Denis Law

by Alex Gordon

  Here’s how Ken Gallacher wrote the caption to the page one photograph:

  Sandy Jardine and Danny McGrain sum up the joy of millions after Scotland qualified for the Finals of the World Cup last night . . . for the first time in 16 years.

  The dream became reality at Hampden when Scotland beat Czechoslovakia 2-1 in front of a sell-out 100,000 crowd.

  McGrain and Jardine – wearing a tammy handed to him by one of the fans – swapped jerseys with their opponents after the final whistle.

  The fans had massed on the terracing as the triumphant players went on a madcap lap of delight.

  Now the boys who made Scotland one of the world’s best 16 teams will share in a fantastic £250,000 pay-out in sponsored deals.

  But last night all that mattered was that Scotland won.

  Hugh Taylor’s match report was contained to page 35. The headline across the spread read: NOW LOOK OUT, HERE COME SCOTLAND.

  Here’s Hughie’s prose:

  THEY wouldn’t leave . . . they couldn’t leave. They had to stay on and on at Hampden and make our grim old fortress of a stadium a gay, wonderful, colourful arena of noise and waving standards.

  Oh, that magnificent Scottish crowd, the greatest in the world paying tribute to the most courageous Scottish side I have seen.

  A fantastic, emotional night – our greatest soccer night of a decade.

  For Scotland are through at last to the finals of the World Cup in Munich after a cliff-hanging palpitating battle, a game in which hopes soared and plummeted.

  AND SMILING THROUGH IN THE END CAME SCOTTISH GRIT, SCOTTISH GUTS AND SCOTTISH SKILL.

  I’ll never forget this night, a night which ended with Denis Law lying face down on the turf having given his all . . .

  Billy Bremner dashing into the tunnel to bring on manager Willie Ormond for a lap of honour in front of the adoring 100,000 who had shown no club favour, had bellowed non-stop from start to finish for Scotland.

  Under the new bright floodlights Bremner’s Scotland provided us with an epic.

  It all started predictably, Scotland all out for the vital goal. The white-shirted Czechs not a bit dismayed by the tremendous Hampden Roar, ruthless indeed. The shocking Norwegian ref Henry Oberg allowing one brutal foul to follow another. And by half-time the crime count was Czechoslovakia 20, Scotland 8.

  But the Scots refused to be intimidated.

  Viktor was heroic in the Czech goal. He made fantastic saves. And the Scots were refused what looked like a blatant penalty-kick when Tommy Hutchison, the mesmerising, weaving wizard of the game, was pulled down in the area.

  Then tragedy! In 33 minutes the Czechs broke away. Nehoda flashed in a 35-yard shot from an acute angle on the right.

  It was a nightmare for Alistair Hunter. He touched the ball, but it slipped past his groping fingers into the net.

  Were the fans dismayed? Were the players? Not on your life. Bremner, that awe-inspiring skipper, put new life into his troops.

  And in 41 minutes Jim Holton endeared himself forever to the Scottish fans by equalising.

  The giant centre-half towered over everyone in the Czech penalty area to head a corner into the net. And so to an even more palpitating second-half.

  Tiring as they were, the Scots pressed on. There was a cheer when Kenny Dalglish, who had played his heart out, came off and Joe Jordan took his place.

  BUT THEN CAME THE HAMPDEN ROAR OF THE CENTURY.

  Audacious Willie Morgan got the ball out on the right, crossed and with a diving header that will be remembered for all time, tall Joe Jordan threw himself at the ball to give us the goal that will take us to Germany.

  It all came right. The dream came true. Scotland won and the Czechs can score 100 goals in Bratislava if they like.

  They were ruthless, it’s true. But, still, they played some splendid football. And Scotland take credit for the way they played.

  Our heroes? What a discovery in Tom Hutchison. What a captain in Bremner, whose heart must weigh a ton. What an inspiration by Denis Law, whose leaps in the first-half especially, caused panic in the Czech defence.

  And that was that. Twenty-two short, sharp paragraphs. What would such an occasion earn today? A Norwegian forest would be under threat. There would be a 16-page pull-out, for a start. The entire front page would be taken over. Strikes at Chrysler? Find another spot in the paper. The match report would be spread over at least two advert-free pages and quotes pieces would take up another spread. Back in 1973, things were different, drastically so.

  Beside Hugh Taylor’s report there was Alex Cameron’s piece: CAMERON COMMENT. It read:

  THERE are 12 good reasons why Hampden should stay as Scotland’s national stadium.

