Denis Law

by Alex Gordon

  ‘All of us here at Wembley today are part of the fiesta; the myriads watching on television are part of it, too; and the 22 players on this national stage of ours are at the heart of it. Heirs of the creators, the visionaries, and the players of a bygone age, they have sprung from the very ideas and loins of the historic giants like C.W. Alcock, Lord Kinnaird, Major Marindin, Sir Charles Clegg, A.T.B. Dunn and a departed host.

  ‘More than that. The talented actors we now see before us somehow symbolise the whole essence and growth of the game, for the story of the Football Association is the story of Association Football. A hundred years ago a pebble was dropped in a pond. The ripples have widened ever outwards and still move towards some unseen shores. It was that initial act of the FA that released all the ensuing flood of energy and now the game spans the five continents of the globe. Like the British Government itself it has “just grow’d”, a signal compliment, indeed, in its imitators to the original pioneers and missionaries of these islands.’

  All very fanciful and probably meant very little to the seventh child of an Aberdeen trawler man. However, you can imagine a young Denis Law in that Wembley dressing room, a bundle of pent-up energy, pulling on the unique blue shirt and white shorts of the FIFA Select and preparing to display his abilities to the world. Law admitted he had marvelled at the performance of Real Madrid when they won the European Cup in front of 127,261 fans at Hampden Park in 1960. ‘I had watched them on television beating Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3. I was enthralled by the quality of play, the goals and everything about this fascinating spectacle. It opened my eyes to the possibilities of football outside Britain. Scotland had played England the week before, but this game was on a different planet. Puskas scored four and di Stefano hit three. I watched that game in awe, little realising that only three years later I would be playing alongside them in the Rest of the World side.’

  The souvenir brochure devoted a two-page spread to pen pictures of the Rest of the World team. It told us, ‘Denis Law (Scotland) inside-right: A schoolboy international, he first came south from Aberdeen to play for Huddersfield Town. Manchester City paid a £55,000 fee for him in 1960 and Torino £100,000 a year later. In July 1962 he returned to Manchester to sign for United at a £115,000 fee. Dynamic if somewhat erratic genius of inside forward play. Aged twenty-three and has twenty-one caps.’

  It also informed us that Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin was nicknamed the ‘Black Octopus’, Brazilian right-back Djalma Santos was ‘a strongly-built coloured defender of much culture’, and West German left-back Karl-Heinz Schnellinger was ‘blond-haired, fast and fearless’ while Czechoslovakia’s Jan Popluhar was a ‘tall, dour twenty-eight-year-old stopper’.

  French outside-right Raymond Kopa was a ‘delicate and versatile artist who has struggled much with injuries to his ankle’. Portugal’s inside-left Eusebio, we were informed, was nicknamed ‘The Black Panther’ and possessed a ‘tremendous shot allied to guile and speed’, adding, ‘He comes from Mozambique and once excelled as a sprinter.’ Spanish centre-forward Alfredo di Stefano was ‘an Argentinian-born, naturalised Spaniard who has scored over 500 goals for Real Madrid in 10 years. Known as the ‘White Arrow’, he has thirty-one caps for Spain and seven for Argentina. Expert at screening the ball.’ West German centre-forward Uwe Seeler ‘excels at scoring from acrobatic angles’. The programme gave Pele his full title of Edson Arantes do Nascimento and told us of the great Brazilian, known as the ‘Black Pearl’, that he ‘first hit the headlines as a seventeen-year-old in the 1958 World Cup and has continued to stay in the news. Brilliant individualist with remarkable ball control and soccer sense. He now has thirty-eight caps and was 23 two days ago!’

  Di Stefano’s Real Madrid team mate Ferenc Puskas, another much admired by Law, was the ‘Galloping Major’ who had ‘scored a record 85 goals in 84 internationals. Now 37 and, though tubby, is as astute as ever with superb positional sense and lethal left foot.’ And another Law favourite, the third from Real Madrid, was Francisco Gento who was ‘one of the world’s fastest wingers and a difficult proposition to contain by defenders.’ Jim Baxter, although only a ‘reserve’, got a mention, too. We were told, ‘Nicknamed “Slim Jim” he is a classical player in the true Scottish tradition. Unhurried, hard-working and displays ample powers of strategy. One of Rangers’ few really big transfer signings, he was added to the Ibrox staff in 1960, having been with Raith Rovers earlier in his career. A 24-year-old with 17 caps.’

