by Alex Gordon
There was a remarkable incident just before extra-time kicked off when two Scottish players were seen rolling around on the ground, grappling with each other. Pat Crerand, two years before he left Celtic for Manchester United, and Old Firm friend and rival Jim Baxter were the men involved. Crerand explained, ‘We gathered around before the restart. The trainer passed me a sponge and Jim tried to grab it out of my hand. We finished up on the ground trying to punch each other. We were about to play the most important half-hour in Scotland’s football history and yet we were fighting with each other over a sponge. We were both pals, but we were so angry because they had equalised so late on that we took it out on each other in the heat of the moment.’
Law added, ‘Mine was a very depressing and lonely journey back to Turin. A few of the guys in the Torino side played for Italy. They knew they were going to Chile, so they, too, were disappointed for me because they’d thought we would all be going together.’
Chapter Eight
JUST HEAVEN! ELEVEN IN SEVEN
A Scottish international team without Denis Law was unthinkable by the time 1963 arrived. After making his goalscoring debut against Wales in 1958, Law had appeared in another 15 internationals in four years and had added nine more strikes to his growing tally to leap into double figures. Along the way he celebrated seven triumphs, suffered five defeats and was forced to settle for three draws. Law played only three internationals in 1962, including the 2-0 success over England at Hampden.
The most memorable scoring feat of that year was his four-goal haul as he almost single-handedly demolished Northern Ireland in Glasgow. Billy Bingham put the Irish ahead early on before Law embarked on a personal assault on Bobby Irvine’s goal. He equalised five minutes before the interval and netted a second after an hour. He completed his hat-trick in the 77th minute and Willie Henderson added another two minutes later. Law, at his ruthless best, thumped in number five with three minutes to go. A fortnight before that sparkling performance, Law had been on target again in a 3-2 victory over Wales in Cardiff where Rangers pair Eric Caldow and Willie Henderson also scored.
The Jim Baxter-inspired 2-1 victory over England at Wembley on 6 April was the first of Law’s seven games in 1963. The Manchester United marvel sat out only one match through injury – a 2-1 defeat against Northern Ireland in Belfast where his rapier-like thrust up front was sorely missed. One observer put it this way, ‘The Scottish forward line was as sharp as a sausage.’ A frustrated Ian McColl, the manager, was even more succinct. His reason for the defeat? ‘Non-triers, as simple as that.’ In the seven games in which he had turned out, Law had claimed an astonishing 11 goals. It was to be an eventful year for Scotland’s national treasure.
Law was settling back into his natural habitat following the turmoil of Turin. It was obvious to all that Denis Law and Italian football was not a marriage made in heaven. That it lasted only one season before the inevitable divorce surprised no-one. ‘I have one thing to thank it for, though,’ said Denis. ‘It taught me all about man-marking. I hadn’t encountered that before in English football. However, it was an accepted fact in Italy that you would be shadowed everywhere you went by an opponent; sometimes two. That sharpens your game. When I came back to play in England it was like I wasn’t being marked at all.’ Matt Busby paid £115,000 for Law in July 1962 and the Scot immediately earned a place in the affections of the Old Trafford support by scoring 23 goals in 38 games. He was also on target in the 3-1 FA Cup Final success against Leicester City. The following season he averaged a goal a game with a haul of 30. These were exciting times for Law at club and country level.
After the Wembley triumph, Scotland were involved in a remarkable encounter against Austria at Hampden; a roughhouse that saw the concerned English referee Jim Finney abandon the contest in the 79th minute with the Scots leading 4-1, Law and Rangers winger Davie Wilson claiming two apiece. Spurs wing-half Dave Mackay was captaining his country for only the third time and admitted the confrontation stuck in his mind because of ‘the uncharacteristically filthy play by the Austrians. On this night in Glasgow, I could have sworn they were on a mission to injure Denis Law. We really had to look out for him. Denis could well look after himself, of course, but with five or six maniacs chasing him around the field the odds were not good.’
There was only quarter of an hour gone when the Rangers double-act of Jimmy Millar and Davie Wilson combined with the outside-left firing in the opening goal. They worked a neat one-two ten minutes later and once again Wilson plonked the ball into the net. In the words of Law, ‘all hell was let loose’ shortly after that. ‘The Austrians started to put the boot in.’
