Football Daily - Remembering Denis Law CBE

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

Darren Fletcher is joined by Football Correspondent John Murray, Manchester United journalist Andy Mitten, and former Scotland international Joe Jordan to remember the life and career of Manchester United & Scotland legend Denis Law – the only Scottish player to also have won the Ballon d'Or.

Dennis Law Scotland's joint all-time top goal scorer and Manchester United legend has died at the age of 84 his family said in a statement

it is with a heavy heart that we tell you our father Dennis Law has sadly passed away he fought a tough battle but finally he's now at peace we would like to

thank everyone who contributed to his well-being and care, past and much more recently. We know how much people supported and loved him, and that love was always appreciated and made the difference. Thank you. In 2021, it was announced that he'd been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He scored 237 goals for Manchester United and remains Scotland's joint top scorer. Zela, inside to push cash and Law racing through the middle, waiting for the pass

and he gets it and Banks comes out and Law will score, he does and that's it. Law has scored for the rest of the world. Remner there, obviously impeded by Martin Peters. 27 minutes gone and Baxter now in possession for Scotland from that free kick. Baxter bringing it through towards the English The great Brian Moore commentating on the great Dennis Law let's speak to correspondent John Murray

John I must say I feel tonight that I would like to celebrate Dennis rather than mourn Dennis because he played the game with a smile on his face. He had that cheeky air about him. He was a fantastic goal scorer and a wonderful player. Yes, I mean, such sad news, isn't it? Because

we are talking here about a true great. Those are the words that have to be associated with Dennis Law. Whether you're talking about a true great. Those are the words that have to be associated with Dennis Law. Whether you're talking about a true great of the Scottish game, a true great of the British game, or indeed the world game. And his achievements, and people will naturally associate him with Manchester United for what he did there

and what they achieved together as one of the Busby Babes. And I think, similar to what you're saying there, I think the fact that there is that statue outside the main entrance at Old Trafford of the Trinity, of Bobby Charlton, George Best and Dennis Law, that is there for eternity now. And every time we go there, we'll pass by it and see it. And sadly now, they've all gone,

but they will be remembered for as long as there's a Manchester United. And for those three to have been playing in the same era, for the same club, I think the mind boggles now what sort of transfer fees that those three would command. I've got to say, John, there are certain players

that kind of leave an indelible image of themselves in your mind. And Dennis Law with the one arm up in the air celebrating a goal is kind of something that is a football memory for me, a football image for me. So distinctive. I mean, it's difficult to know where to start because of people talk about the goals but he was such a

fantastic footballer in general as well. Yeah and that picture as well, I think of him as soon as you say that I think of him with his arm raised sort of hanging onto his cuff of his long sleeve shirt, that's it that is definitely an image that I have of him and of course as well, you know, the mind

immediately comes back to him scoring when he was playing for Manchester City right at the end of his career, just before he retired and scored in the season that Manchester United were relegated against United to beat them at Old Trafford when they were already relegation bound, but

not celebrating on that occasion, not celebrating the goal that he scored. But, you know, I mentioned George Best and Bobby Charlton, like Dennis Law, all European Footballers of the Year. And, you know, that's at the same club. And when we're talking about being European Footballer of the Year for younger listeners, that is the award that became the Ballon d'Or. So Dennis Law, as you mentioned right at the outset, he still is Scotland's joint leading goalscorer with Kenny Dargleish. But Dennis Law is the only Scotsman to have won that award.

That is the level that he was operating at. And he was also a trendsetter because he was one of the first British players to actually go and play overseas. That's right, yes. I mean, he is an Aberdonian. He was an Aberdonian by birth, but actually came down to England to play at Huddersfield Town, but then made a move and tried his luck at Torino before he then came back to Manchester United. And under Matt Busby, with the team that they had, that's when the extraordinary goal-scoring exploits really began for him. But he was always earmarked as a special goal-scorer, a special talent. Dennis Bergkamp named after him too?