  So, there was Denis Law poised to stride forth onto the world stage ready to strut his stuff alongside the ‘Black Octopus’, the ‘Black Panther’, the ‘White Arrow’ and the ‘Galloping Major’. And a Fifer who answered to ‘Slim Jim’.

  Pele was nowhere to be seen when this Rest of the World team, in a 3-2-5 formation, took the field: Yashin (USSR); Santos (Brazil), Popluhar (Czechoslovakia), Schnellinger (West Germany); Pluskal (Czechoslovakia), Masopust (Czechoslovakia); Kopa (France), Law (Scotland), di Stefano (Spain, captain), Eusebio (Portugal) and Gento (Spain). Reserves were listed as: goalkeeper Soskic (Yugoslavia), defender Eyaguirre (Chile), midfielder Baxter (Scotland) and forwards Seeler (West Germany) and Puskas (Spain).

  England went for a 2-3-5 system that read: Gordon Banks (Leicester City); Jimmy Armfield (Blackpool, captain), Ray Wilson (Huddersfield Town); Gordon Milne (Liverpool), Maurice Norman (Spurs), Bobby Moore (West Ham); Terry Paine (Southampton), Jimmy Greaves (Spurs), Bobby Smith (Spurs), George Eastham (Arsenal) and Bobby Charlton (Manchester United). Their stand-by players were goalkeeper Tony Waiters (Blackpool), defenders Ken Shellito (Chelsea) and Ron Flowers (Wolves), midfielder Tony Kay (Everton) and striker Joe Baker (Arsenal). Four of England’s starting line-up – Banks, Wilson, Moore and Charlton – would win World Cup medals at the same venue three years later, much to the annoyance of a certain Denis Law. There were two Scots on the Wembley pitch at the kick-off; Law and referee Bobby Davidson from Airdrie. Or R.H. Davidson, as he appeared in the programme.

  A goal in the fading moments by Jimmy Greaves – ‘the most natural goalscorer I have ever seen’ according to Law – gave England a 2-1 triumph. It was one Law would have been proud to claim. Reserve goalkeeper Milutin Soskic spilled a shot and Greaves was onto it in a flash to tuck it away. The script was written for Law to score on this momentous occasion and he duly served up the equaliser after Terry Paine had given the celebrating home side the lead. Law recalled, ‘It was Puskas who opened the way for me to score my goal; his pass was a dream and I found myself beating Gordon Banks for the second time in a few months at Wembley. (Law had netted in Manchester United’s 3-1 FA Cup Final success over Banks’s club side Leicester City at the same venue on 25 May.)

  ‘Playing with such outstanding players is a memory I will always cherish. To be picked to represent the Rest of the World was a singular honour, as it was for my great mate Jim Baxter, who came on for the brilliant Josef Masopust in the second-half. And it just wasn’t on the pitch that it was special. We mixed with those greats in our London hotel, too, and watched the likes of di Stefano and Puskas knocking back the whisky along with Jim Baxter and lighting up their cigarettes. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was Jim who’d introduced the two superstars to his favourite alcohol.’

  Law added it was the first time he had met Eusebio and he was ‘impressed with this lovely gentleman’. Many years later, the Portuguese legend returned the compliment. He said, ‘I admired Denis Law as a player because he was exceptional and very different from a lot of British players from his era. Then British football was characterised by stamina and the determination of the players, who have excellent physical fitness. This is true, too, of other European countries – including the Germans, who are superbly prepared physically. But the British and the Germans, generally, both lacked technique. I have played against Denis Law quite a few times and have also played with him for FIFA and UEFA representative teams. Law is a very fine footballer and thoroughly deserved the European Footballer of the Year award he gained in 1
964. He was a good team man with fine individual skills.’

  Gordon Banks, rated by Law as ‘the best goalkeeper I have ever played against’, was another who would never forget the English FA’s 100th birthday bash. He said, ‘Here was a game I would willingly have paid to play in. It was a big, prestige affair and the Wembley pitch was graced with a procession of the true greats of the game. Jimmy Greaves emerged as the giant of this particular game. He scored one marvellous goal and had an even more spectacular one disallowed because he had been fouled on his way through their defence. Denis Law, my old adversary, was in sparkling form for the Rest of the World team and scored to equalise a well-taken effort by Terry Paine. But it was Greavsie who conjured up the winner with just three minutes of a memorable match left to play. I was like a kid at a Christmas party at the aftermath banquet and unashamedly went round with my match programme collecting autographs of all the players who had made it such a day to remember.’

