Born in Scotland in 1940 Denis Law was one of Manchester United's greatest ever players. Making a total of 398 appearances and scoring 237 goals for the Reds he won two League titles, the FA Cup and was crowned as European Footballer of the year. Along with George Best and Bobby Charlton, he formed part of the most formidable strike force in English football.
Law began his football career with Huddersfield Town, making his debut in 1956, aged just 16. Huddersfield were playing in the Second division at that time, and it wasn't long before Law attracted the attention of some bigger clubs. Despite interest from Manchester United and Liverpool, Law signed for Manchester City in 1960, for a them British record fee of ?55,000.
Denis Law soon established himself in the City team, scoring regularly, but the team as a whole were struggling, and involved in a relegation battle in the First division for much of the season, and although he enjoyed his time at City he wanted to be part of a more successful team, ultimately he signed for Italian side Torino in 1961.
Unfortunately Law had a torrid time in Italy, he didn't like the style of football, which hindered his attacking style of play and he put in a transfer request. Law eventually signed for Manchester United in 1962, for ?115,000, which was a new British transfer record.
Law immediately fitted in at United, becoming a fixture in the team and scoring regularly, although United had a poor league season and narrowly avoided relegation from the First Division. Despite a poor season, United reached the FA Cup Final and beat Leicester City 3-1 in the final to win the cup, with Denis Law scoring one of the goals.
The following season was trophy-less but saw United finish second in the league. During the 1964-65 season Manchester United went onto win the First Division League Title and Law contributed 28 league goals that season as he won the European Footballer of the Year award.
During the 1965-66 season, Law sustained an injury to his knee while on international duty for Scotland, he'd had previous surgery on his knee, but the injury was to prove troublesome for the rest of his playing career.
United regained the First Division title in 1967, and their finest hour came in 1968 when they won their first European Cup beating Benfica 4-1 in the final, although Denis Law missed both the semi-final and final through injury.
The following season United reached the semi-final of the European cup, but Law would not win another trophy with the Reds. Troubled by his persistent knee injury, he missed many games and he finally left in 1973 re-signing for rivals Manchester City on a free transfer, he will always remain one of United's greatest players.
Steve Goodwin is an expert author, football fan and retailer of Manchester United football gifts which are available from the man united shop all items are available to ship worldwide.
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