Horst Nemec was booked for a vicious foul and then looked as though he was going to have a go at the match official. He was immediately sent off. A seething mass of Austrians, led by their manager, suddenly surrounded Finney. At that stage a visibly shaken English referee threatened to call it quits there and then with a bemused crowd of 94,596 looking on. When proceedings calmed down, Law fired in a third just after the half-hour mark. It didn’t get any better following the turnaround and, as Dave Mackay observed, Law had been singled out for some ‘special’ treatment from opponents who had clearly lost the plot. His colleagues weren’t faring much better. Millar was pole axed following a challenge from behind and Willie Henderson was scythed down after a dreadful tackle from desperate defender Erich Hasenkopf. The chirpy little Rangers outside-right later quipped, ‘If I had known I was going to spend so much time up in the air in that game I would have brought my parachute.’
It was no laughing matter, though, as the Austrians continued to chop at the Scots; Law, in particular. They lost winger Henreich Rafreider through injury and, with only a substitute goalkeeper on the bench, had to soldier on with nine players. Law made it 4-0 in the 71st minute before Anton Linhart pulled one back almost immediately. The visitors’ ranks were further depleted when Erich Hof was ordered off for another dangerous lunge at Henderson. A report noted, ‘Law had to avoid a flying boot and then he retaliated. Linhart crumpled to the floor and referee Finney decided enough was enough.’ Law was lying on the ground when he looked up to see the Englishman from Hereford walking off the pitch. ‘No-one knew what was happening,’ admitted Law. Willie Allan, the SFA secretary, then appeared on the pitch to tell the players the game had been abandoned and Finney had no intention of returning. There were only 11 minutes left to play and the match official explained afterwards, ‘What could I do? I felt that I had to abandon the game or someone would have been seriously hurt. I ordered off Nemec for spitting and Hof for a diabolical tackle at waist height.’
Jock Stein, then the Dunfermline manager, was in the crowd that evening. He said, ‘For too long British teams have been pushed around and booted all over the park by foreigners who continually disobey the rules. I know that in some quarters Mr Finney has been criticised, but, to my mind, he showed great courage. He was right to be concerned about the safety of the Scottish players.’
FIFA, the world’s governing football body, later agreed. They backed Finney who then went on to become a senior referee in their international set-up. He returned to Hampden to officiate in 1965 when Scotland again won 4-1, this time against Wales. Thankfully, the game lasted the entire 90 minutes on this occasion. Finney was back a year later for the 1-1 draw with Brazil, who were preparing for the defence of their World Cup in England, and he was in charge again as the Scots beat Wales 3-2 in 1967. Scotland remained unbeaten in his four games in Glasgow. Denis Law had competition for his role as his nation’s talisman.
It was a bit more sedate a month later when Scotland travelled to Bergen to take on the amateurs of Norway in the first of three friendlies in the space of ten days early in June. Denis Law walloped in a hat-trick, but does not remember the game fondly; Scotland lost 4-3 in a genuine shocker. No-one saw this one coming. Possibly Scotland were showing a reaction from the bone-shuddering ordeal of facing up to Austria, but Law, never a man to shirk responsibility,
said, ‘No excuses.’ Captain Dave Mackay took a knock and was replaced by Leicester City’s Frank McLintock in the 78th minute, by which time the Scots were leading 3-2. In fact, it turned out to be a fairly exciting game, a bonus for the 23,000 supporters in the Brann Stadium. Olav Nilsen shot the Norwegians ahead in the fifth minute, but Law responded with the equaliser in the 14th minute and added a second eight minutes later. Erik Johansen had the fans celebrating wildly with the leveller on the hour mark, but that merely sparked another retaliatory strike from Law who hit a third in the 76th minute. Then off went Mackay and McLintock came on to make his international debut. It was one he wouldn’t forget with Norway netting twice during the 12 minutes he was on the pitch. Arne Pedersen swept a third past Adam Blacklaw in the 81st minute and, horror of horrors, the Norwegians, with the supporters whipped up to a frenzy, got the winner through John Krogh seven minutes from time.