That's right, that's right. And I think with Dennis Law, I am not old enough to remember seeing him play. So this is one where I think over the course of this weekend, this is one where grandparents are going to be telling grandchildren about how good he was. But you and I know him through reputation. We've seen the clips. But also, this is a sad day for BBC Radio Sport as well, because really my principal memories of Dennis Law was hearing him when he was Radio Sport's main summariser. So he went to the World Cup. He'll cover the big matches along with Peter Jones and Brian Butler. Roddy Forsyth has told me, another colleague of ours, what brilliant company he was

and also what an insight he had, what knowledge he had about the game and also what a great sense of humour he had too. John, stay there because Manchester United have now issued a statement and it reads, everyone at Manchester United is mourning the loss of Dennis Law, the king of the Stretford end, who's passed away aged 84. With 237 goals in 404 appearances,

he'll always be celebrated as one of the club's greatest and most beloved players. The ultimate goal scorer, his flair, spirit and love for the game made him the hero of a generation. Our deepest condolences go out to Dennis' family and many friends. His memory will live on forevermore. Now, Lord played for Huddersfield, Manchester City, Torino, as well as Scotland, but he's best known, of course, for his time at Manchester United.

And he explained to the BBC's Paddy Feeney what playing for United actually meant to him. I think they were the happiest days of my career, two-fold of course by the championships that we won and the FA Cup and of course the European Cup over a spell of five years, it was the type of

football that was being played that's why the crowd is still over 50,000 at Manchester United that they've been brought up with great sides, the 48 side and then the pre-Munich disaster side and then the side in the 60s. And it was because the club,

and Matt Busby in particular, allowed individuals to play. As an individual at the time, if the player felt it was right to do that, and not Cobb, a player at all really, he would let them all play football and the crowd loved it. It was goal scored, it was enjoyable.

Of course, plus the fact that we won a few trophies. There must have been a tremendous feeling about this. You must have felt that you were something special. I mean, both on the pitch and off the pitch, as a team, when you came in to play a game, it must have been every single time like a first night in a theater almost it was really because the crowd at old trafford are tremendous apart from the huge numbers that come every game they come in every game no matter how the team are doing and you know people say did matt busby motivate you really you don't have to be

motivated you just got to step onto the park and you're motivated already. You get that Stretford End shouting and most teams are frightened to death when they come out to Old Trafford. Looking back now, Dennis, is there anything in your career that you regret or anything that you feel you could have achieved

that you haven't achieved? Or do you think it all wrapped itself up nice and cleanly and tidily? Well, I think that I was very, very happy to have the career as a player. Obviously, through the years that you would like to change things, but, of course, life doesn't go that way. You don't get the chance to go back. I was very, very happy with everything that happened.

Disappointed, of course, when I had to leave Manchester United, but that last year turned out to be a blessing in disguise and of course it finished off my career with actually going to the World Cup albeit late in life and past my best but that was something that I had certainly looked forward for many many years and never achieved right but until the end so I was very very happy with my life. John Murray, football correspondent, still with us. I mean, John, when you kind of put it into perspective,

to get one player as good as Dennis Law at a football club at the same time is special. To get three of them, Dennis Law, Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, all at the same time is quite remarkable, really. Yeah, and that, plus the other talents that they had of course as well and i think the management of of samad busby as as dennis law was was reflecting on there is why manchester united have the standing that that they do now and you know after matt busby it's it feels strange it's almost like history repeating

itself that there was the you know the fallow years before Alex Ferguson started his success. And of course, it feels like we're into a second cycle of that now. But I think part of the reason that the demands are so high there and why we had the reaction that there has been over the course of recent seasons is because of the levels and the standards that were instilled by Dennis Law and his teammates back in the 60s. Let's speak to Manchester United fan and journalist Andy Mitten. Andy, welcome to the programme. Give us your reaction to this very, very sad news, the fact that Manchester United has now lost one of its most legendary and iconic figures? It's extremely sad he was one of the legends of the club

his statue, well two statues he's got a statue in the Stratford End because he was the king of the Stratford End and there's another statue of him as part of the Holy Trinity with George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton at the other end of Old Trafford European Footballer of the Year served Manchester United exceptionally well.

But was also a great servant for Manchester City, for Torino, for Huddersfield Town. And I just spoke to Brian Kidd, a teammate of his, unfortunately, to tell Brian what had happened because I was a journalist to get advance notice of it. And Brian said, Dennis was slight with the heart of a lion. He was an unbelievable finisher. He scored every type of goal and Brian said Dennis was slight with a heart of a lion he was an unbelievable finisher he scored every type of goal he said to me if you're ever wide don't look up

put the cross in early if I'm not there it's my fault he was usually there so Matt loved him we all did he was the king of the Stretford end and I thought they were lovely words from from Brian Kidd and we spoke a little bit about Dennis and he had a wonderful life and he said that consistently in interviews and I was lucky enough to interview him lots of times and to know members of his family and my thoughts really do go out to to Di's daughter and to Robert they're wonderful people and they were so proud of their father and rightly so he was one of the best strikers in the world the original original King of the Stretford End. The fans absolutely adored him.

