Denis Law

by Alex Gordon

  Five months down the line, Poland again provided the opposition at Hampden. So much rested on this game that Jock Stein had several selection dilemmas to think about. Alan Gilzean, a player lauded and respected by his fellow professionals – Denis Law among them – had failed to start in the away ties against Poland and Finland, but Scotland’s temporary manager remained among his admirers. Stein, always a deep thinker and expert strategist, once again pondered long and hard about the line-up and brought Leeds United’s battling bantam Billy Bremner into midfield to the exclusion of Hibs’ thoughtful, but one-paced, Willie Hamilton. Still looking for thrust up front, the Scotland manager raised an eyebrow or two by giving a debut to 18-year-old outside-left Willie Johnston, of Rangers, while overlooking his own Celtic player John Hughes. The team read: Brown; Hamilton, McCreadie; Crerand, McNeill, Greig; Henderson, Bremner, Gilzean, Law and Johnston.

  Wednesday, 13 October 1965 was a bitterly cold evening at Hampden Park. There was a hint of fog in the air. A crowd of 107,580 turned up and for once the mood was more of confident anticipation rather than optimistic expectation. Even at this early stage, it appeared Poland’s chances of qualification were remote. They had lost 2-0 to Finland in Helsinki in their previous encounter and Scotland had the opportunity to seal their elimination and propel themselves towards two back-to-back confrontations with Italy to complete the group. At that stage, Jock Stein believed both nations would cancel each other out when they met in Glasgow and Naples therefore making it even more critical there would be no slip-up on this occasion. Poland arrived at the national stadium in the realisation that only a victory would breathe life into their fading hopes.

  It was Celtic captain Billy McNeill who settled the nerves of the Scottish players and the onlookers with the breakthrough goal in only 14 minutes. McNeill hit a ferocious shot that was in the net before Konrad Kornek could move. The goalkeeper, under pressure from the towering Gilzean, had failed to deal with a corner-kick from Willie Henderson. His feeble slap directed the ball to McNeill’s chest where he controlled it in an instant and first-timed a 12-yard right-foot effort into the inviting net. Scotland’s hopes soared; Poland’s spirits slumped – for the time being, anyway.

  Stein roared from the touchline as half-time approached, claiming a penalty-kick as Jacek Gmoch sent Henderson toppling in the box after a clumsy challenge. The referee wasn’t so convinced and merely awarded an indirect free-kick that came to nothing. Scotland refused to go into gung-ho mode as they probed for the second goal. Stein, unusually, was counselling caution from the dug-out. Still, Law had a snap-shot diverted after good service from Bremner and Kornek went some way to atoning for his miserable attempt at a clearance for the Scottish goal when he twice denied Gilzean.

  Half-time: Scotland 1, Poland 0. The Scots, with Johnston displaying devastating turns of speed on the left flank, looked in control. What could go wrong? If the Poles were heading for the World Cup gallows, they weren’t going without a fight. They had 45 minutes to turn things around. For 39 of them they failed, although they had their moments. The dangerous Ernest Pohl gave goalkeeper Bill Brown, a steady and unfussy custodian, two frights as the visitors, unbelievably, started to boss the game. The Spurs goalkeeper held on grimly to a vicious shot from Pohl and had to be content with saving with his knees when the same player thumped in a wicked angled drive. Scotland were being overrun in the middle of the park; the rhythm built up by Bremner and Pat Crerand in the first 45 minutes had all but ebbed away.

  Johnston, so dangerous early on, was starved of service on the left, as was his Rangers teammate Henderson on the opposite flank. Law tried to help out by moving into midfield, leaving Gilzean as the lone target up front. It was torture on the terracing as the minutes ticked down. The Scottish players were now content to hoof the ball anywhere and everywhere to keep the revitalised Poles at bay. The visitors sensed they could get something in enemy territory and they went for it. Frantic whistles from the anxious six-figure crowd implored Swedish referee Kurt Carlsson to blow for time-up. No such luck. The tension was unbearable and something just had to give – and it did in the 84th minute.

  Hamilton, the Dundee right-back who was normally such a good user of the ball, was caught in possession by outside-left Eugeniusz Faber, who delivered a dangerous cross into the Scottish box at the far post. Chelsea’s Eddie McCreadie was caught unawares as Jan Liberda came thundering in, brought the ball under control and left Brown without an earthly chance as he walloped an unstoppable drive high into the roof of the net. Silence. Mathematicians in the crowd were trying to work it out: was it a point dropped or a point gained? Their mental arithmetic meant little when, with four minutes to play, Jerzy Sadek was allowed to run through and almost casually beat Brown with a neat effort. More silence. Moments later, traumatised and disbelieving, the Scottish supporters, their spirits sapped, filtered out of Hampden, trudging wearily towards the exits. We didn’t know it at the time, but Scotland’s World Cup ambitions were heading in an identical direction.