After the full-time whistle, Denis Law looked at Ian St John who looked at Jim Baxter who looked at Davie Wilson who looked at Willie Henderson who looked at Alec Hamilton. Class players, every one of them. Law and Baxter, in fact, would play in the Rest of the World Select against England in the English FA’s centenary match at Wembley in October later that year. Quality counted for nothing in Bergen where raw exuberance from an eager bunch of amateurs won the day. Dave Mackay missed the next game against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin five days later with McLintock making his first start. Manager Ian McColl handed the captaincy to Denis Law, the first of five times he would lead his country. It wasn’t a pleasant memory for Law, McLintock or any of the other Scots. They had slipped into a deep lethargy and not even a wake-up call from Noel Cantwell, scoring in the sixth minute, could stir them for the rest of the encounter. Two games, two unexpected defeats and the mini-tour would end with a match against Spain in Madrid on the evening of 13 June. A few years ago I asked Law for his recollection of that game. Here is the interview in full.
‘We were due to face the might of Spain in the Bernabeu Stadium, home of Real Madrid, and I thought we were going into this encounter like lambs to the slaughter. I was asked to continue as skipper with Dave Mackay still injured. It seemed I might always recall the occasion for all the wrong reasons. But history books will now show we hit one of the world’s top nations on their own ground for six.
‘We weren’t expected to do too much against the Spaniards. To a lot of people it might have looked like a lost cause, but they reckoned without our fire and spirit. We went out and hammered them 6-2 in front of their own fans and showed anything was possible in this wonderful game. I recall scoring that night. In fact, we played five forwards and we all netted. Willie Henderson, Davie Gibson, Ian St John and Davie Wilson all grabbed goals and the other came from Frank McLintock, then an old-fashioned right-half. As I recall, Spain scored first, but I was lucky enough to get an equaliser shortly afterwards. Then we ran amok and scored three before the interval!
‘It was an amazing night altogether because we had virtually no tactics. Ian McColl wasn’t a tactician in the Jock Stein mould. So, there we were turning up in Madrid to take on Spain who, as you would have expected, were massive favourites to finish the job before half-time. Thankfully, it didn’t quite work out like that. Actually, looking back, that was a very strong Scotland side – we had some exceptional players kicking around at that time. Billy McNeill played against the Spaniards as an emergency right-back. As far as I am aware, he never played in that position again. He was a centre-half, but the No. 5 shirt was taken by Ian Ure, the Dundee player who went on to play for Arsenal before becoming a brief teammate of mine at Manchester United.
‘Billy might not have fancied playing out of position, but he was like myself and so many other players around at that time – we just wanted to play for our country. Okay, I know it sounds corny, but it just happens to be true. I have always insisted that it was a real honour to play for Scotland. Of course, we had a guy called Jim Baxter at left-half against Spain. It didn’t seem to matter if Jim was playing the world champions or the local boys’ team – he was utterly nerveless. I made a rare appearance as captain in Madrid because that role normally went to a defender or a midfield player. It was highly unusual to have a forward as captain. So, it was just marvellous to be out there and really enjoying the occasion of turning over one of the greatest sides in Europe in their spectacular stadium. Memories are made of this!
‘We played them again two years later and only yours truly, Billy McNeill and wee Willie Henderson were the survivors of the team that shook the world. Scotland and Spain fought out a goalless draw at Hampden on that occasion and, before you ask, I wasn’t the skipper. Big Billy, back playing centre-half, was the captain – and what a good job he made of it, too.’
For the record, the Scotland team in Madrid on 13 June 1963 was: Blacklaw (Burnley); McNeill (Celtic), Holt (Hearts); McLintock (Leicester City), Ure (Dundee), Baxter (Rangers); Henderson (Rangers), Gibson (Leicester City), St John (Liverpool), Law (Manchester United) and Wilson (Rangers). The line-up that drew 0-0 on 8 May 1965 at Hampden read: Brown (Spurs); Hamilton (Dundee), McCreadie (Chelsea); Bremner (Leeds United), McNeill, Greig (Rangers); Henderson, Collins (Leeds United), Gilzean (Spurs), Law and Hughes (Celtic).