If you speak to Manchester United fans of a certain generation, they talk about the lawman, the King of the Stretford End. And if you'd say, you know, Cantona was the king, nah, nah, nah, there was only one king and he was from Aberdeen and he was a son of a fisherman and his name was Dennis Law. This is someone who was Sir Alex Ferguson's hero, a world-class striker.

And he's famous for what he did at Manchester United, but also what he did at Manchester City and very, very highly regarded him in Manchester. Kept himself to himself. He's quite a private person and that was to be respected. When he did do interviews, he was always fascinating, but history

will remember him so well. One of the great footballers. You say he was a private man, but he was a great character, wasn't he, when you were in his company? And a great storyteller too. Yeah, I'm not sure if you're an opponent you would describe him as a great character because he wasn't shy.

He could absolutely mix it. And if you played for Leeds United in the 1960s and you come up against him, you knew you were getting a fight and Dennis knew that as well. But what a competitor. And to play in a team where you had three different European footballers of the year.

I mean, imagine the front line. Manchester United at the moment, there's not one player. They're really struggling for goals. That team had three, and behind them, world-class players everywhere. That's why they were champions of England, champions of Europe, the first English team to win the European Cup. But there was something about him that made him a hero. George Best was the good

looking guy clearly he was magnificent bobby charlton was clearly magnificent as well but dennis had a bit of an edge a bit of an elbow and he appealed to the dark corners of the strepford end he was their hero and he'd sing his name and it's for that reason that there is only one statue in the strepford end inside the, and it's that of Dennis. I interviewed him as a journalist. I spoke to the players who knew him very well. I knew his daughter, Diwell. She served Manchester United with distinction, and she's a great girl.

So, so proud of her father. And Dennis, like Sir Bobby, who passed away not so long ago, he lived to a great age. He's had an amazing life. And I know there's a lot of sadness around at the moment with this news, and that's totally understandable. But what a life he had. And he went to Italy when the world was very, very different then.

There was no internet. There was no mobile phones. And he really cut a course out there. And then he came back to England, each time attracting record transfer fees because there's such a shortage of world-class strikers. There was then, there is now, but a top man. And even though he's from Aberdeen, I'm very proud to be from Aberdeen,

very proud to be the son of a fisherman, as the song goes. He settled in Manchester and kept in touch with with his teammates and he'd meet up with people like paddy creran and they'd moan about the world and then they'd have another moan and then another moan and then they'd talk about how life was and yeah but he was someone who was very very highly regarded by the fans but also by the people who knew him on a personal level and a really proud family man as well and been with his his wife, Diana, for a long, long time. She was at Manchester Cathedral last week for the funeral of Kath Phipps,

a long-time club receptionist. So these connections are really strong and it's sad that age is taking them, but he will be remembered so, so well. Andy, thank you for joining us tonight. Good to talk to you. Thank you. That's Andy Mitton,

Manchester United fan and journalist remembering the great Dennis Law. Let's speak to his former Scotland team-mate, Joe Jordan. Joe, welcome to the programme. Just give us your reaction to this sad news. Well, talking about Dennis, Dennis was a

special player and to lose someone like him, I think will affect an awful lot of Manchester United

fans because he was an icon, a proper icon for his ability to, on the field

of play, score goals, but he had a special edge to him as well. Not just as a player, but as a person. What was he like as a team-mate, Joe?

Well, I had the privilege of playing with him about two or three times. I was at the beginning of my international career and Dennis would be in his 30s there. I do remember playing in the World Cup with him we were a partnership up front

in the first game in Germany in 74 and you know to someone like myself who was starting out

in the game and had seen Dennis play for Scotland what a test that was to go and play with him I played with him in the qualifications game but to play with him

in the World Cup was something that he had a career which was second to none European Player of the Year, won honours but I think he had a target because there had been a gap between 58 and 74. West Scotland didn't qualify for the World Cup

and Dennis and those players of that age experienced a lot. You just had to look and talk to them and listen to them to know what that meant to play in a World Cup. And it was another target that he managed to get there and play there. And as a person, he was a funny guy. He's the sort of guy, when you hire someone like myself, who was a lot younger, 10 years younger, I think, at that stage,

you would listen to people like that, you know, like Dennis Law, whether it was on the field, you know, trying to help you out, or whether it was just on a day-to-day basis when you were in the situation that we were prior to the World Cup going on, on, I would say, two weeks at least with the home internationals.

