
As in the previous year, Law would turn out for his country four times in 1960, the first of which was the 1-1 draw with England at Hampden which is covered in ‘THE AULD ENEMY’ chapter elsewhere in this book. Poland provided the opposition for a friendly match on 4 May and the game was noteworthy for one reason; Law’s first goal at Hampden in front of his own fans. The historic moment came in the 21st minute and levelled Krzytof Baszkiewcz’s effort in 11 minutes. Sadly, the arrival of the goal didn’t inspire Law’s teammates and the Poles went on to win 3-2. Lucjan Brychczy gave the visitors the advantage just before the half-hour mark and Ian St John replied immediately after the interval. Ernest Pohl got the winner in the 60th minute. Pohl would return to Hampden five years later to play in the team that severely dented, if not destroyed, Scotland’s hopes of reaching the 1966 World Cup Finals in England. Law would describe his country’s 2-1 defeat that night as ‘the biggest disappointment of my life’. Pohl and right-back Henryk Szczepanski were the Polish survivors who would come back to haunt Scotland and celebrate a second victory in Glasgow. Bill Brown and Denis Law were the sole remaining Scots who would seek, and ultimately fail to achieve, revenge.
Law and Brown were also in the side that travelled to Austria for a friendly at Vienna’s world famous arena, the Prater Stadion on 29 May. It was the first of a three-match ten-day tour. Over 60,000 saw the Austrians ease their way to a 4-1 victory against a Scottish team that offered little in the way of resistance. Law had a good excuse; he lasted only 12 minutes before going off following an ankle injury and Alex Young came on in his place. The hosts were 3-0 ahead by the time the interval arrived. Gerhard Hanappi netted twice in the first half-hour and Erich Hof added the other. He scored the fourth in the 63rd minute and Dave Mackay hit Scotland’s consolation 14 minutes before the German referee, Helmut Dusch, mercifully blew for time-up to put the Scots out of their misery. Law summed up, ‘We were thumped.’
The brief appearance in Vienna was to be Law’s only input to a tour that saw the Scots draw 3-3 with Hungary in Budapest – Willie Hunter, George Herd and Alex Young on target – and collapse 4-2 to Turkey in Ankara. Eric Caldow, with a penalty-kick, and Young were the Scottish goalscorers. Remarkably, 172,500 spectators watched the three games. Goodness knows what the players had to celebrate, but the newspapers were filled with stories of a wild party – or ‘shenanigans’ as Law called it. To be fair, there were banquets after all three matches and one player, wishing to remain anonymous, told a reporter, ‘The game in Ankara was played in unbelievably difficult conditions. It was hard to draw breath and the pitch was baked solid. Most of the players were dehydrated. There was some wine available at the after-match reception and it went straight to our heads.’
Denis Law, after completing his £55,000 British transfer record move from Huddersfield to Manchester City, was back in place for the meeting against Northern Ireland in Glasgow that November.
There were three debutants; one who would make a bit of a name for himself, one who would score eight goals from as many appearances and one who would vanish from the international scene after only 90 minutes. In came Rangers’ strolling left-half Jim Baxter, Manchester City centre-half Jackie Plenderleith and the Ibrox side’s prolific frontman Ralph Brand. Baxter would take centre stage in many internationals, Brand netted his eighth goal in his last outing – a 3-2 defeat from Uruguay 18 months later – and Plenderleith was ignored for all time.
Law was eager to show he was well worth the massive fee shelled out by City and he underlined that value with a typical strike in eight minutes. Eric Caldow slotted in a penalty-kick before the interval and Danny Blanchflower did likewise for the visitors three minutes after the turnaround. Then came a four-goal avalanche in the last 12 minutes, with Alex Young kicking off the scoring storm. Brand made it 4-1 in 81 minutes, Peter McParland pulled one back almost instantly and Brand called a halt to the whirlwind activity by beating Harry Gregg for the fifth and final time in the last minute.
Denis Law was on cloud nine. How that number would become so significant to him five months later.