The international scene reawakened on 12 October with a Home International against Northern Ireland at Windsor Park, Belfast. Would Scotland be buoyed up by their scintillating six-goal display against Spain in Madrid? No is the quick answer. Scotland, after fielding Liverpool’s Tommy Lawrence against the Republic of Ireland and Burnley’s Adam Blacklaw against Spain, selected their third goalkeeper in as many games with Spurs’ Bill Brown returning to the fray. Unfortunately, Law was injured and his No. 10 shirt was taken by Leicester City’s Davie Gibson. Brown picked the ball out of his net twice, beaten by Billy Bingham and Sammy Wilson, as the Irish won 2-1. Ian St John claimed Scotland’s consolation in the 49th minute. The Lawman returned a month later, on 7 November, for his wonderfully unforgettable four-goal performance against Norway as the Scots responded to the poor show in Belfast with a rousing 90 minutes at Hampden. Frantic negotiations were made to play the game on Thursday after fog wiped out the original date, 24 hours earlier.
Norway, still elated after their victory over Scotland in June, must have thought they were heading for another evening of glory when Per Kristoffersen beat Brown with their first effort on target in the eighth minute. Law then embarked on a demolition job on the unsuspecting Nordics. He levelled in the 19th minute and had the 35,416 supporters cheering again – me and my mates included – just before the interval. The Law Show continued with his third in the 59th minute and then returning captain Dave Mackay thundered in two rapid-fire long-range salvos in the 74th and 76th minutes. It was left to Law to take centre stage just before full-time to tuck the sixth into the net. That brought Law’s total to seven against Norway, a tally that would prove to be his biggest haul against any nation during his international career. It is not known if Norwegian keeper Sverre Anderson ever recovered from his meetings with Law.
Denis Law was still enjoying the spotlight when he notched the winner against Wales in a 2-1 triumph 13 days later at the same venue. It was a strong Welsh team that turned up in Glasgow, with Leeds United’s Gary Sprake in goal, the centre-backs Terry Hennessey and Mike England propping up the defence, the speedy Cliff Jones on the left wing and the legendary John Charles in attack. John White scored the opening goal a minute from the break and Law joined in with the second in the 47th minute. Barrie Jones scored the Welsh counter just before the hour mark.
With 11 goals from seven international games, Denis Law was well on his way to being named European Footballer of the Year in 1964. Prior to that, the only other Briton who had received the honour was England’s Stanley Matthews, the Blackpool and Stoke City outside-right who picked up the inaugural trophy in 1956. Law’s personal favourite Alfredo di Stefano won it a year later. In quick succession, it went to Alfredo’s Real Madrid colleague Raymond K
opa, di Stefano again, Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Omar Sivori (Juventus), Josef Masopust (Dukla Prague) and Lev Yashin (Moscow Dynamo) before Law was recognised. He is still the only Scot to achieve this accolade.
Chapter Nine
ON TOP OF THE WORLD
England, Denis Law’s deadliest foes on the football field, made a dream come true for the Scot on Wednesday, 23 October 1963. The English FA decided to mark their centenary with a spectacular all-star exhibition game at Wembley; England would face a Rest of the World Select and various Football Associations around the globe were asked to nominate players who would grace the occasion. The SFA put forward two names; Denis Law and Jim Baxter.
And at 2.45 p.m. in London on that crisp October afternoon, Law found himself rubbing shoulders with his hero, Real Madrid maestro Alfredo di Stefano. My friend Fraser Elder supplied me with the official matchday programme that marked the event. It sold for one shilling (five pence) and informed us the game would take place at Wembley’s Empire Stadium. It’s hardly the glossy type of memento you would expect today. There are only 20 pages – and five of them are full-page advertisements for the Radio Times, Woodbine cigarettes, Booth’s Gin, Double Diamond beer and Bovril. Three pages are taken up with photographs (including the England team), the double page spread displays the names of the line-ups and the substitutes (called reserves back then) and there is a full page story under the headline, ‘WARM WELCOME TO OUR VISITORS’ in a variety of languages including German, Spanish and French.
The lead item is on page five, ‘ONE HUNDRED GLORIOUS YEARS’ penned by Geoffrey Green. It stated, ‘It was October 26th, 1863, that the Football Association was formed at the Freemason’s Tavern, Lincoln Inn Fields, London. We are thus at a point of history – the celebration of the first centenary of any governing body in football.