  Law ended this bizarre and perplexing confrontation with a damaged right knee, limping off at the end as Scotland tried to fathom how they had come to lose their first World Cup-tie at the national stadium for 11 years. What on earth went wrong? Law looked back some time later and said, ‘Of all the games I’ve played in around the world for club or country, this one was the biggest disappointment of all time. I’m still trying to work out how the Poles could score two goals in six minutes against us and win the game. We had control of it for long periods. Maybe if there is an explanation, we relaxed too much. But the dressing room afterwards was like a morgue. We had blown it and we couldn’t understand why.’

  It was a desperate night to forget for just about everyone – not debutant Willie Johnston, though. He said, ‘Despite the result, I will never forget my first appearance for Scotland, especially as it was the first time I played alongside my hero Denis Law. He is six or seven years older than me and as a schoolboy I worshipped him. It was never in my wildest dreams that a few years later I would line up alongside him as I won my first international cap for my country. Throughout the years I have listened to many an argument among fans on just who is the greatest Scottish player of all time. For me, there is only one name that fits the bill – Denis Law. He is a true living legend, the striker who had everything. He had flair, bravery and was the ultimate goalscorer. So many of his strikes were spectacular. He was The King!’

  Law, though, was dropped for the next game when Italy arrived at Hampden on 9 November. By his own admission, he ‘was going through a quiet patch’. Stein decided to pair Alan Gilzean and Neil Martin, the first time the two six-footers had teamed up together. Law was out and so, too, were Alec Hamilton, Pat Crerand and Willie Johnston. Hamilton would figure only once more for his country. Billy McNeill was injured and Rangers’ Ronnie McKinnon was one of two players taking his international bow; Celtic’s Bobby Murdoch was the other. Left-back Eddie McCreadie was suspended and Rangers’ Davie Provan took over. John Greig was moved from his midfield berth to right-back. Stein sent out this line-up: Brown; Greig, Provan; Murdoch, McKinnon, Baxter; Henderson, Bremner, Gilzean, Martin and Hughes. The Italians had amassed seven points from their first four games and Scotland’s mission was simple – a win was an absolute must. A draw wouldn’t have meant much at the end of the day.

  It was time for heroes. Step forward John Greig. The Rangers powerhouse was magnificent against the Italians. He hogged the headlines for his excellent winning goal two minutes from the end, but his contribution throughout the evening as he relentlessly drove Scotland on under the piercing Hampden floodlights should be neither forgotten nor overlooked. Twice he rescued Bill Brown, who played most of the game with a heavily bandaged thigh. In the first-half, Paolo Barison looped a header over the stranded goalkeeper, but Greig materialised on the line to clear it to safety. He staged an action replay after the interval when Giovanni Lodetti threaded the ball beyond Brown and the Ranger scampered back to
boot it to safety. His evening’s work was not done, though.

  With the clock against them, the fans groaned when Ronnie McKinnon, unchallenged on the left, decided to pass back to Brown. Precisely 11 seconds later they were cheering wildly after a sublime passage of play. The goalkeeper wasted no time in rolling the ball to the twinkle toes of Jim Baxter. The former Rangers player, by now performing with Sunderland and given the responsibility of captaining his country by Stein on this occasion, brought it under control in an instant and strode purposefully forward. He knocked a pass to Billy Bremner who slotted it in front of the galloping Greig, surging menacingly ahead on the right. He switched it back inside to Baxter whose casual pass into space behind the Italian defence was perfection itself. Greig charged through on the blind side and the Ibrox stalwart didn’t hesitate as he battered a ferocious left-foot drive from six yards inside the box. Italian keeper William Negri was helpless as the ball zipped in low to his left. There was only one destination for the ball once it left Greig’s boot and that was the rigging. Scotland were back in the World Cup. The fans in the 100,393 crowd demanded a lap of honour. Jock Stein told his players to savour the moment and they took a collective bow.