Chapter Six
WEMBLEY WOE
Denis Law will never forget his first visit to Wembley as a Scottish international. It might be accurate to say he would require dynamite to remove it from his memory banks. The Manchester City forward was keenly anticipating his 11th full cap and, as a footballer who never needed any extra motivation, he was eager to make an impact on this occasion.
On Saturday, 15 April 1961, Law and his unsuspecting teammates made their way down the lengthy tunnel from the visitors’ dressing room, onto the track and emerged onto the plush and immaculate playing surface of England’s national stadium. The Scottish fans had once again turned out in force among the 97,350 crowd. Lion rampant flags were fluttering in the gentle breeze, and tartan tammies and scarves were well in evidence as both teams strode purposely towards the centre circle where they would meet the dignitaries, go through the usual handshake routines and then have a quick limber up before French referee Michel Lequesne blew for the game to commence bang on 3 p.m.
The Scottish team that fateful day was: Frank Haffey (Celtic); Bobby Shearer (Rangers), Eric Caldow (Rangers); Dave Mackay (Spurs), Billy McNeill (Celtic), Bert McCann (Motherwell); Johnny MacLeod (Hibs), Denis Law (Manchester City), Ian St John (Motherwell), Pat Quinn (Motherwell) and Davie Wilson (Rangers).
Not a lot went according to plan during a horrible experience for Scotland. Forty-five minutes later, heads down, the players trudged disconsolately back to the relative safety of the dressing room. They were 3-0 adrift and, painfully and obviously, were being ruthlessly humiliated and punished by their fiercest rivals. Bobby Robson, the Fulham midfielder who would later manage his nation, had netted inside ten minutes. Jimmy Greaves, as natural a goalscorer as the world will ever see, added another two. Dave Mackay recalled, ‘Recriminations flew during the break. We were devastated to find ourselves in this position at half-time. I remember thinking that if we did not pull ourselves together, we were in danger of being really massacred – the thought was not one I could entertain. I ran back onto that hallowed Wembley turf like a man possessed. We were determined to pull the game back by sheer force of will if nothing else.
‘I scored within three minutes and Davie Wilson netted a
second five minutes later. Suddenly it was 3-2 and we were right back in it. The relief was palpable. Then England got a free-kick and Bryan Douglas took it quickly. Too quickly for our goalkeeper Frank Haffey, who caught the ball and then dropped it and watched it bobble into the net. That was it. We buckled and England scored five goals in 12 minutes. Somewhere among the mayhem we managed to score once more through Pat Quinn. It was inconsequential. We were routed like we had never been routed before. It was like we were a Sunday park side who happened by some quirk of fate to be playing Brazil at their peak. We were spectators of our own destruction. Jimmy Greaves, my Spurs teammate, got another and Bobby Smith and Johnny Haynes got two each. I prayed for the final whistle.
‘In footballing terms, it was the worst day of my life. Afterwards, in the dressing room, there was no inquest. There was simply nothing to say at that point. We were all in shock. It was like being hit by a car. History has blamed our goalkeeper Frank Haffey, but this is far too simplistic. For a goalkeeper to concede nine goals, his defence must have failed at least nine times, too. That was us. We played crap. Frank played double crap. I felt such a shame for letting my country down so dramatically and did not know how I could face anyone. After the game, Denis Law and I decided we needed to take solace in alcohol and sneaked into the West End for drinks at a club. Alcohol began to deaden the senses until we turned and looked over our shoulders to see half of the England team, all smiles and bathed in the glow of victory, walking in the door.’
Law recalled, ‘What a strange game that was – my blackest day and it never should have happened. We never felt out of it even when they were leading 3-0. Then Dave Mackay and Davie Wilson scored after the interval. At 3-2, England were rocking and we were back in the driving seat. We were still trailing, but we had our tails up. Then we conceded a stupid fourth from a free-kick and suddenly they were back in command. We were, to say the least, dodgy at the back with Celtic goalkeeper Frank Haffey having a nightmare game. Don’t forget this England team were on a roll having scored 23 goals in their previous four matches. Sure enough, when that fourth goal went in they ran away with it.