Then we went and played a couple of friendly games. So that was a great opportunity to listen and to take on board someone like that who had achieved so much. It would be advice. Someone mentioned there about the stories he had. But I think it was just what he had and what he had achieved. He was a special player. And when you get someone like that in your company,

you sit there and you listen to them. Joe, was he one of the players when you were on the way up and aspiring to be the player that you became? Was he, I presume, one of the players that you looked up and you admired and inspired you to do what you did?

I would say Dennis Law is one of the greatest players that ever played for Scotland you know what you achieved at club level to you know

you play and you play at club level and I know what he's thought of the city of Manchester and the supporters all around the world the Associated Manchester United

with George Best Bobby Charlton and Dennis Law and Dennis Law was up there with those two other names and I think that speaks for itself he was a special player his goal record was

incredible but it wasn't that Dennis, you know he had an edge to him on the field he would never be intimidated physically or whatever verbally and he played, You know, he played against the best

and came out on many, many occasions as a winner on that. Joe, I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you for coming on and sharing your memories. My pleasure. My pleasure.

Thank you. That's Joe Jordan who played alongside Dennis Law for Scotland,land of course a former manchester united striker himself um john when you listen to some of the the words that have been said tonight from andy and from joe um when we reflect on on the wonderful career in the life that dennis law had i mean he touched so many people inspired so many people and his legend and his career and what he achieved in football

will live on forever yeah and you know so far in the time that we've had we have absolutely scratched the surface of what he did what he was like what his achievements are and I'm just thinking standing here on a on a Friday night when you think about goal scorers like him it's all about timing isn't it that's so important and the timing of this sad news means that there's a weekend ahead of us here and as i was saying earlier this is an opportunity now for people to to to learn more about him watch the clips read the obituaries find out what a great he was and And tell their younger relatives and children about him as well. Yeah, so, you know, so sad.

But, you know, he has his place absolutely in the history of this great game in this country. John, thanks for your thoughts. That's correspondent John Murray. Let's bring in Roddy Forsyth. And Roddy used to work with us here on Five Live, went to the 1986 and the 1990 World Cups with Dennis as co-commentator.

And that was something that John touched on when we first started speaking tonight. Roddy, welcome to the programme. What are your memories of being alongside Dennis Law? He was restless. He was funny. He was always inquisitive. He was full of contradictions. His dad was a fisherman, a professional fisherman out of Aberdeen and then he had a fear of water. He told me once that his Manchester United teammates were on a game in London, they were staying in a hotel at a swimming pool and they inveigled him to go down to the basement where the swimming pool was and then grabbed him and threw him in the pool and they said his life went into slow motion as he flew through the air and he thought I'm

going to drown but they only threw him into the shallow end and that was Dennis he was always had a story he was very very funny we were in the 86 world cup and when Scotland were knocked out in Mexico City I said let's go down to Acapulco it's quite cheap at the moment it's cheaper than staying in Blackpool so we flew down to Acapulco. It's quite cheap at the moment. It's cheaper than staying in Blackpool. So we flew down to Acapulco. We booked ourselves into a hotel. There was a swimming pool that he liked to lie beside. The bar for the area was in the middle of the swimming pool,

so I had to swim over whenever he wanted to get something to drink and swim back on my back, holding it in the air for him so it wouldn't spill. And on one of these occasions we're lying beside the pool and dennis had his speedo's on and he he was a typical scott especially a northern scott he didn't tan he stroked as the old saying goes and he was turning bright red and we suddenly became aware that there was someone standing beside our sunbeds and i sat up the fellow said to me hey you guys are brits aren't't you? I said, yes, we are. He said, I work with Warner Brothers and we're making a made-for-television movie,

an Agatha Christie novel called Murder in Three Acts. And we're wondering if you guys would like to be in it. We're going to shoot a scene in the morning at the British ambassador's residence overlooking Acapulco. And at this point, Dennis is standing up and if you imagine this guy bright red in his speedos gazing at this fellow through his shades and he says, to be or not to be? Because that is the question.

And the fellow looks a bit bedazzled by this and then says, look, there's my card. Get in touch with me. Give me a shout at breakfast time if you want to do this. We'll provide you with dinner suits and afterwards you can have a drink with the cast. So the fellow walks away and I said to Dennis, we have to do this, Dennis.