  Denis Law, far removed from the action, said, ‘I was as thrilled as if I had been playing.’ Now there was the last game of the section to be played against the same opposition. Would it be a case of ‘See Naples and die?’ A nation would discover its fate on a Tuesday afternoon on 7 December. Disaster after disaster dogged Jock Stein’s attempts to put together a side that would make the trip worthwhile. As it turned out, even the most optimistic of Scotland’s followers could not have held out much hope before the kick-off that was beamed live by the BBC. The performance should have carried an x-certificate.

  Bill Brown and Billy McNeill were the first to withdraw through injury. Jim Baxter, so influential against Italy in Glasgow, was next. Intriguingly, though, he was fit enough to turn out for Sunderland in a friendly against Dukla Prague the same day. Stein’s friendship with Manchester United’s Matt Busby and Liverpool’s Bill Shankly was put to the test when these two proud Scots, of all people, were trying to block their players travelling because of league commitments. Law admitted, ‘I don’t know if I would have been selected for this one, but injury ruled me out, anyway, so I had to sit through the game in utter frustration as Italy got the win they needed.’

  A campaign that had started so promisingly at Hampden on 21 October 1964 – with Denis Law scoring only two minutes into the World Cup – was in serious jeopardy. It was swiftly going off the rails and on the morning of the game Rangers outside-right Willie Henderson had to call off after failing to overcome injury. Even back-up defender Billy Stevenson, of Liverpool, was forced to withdraw. In all, Stein’s original squad of 22 had been stripped to 14 by the time the game was due to be played. No-one would have dared to believe the Scots could gain a second victory over an Italian side who had won 6-1 against Poland, Scotland’s Hampden conquerors. They boasted some of the best players on the planet in Giacinto Facchetti, Gianni Rivera and Sandro Mazzola. Mission Improbable? Sadly, this was Mission Impossible. Even Stein admitted afterwards, ‘Until then, we had enjoyed a good year. We had beaten the Italians in one of the best international games ever witnessed at Hampden. However, by the time we got to Naples, we had no chance.’

  Stein handed giant Liverpool centre-half Ron Yeats the No. 9 shirt. If it was meant to confuse Italian manager Edmondo Fabbri, it didn’t work. Yeats retreated into central defence alongside Ronnie McKinnon as soon as the match kicked off. Stein sent out this side: Blacklaw; Provan, McCreadie; Murdoch, McKinnon, Greig; Forrest, Bremner, Yeats, Cooke and Hughes. So, it meant Davie Provan moving from left to right in defence and centre-forward Jim Forrest, his Ibrox teammate, playing wide on the right in place of Henderson.

  Burly Adam Blacklaw, of Burnley, was the only recognised goalkeeper left for Stein to choose; Spurs’ Bill Brown and Kilmarnock’s Bobby Ferguson were both injured. Naples would be Blacklaw’s third and final cap. His previous appearance for the international team had been two-and-a-half years earlier. Amazingly, it was the 6-2 hammering of Spain in a friendly in Madrid on 13 June 1963. His debut was the same month as the Scots were embarrassed by the then amateurs of Norway 4-3 in Bergen. Blacklaw’s record at this level would be largely undistinguished. Three games played and nine goals conceded.

  A crowd of 68,873 in the San Paolo Stadium saw Scotland retreat into massed defence from the first moment. Italy, infamous for their deep rearguard strategies that strangled the life out of the game, were on the receiving end for a change. It was their turn to try to pick the lock. The Scottish defence wasn’t too fussy how it dealt with their probing. The Italians actually looked ill at ease with the white shirts ranked in front of them. Only seven minutes remained until half-time when Eddie McCreadie made the mistake that, ultimately, would put Scotland out of the World Cup and dump our hopes on football’s rubbish tip once again. The Chelsea defender swiped at a pass from Rivera and got nothing but fresh air. The ball ran to Ezio Pascutti who lifted it over the startled Blacklaw. The referee could have put the Scots out of their misery and blown for time-up there and then.

  Giacinto Facchetti, the elegant left-back of Inter Milan, doubled his nation’s advantage in the 74th minute. Blacklaw made a hash of an attempted punched clearance. It went straight to the feet of the defender about 25 yards out and he lobbed the ball in with ease, sending Blacklaw scrambling furiously and vainly to get back onto his line. Bruno Mora brought down the curtain with the third goal five minutes from the end. The tournament ended in despair and defeat and the patched-up Scotland side must have been relieved to get off that pitch. Italian goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi was asked about his most anxious moment during the game. He thought for a moment before answering, ‘When Yeats fell on me.’ That just about summed up Scotland’s goal threat.