  After the Wembley extravaganza, the much-decorated Brazilian defender Djalma Santos, winner of two World Cup medals in 1958 and 62, was asked who he believed was the most accomplished performer in the game. In a hesitant combination of Portuguese and English, he answered, ‘Number eight. Law. Buenos. Muchos.’

  Anyone who had ever witnessed Law going through his un­rivalled repertoire at his unsurpassable peak would have known exactly what Santos meant. No translation was required.

  Chapter Ten

  ARRIVEDERCI ENGLAND

  The 1966 World Cup came to a conclusion with Denis Law wildly hurling his clubs around a golf course. He had just been informed that the host nation England had beaten West Germany 4-2 in extra-time in front of 93,802 fans in the final on the afternoon of 30 July at Wembley. It could have been such a different story.

  Law got off to a flyer in the competition with a second-minute goal in a 3-1 victory over Finland in the opening qualifying tie at Hampden on 21 October 1964. After an absence of eight years, Scotland had a genuine reason for believing they could advance to the finals, especially as the tournament was being held across the border. Italy and Poland were the other barriers to the Scots’ progress.

  Ian McColl was in charge when the World Cup campaign began, but his only involvement was against Finland before he was replaced by Jock Stein in a caretaker capacity. McColl was blissfully unaware that the knives were being sharpened as he prepared for the visit of the Finns. A crowd of 54,442 watched Law open the scoring with his quickfire goal and Celtic’s Stevie Chalmers and Leicester City’s Davie Gibson pitched in with the other two before half-time. Juhani Peltonen got one for the visitors in the 70th minute, but Scotland were not to be denied their ideal introduction to the tournament. It was one of 16 wins enjoyed by McColl in his 27-game reign as Scots boss. Stein was in the dug-out by the time Scotland would play their next World Cup-tie under the Hampden floodlights, when Poland provided the opposition a year later. It was not to be a memorable occasion.

  Denis Law played in the three games in the run-up to the Polish encounter. Goals from Davie Wilson (2) and Alan Gilzean gave Scotland a 3-2 victory over Northern Ireland at Hampden on 25 November 1964. Law and Ian St John were on target in the 2-2 draw with England at Wembley on 10 April 1965 and a month later the Scots, with Billy Bremner, of Leeds United, and Celtic’s John Hughes making their debuts, sparred to a creditable goalless stalemate with Spain in Glasgow. There was controversy when the Spanish side appeared to have rugged defender Severino Reija ordered off by English referee Ken Howley for launching Rangers’ tricky winger Willie Henderson into orbit on one occasion too many. New boy Bremner was never convinced the Spaniard did, in fact, go off. He recalled, ‘He lay there writhing on the ground, obviously feigning injury. The match official didn’t know what to do next. He allowed their physiotherapist to come onto the pitch to give the player treatment. For a few minutes it was bedlam, Spanish players were arguing with the referee and a linesman and it was obvious that neither of them had a clue what was being said to them.

  ‘There was all the usual shrugging of shoulders, arms outstretched and so on from the Spaniards. All the time this was going on, their player was receiving treatment for an injury that didn’t exist. Eventually, everyone calmed down, the game restarted and I’m sure both teams still had 11 players on the pitch. The referee either forgot or ignored the fact that he had sent off the Spanish defender and I believe he remained on the pitch for the rest of the game. What a palaver to be involved in on your full international debut. It did give me an insight into the mentality of European footballers and what some of them were capable of. We were able to have a good laugh about it afterwards. What else could we do? As for the referee, well, despite his major cock-up, I don’t think anything happened to him. The standard of refereeing didn’t really improve throughout my career.’