If you're in this movie, nobody will know who I am. But if in the middle of this movie, Dennis Law walks across the scene, he says, well, I don't know. We're supposed to be back in London tomorrow. I've promised my wife I'll meet her. So anyway, I tried to prevail upon him. He said, I'll give you my answer at breakfast. So the next morning he comes to my room for breakfast I said, what's the answer? He doesn't say anything

then eventually he picks up the room phone and he dials the guy's number and he says, hello, this is Mr Law here with Mr Versailles excuse my imitation but I can't help doing it whenever I think of this story and he said to the fellow at the other end well we're afraid that we just can't do what you're asking

I'm thinking, oh Dennis, why not? and then other end, well, we're afraid that we just can't do what you're asking. I'm thinking, oh, Dennis, why not? And then he says, well, we're just afraid we might become typecast. So he hangs up. So flash forward to the following Easter Sunday, nine months later, and there's the film, Murder in Three Acts,

and it's on a channel that splits it with the news. So at the point just when the news is about to come on there's the scene we would have been in then it says the film will resume after the news join us then so i get up and it was in the days when phones had to be attached to the building by a wire and i'm walking through the hall and there's the house phone and it rings and i pick it up and all i hear on the other end is we made a right wreck of that didn't we kid and he hangs up and that was just then yeah yeah you know what ronnie i said this tonight when we when we first broke the terrible news that he's he's a man who'd want to be celebrated tonight and spoken about in those terms rather than mourn oh yes he used to sometimes talk about an englishman an irishman and a Scotsman with Manchester

United and of course he meant Charlton best in law and he was loved by people. I mean one of the things if you went about with Dennis, not just the Tartan army but people who were abroad sometimes for European games club games and people would come up because they recognised them

not British people, sometimes Spaniards or Italians, they just knew who he was because he'd planned it in Italy, if you remember, for Torino. And people knew him. And he always responded. He was very gracious. The big grin, the arm round the shoulder, he'd pose for photographs. He was a man who thoroughly enjoyed and I would say relished life. He was competitive. You wouldn't want to play cars with him. You wouldn't want to play anything against him because he was very competitive. And the thing I will always cherish, the image as a Scotland fan in my young days,

was when Dennis scored a goal, he always got a grip of the sleeve. He held his arm up and held the cuff of the sleeve, if you remember that little characteristic gesture he always made when he scored. But he was a funny man, an intelligent man a competitive man, an inquisitive man and I've missed him all those

years that he hasn't been able to speak to me because of that latter illness but he will be remembered and remembered fondly for a very long time. Yeah we spoke earlier about that trademark celebration and the grabbing of the cuff, that was something that John Murray pointed out.

I think that's the kind of the indelible image that a lot of people will remember Dennis for. Just in terms of what he means to football fans in Scotland as a player and an icon, Roddy. Well, he was known as the lawman universally. He was loved. If you went out with Dennis Law in any town we were in with Scotland, the Tartan Army

loved him, adored him I would say. Everybody wanted, of course in the days before mobile phones you had to get the selfie pictures taken and developed and there must have been wherever we went a run on the local chemist to develop those pictures whenever

Dennis Law had been around with the Tartan Army because it was a universal thing. Dennis, Dennis, can we get a picture? Can we get a picture? And he would always do it. And he was gracious about it too. He knew he was going to be mobbed at times when we walked. We were careful.

We didn't want to sometimes have him overwhelmed by people. But he wasn't the kind who would just say, oh, we'll slip away to a dark place and have a bite there. He enjoyed the interaction with fans and they loved the interaction with him. He was the lawman, that's what they called him, Dennis, King of Strikers. And for those who

never saw him play, never had the opportunity to see him in his pomp, how would you describe him, Roddy? Cavalier. He was a hunter as a striker. He would roam around and you knew he had to be watched all the time

because if he wasn't watched, he would slip into that space and score. That was what he did. He wasn't the kind of striker who spent time simply sitting down towards the midfield and then maybe roaming up and looking for an opportunity. He was always prowling, Dennis. And of course, you just waited for that trademark salute

with the cuff in the hand and sometimes a little bow with the other hand in the tumble, a little bow for him. You know, he would do that. He could be very funny when the mood suited him on the pitch as well as off it. Roddy, lovely stories, lovely memories. Great to talk to you again. We appreciate you coming on tonight.

Thank you. Thank you. As we reflect on the wonderful life and the goals and the legacy left behind of the late, great Dennis Law, who sadly passed away at the age of 84, we send our thoughts and prayers to Dennis's family and to Dennis's friends. And we thank John Murray, Andy Mitten, Joe Jordan

and Ronnie Forsyth for coming on and sharing some of those memories.