  The first thing Jock Stein did when he got home was to hand in his resignation. The SFA had hoped he might continue in the caretaker role, but he said, ‘I’ve got enough on my plate with Celtic. I’ll be concentrating everything on my club from now on.’ The SFA advertised the vacancy on a part-time basis and stated, ‘The job might suit a man with other business interests.’ Willie Waddell and Eddie Turnbull both said no. Clyde boss John Prentice, however, took over the job. He lasted eight months before being sacked.

  There was to be no happy ending for Edmondo Fabbri and his Italian players. Sensationally, they collapsed to a Park Doo-Ik goal as the unknown semi-professionals of North Korea overcame them 1-0 at Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough, on 19 July to send them spinning out of the 1966 World Cup Finals. Their supporters, who expected so much from their favourites in England, turned out at the airport in their thousands to let the manager and his squad know exactly how they felt. They were greeted by a barrage of rotten fruit.

  Chapter Eleven

  THE AULD ENEMY

  Denis Law played against England nine times – eight on the trot from 1960 to 1967 – and was on the winning side four times, sampling defeat on three occasions with the other two ending in stalemate. Scotland scored 17 goals and the English claimed 20, including nine in the hammering of Ian McColl’s side in 1961. Interestingly, they would score only three goals against the Scots in the next four Home Internationals, being beaten on three successive outings before claiming a draw in 1965 at Wembley.

  An awesome total of 1,040,667 fans – averaging almost 115,630 per game – watched the action in Glasgow and London; the highest attendance being the 133,245 who turned out for the 1964 match at Hampden and the lowest was the ‘mere’ 97,350 who witnessed the rout of Scotland at Wembley three years earlier. Law scored three goals against the Auld Enemy, a total that was a source of irritation to a soccer perfectionist.

  The Lawman, playing in only his seventh international, debuted in the Scotland v England encounter at Hampden in 1960. Intriguingly, he had fired five successive blanks after scoring on his debut against Wales in Cardi
ff in 1958. He had failed to register in games against Northern Ireland (twice), Holland, Portugal and Wales again. Now he was hoping, at the third opportunity, to strike his first goal at Hampden in front of the home support. England, after defeating Scotland 1-0 at Wembley the previous year with a 59th minute header from Bobby Charlton, arrived in Glasgow confident of another victory. Law and his colleagues had other ideas, of course. Joe Baker, who would become a teammate of Law at Italian side Torino a year later, was chosen to lead the English frontline. Bizarrely, Baker was a Hibs player at the time and was one of ten home-based Scots on display that afternoon.

  As usual, there was the tussle between club and country to get players released. Spurs manager Bill Nicholson, who made one appearance for England in 1951, was as English as Law was Scottish. He refused to allow goalkeeper Bill Brown and the inspirational midfield duo Dave Mackay and John White to play for their nation on this occasion. Airdrie’s No. 1 Lawrie Leslie was injured and Celtic’s Frank Haffey won his first cap. Hearts centre-forward Alex Young also made his debut and there was a recall for his Tynecastle teammate John Cumming, the wing-half making his return after a five-year absence; his last appearance coming in a 2-2 draw with Yugoslavia in a friendly in Belgrade. Manager Andy Beattie, who would quit the post six months later to concentrate on club football with Nottingham Forest, also brought in three Motherwell players – Bert McCann, Ian St John and Andy Weir – as well as naming Denis Law at inside-left. Celtic defenders Dunky McKay and Bobby Evans, Rangers left-back Eric Caldow and Fulham forward Graham Leggat were the survivors from the team vanquished at Wembley 12 months earlier.

  The Hampden game had no chance of becoming a spectacle with ruinous gusts of wind creating havoc when the ball was in the air. However, Hungarian referee Jeno Szranko saw fit to award England two penalty-kicks, three if you include a retake. With the Scots leading 1-0 after a ferocious angled strike from Graham Leggat left Ron Springett helpless in 17 minutes, Dunky McKay was adjudged to have pushed Bobby Charlton shortly after the interval. The Manchester United icon nonchalantly stroked the spot-kick past Frank Haffey who went right as the ball flew in the opposite direction. With the tartan-bedecked fans howling for justice, the match official awarded England another penalty. Haffey saved the first from Charlton, but Szranko spotted an infringement – the goalkeeper claimed it was because Law had rushed into the box before the kick had been taken – and ordered the ball to be placed on the spot again. This time Charlton fired past the keeper’s right-hand post.