The King: Denis Law, Hero of the Stretford End

by Brian Hughes

Denis Law was hero and villain all rolled into one. His high-octane performances for United and City often put him on a crash course with the football establishment, while jealous onlookers from Merseyside and London would question his temperament and character. Yet for fans of both Manchester clubs Denis was a Boys' Own hero - a player capable of incredible feats of skill and power - all carried off with the knowing smile and villainous touch of a Piccadilly pickpocket. To Mancunians, this son of an Aberdonian trawlerman became part of the fabric of the city; first as a dynamic frontman for the Blues and later as an all-action hero at Matt Busby's United. In the latest of his biographies of former United greats, Brian Hughes traces the Scot’s transformation from unlikely looking teenage footballer to the world's pre-eminent striker.Law's progress up the football ladder was prolific. The bespectacled youth who joined Huddersfield in 1955 didn't look much like a future world star but Bill Shankly's first reaction to his performances on the pitch were telling - 'he's a terror', said the then Huddersfield boss.But if Denis' subsequent transfers to Manchester City and later Torino confirmed his status as football's rising star, his arrival at Old Trafford in 1962 confirmed him as a phenomenon. The Reds £115,000 swoop secured a player of huge influence both on and off the pitch. For 11 years his personality dominated the thoughts of United fans as Lawmania gripped the city until his shock transfer to the Blues in 1973. Thus the stage was set for the ironic denouement in April 1974 - Denis' backheel consigning United to Second Division football and the Law legend to immortality.

416 pages, Hardcover

First published June 2, 2003

About the author

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Born in Dublin, Brian Hughes studied in NUI Maynooth and Trinity College Dublin