  McColl had seen 1964 begin with a 1-0 victory over England at Hampden on 11 April, when 133,245 supporters saw an Alan Gilzean header from a right-wing corner kick soar past Gordon Banks 18 minutes from the completion of another gruelling duel with the nation’s fiercest foes. A month later, the rangy Dundee frontman, with Law alongside him, struck twice in a 2-2 draw with West Germany in a friendly in Hanover. Gilzean claimed the first with a trademark header to pull it back to 2-1 after the hosts had led with two goals from Uwe Seeler. And Gilzean, later to join Spurs in a £72,500 deal in December that year, smuggled in the equaliser after a shot from Law had hit the woodwork. Wales interrupted the sequence of good results with a surprise 3-2 win in Cardiff, when goals from Stevie Chalmers and Davie Gibson weren’t enough to salvage a point. The Scots were undone by two goals from the appropriately named Ken Leek in the last four minutes. Normal service was resumed in the World Cup victory over Finland and then came the run of three games without defeat leading up to the match against Poland in Chorzow on 23 May 1965. McColl, given the post in November 1960, might have had every right to believe his job was safe. He would be wrong. Originally, he had been appointed on a game-by-game basis. However, after one season that was changed to a year-by-year contract.

  McColl, in fact, was at the team’s usual HQ in Largs preparing for the World Cup-tie in Poland when he was asked by the SFA to resign his position. In other words, he was sacked. The timing was certainly odd, but Jock Stein, only six months into his managerial career at Celtic, agreed to take over on a temporary basis until after the World Cup run. The immediate problem for the much-vaunted Stein was to find a strike partner for Denis Law. Alan Gilzean had been on the receiving end of some roughhouse tactics by Spain’s thuggish defenders only a fortnight before the trip to Poland. Stein continued to mull over the problem position until the day before the kick-off. Neil Martin, a consistent marksman Stein had known from their days together at Hibs, got the nod. Only three of the team – Denis Law, Alec Hamilton and John Greig – survived from the line-up that had beaten Finland in Glasgow seven months beforehand. Stein sent out this side: Brown; Hamilton, McCreadie; Greig, McNeill, Crerand; Henderson, Collins, Martin, Law and Hughes.

  A partisan crowd of 67,462 rolled into the all-seater stadium in Chorzow’s Park of Culture. Their spirits must have been somewhat dampened as rain came down by the bucketload. An observer said, ‘The Poles were surging through the puddles like power-driven swans.’ Stein pulled Law back into midfield for the first-half with Martin, willingly it must be said, going it alone up front. Bill Brown was forced to make a good save in the opening minute as a shot from Ernest Pohl slithered goalwards. Scotland, with Bobby Collins, of Leeds United, and Manchester United’s Pat Crerand teaming up with Law in midfield, and John Hughes being asked to hug the left touchline, looked in reasonable control up to the halfway stage. Goalless at the interval, the job was half done. Disaster was to strike, however, five minutes after the restart. The speedy Roman Lentner escaped challenges from Greig and Hamilton before rifling the ball beyond the grasp of the unguarded Brown.

  That sparked an immediate response from Jock Stein. Law was thrown into his more recognisable p
osition up front and Hughes, who could also play at centre-forward, came in from the left for a three-pronged attack alongside Martin. The switches worked. Willie Henderson zipped down the right wing before flinging over a cross that was met solidly by Law’s forehead, but goalkeeper Edward Szymkowiak touched the effort onto the upright. Only 14 minutes were left on the clock when a flighted Collins ball created confusion in the Polish rearguard. It was cleared to Henderson who headed it back into the mix and once again Law reacted quicker than friend or foe to knock in the equaliser. Not for nothing was the Scot the current European Footballer of the Year. Scotland were content with a point. Italy, too, had to be satisfied with a draw on the same ground.

  Four days later, Finland provided the opposition in Helsinki. The Scots had been forced to embark on a 13-hour stamina-sapping trip by bus, train and aeroplane to reach their destination. It proved to be worthwhile although it didn’t seem so after five minutes when the Finns opened the scoring through Martti Hyvarinon. Law, who had completed the season as the English First Division’s leading scorer with 28 goals, temporarily lost his golden touch when he smashed a 15th-minute penalty-kick against the inside of the post. Undeterred, Law set up the leveller eight minutes from half-time. He collected a ball from Pat Crerand and lashed it into the penalty area, where it was superbly dummied by the astute Hibs playmaker Willie Hamilton. It sped to Davie Wilson, in the team in place of Old Firm rival John Hughes, and he clubbed it behind helpless keeper Lars Nasman. Scotland, playing in white shirts, surged forward as they sensed victory and it duly came their way when John Greig fired in a 25-yard shot five minutes after the turnaround. Greig would later claim that effort as the best goal of his career. Finland couldn’t come back from that and the points were on their way to Scotland. Law was voted Man of the Match and won a silver spoon for his efforts.