  And they all wore dark blue jerseys on a memorable night at Glasgow’s Mount Florida.

  As manager Willie Ormond was hoisted on to the muscly shoulders in the joyous, back-slapping moments of the greatest victory in our soccer history, the full shame of even thinking that Hampden should go became unbearable.

  The goals by Jim Holton and Joe Jordan will be seen by millions around the world in TV repeats in the next 24 hours.

  And so will the great crescendo of encouragement given to the Scots by 100,000 of the most partisan people you could find anywhere.

  They exalted this Scottish team to a state of inspiration. They bawled them into renewed effort when the score stood at 1-0 for the Czechs and then one-all.

  THE HERO WAS DENIS LAW.

  Oh yes, he missed a chance to score the goal of a lifetime a few minutes from the end. But it was he more than any other player who dictated and taunted the crunchers from Czechoslovakia.

  The high-class skill came from new boy Tom Hutchison, who surely had the best international debut ever by any Scot.

  The Czechs wanted a brawl. At one point it looked as though they would get it. The Norwegian referee had little control and it was no thanks to him that mayhem didn’t break out.

  It will be wrong to say the return match in Bratislava on 17 October means nothing. Totally wrong.

  Scotland must work to find a side which will do more than just participate at Munich.

  There is no reason why Willie Ormond can’t take a team fit to win. And who is to say that even 33-year-old Law will not be there to help?

  This could be the beginning of a genuinely new era in our ailing soccer game. It was these truly heroic players who administered this much-needed tonic.

  Don’t think the Czechs were a walkover. They were technically very good and would have gone to any lengths to win.

  Afterwards, however, when they knew they had lost, they were sporting in their praise of a better side.

  Yes, we must keep Hampden . . . for we now have the makings of a team to match the best.

  The entire evening wrapped up in 17 paragraphs. By the way, Hampden’s future was under threat because it was obvious the old ground needed a radical makeover. Money was tight and there were suggestions that Rangers would be happy to hire out Ibrox Stadium to the SFA for future games. Happily, the matches remained at Scotland’s spiritual international home at Hampden.

  Still on page 35, there was a sidebar piece under the simple, straightforward headline: THOSE GOALS.

  THE goals that carried Scotland through to Munich came from two players who didn’t join the international squad until last season.

  The first was from centre-half Jim Holton, an unknown with Shrewsbury eight months ago. He said afterwards: “I felt great when the ball went in.

  “I had started to come up for any deadball situations because we could see that they were struggling a bit in the air.

  “We thought that we would be able to get a goal in the air . . . and that’s how it worked out.”

  And Joe Jordan, the 21-year-old striker from Leeds, said: “I was ordered to play up alongside Denis Law and to look for the ball in the air. I had one header before the goal came, but I mistimed it. Then I had the goal header and I got it just right. It was fantastic
.

  “After the goal I got just one more header which slipped past the post. So, really, I got three headers and one of them was THE one.

  “I feel great . . .”

  Six quotes wrapped up in seven paragraphs. Ken Gallacher’s back page piece was condensed into six paragraphs. Under the headline: ORMOND’S NIGHT OF GLORY, it read:

  HAMPDEN PARK belonged to Willie Ormond last night as the Scotland manager saw his team crash through to the Finals of the World Cup.

  For Ormond it was the night of nights and one when he admitted: “The last 10 minutes were the longest of my life. I’d never want to go through that again.

  “Still, I always felt that we would win. Even when we were a goal down I knew that we had the ability to go on and win. And the lads were magnificent.

  “So were the fans. It was Wembley all over again and that’s what we wanted.”

  The 100,000 fans who were at the game stayed behind to cheer Ormond and his players on a lap of honour.

  One of the Hampden heroes, Coventry City star Tom Hutchison was taken to hospital after the game for an x-ray on a badly bruised leg, but Ormond stressed it was just a precaution.

  There you have it. Nine paragraphs of quotes in all on one of the biggest nights in Scottish football history.

  Back in 1973, four photographs were used. As well as Sandy Jardine and Danny McGrain on the front page, there was one on the back page of Willie Ormond being lifted shoulder-high by Billy Bremner and Davie Hay with Tommy Hutchison, McGrain and Willie Morgan also in the shot. On page 35 there was the image of Jim Holton leaping high above the Czech defence – and Denis Law – to score his headed equaliser. On page 34, there was a snap of Joe Jordan flying through the air to score the winner. The ubiquitous Law is in that picture, too.

  Ah, the good old days.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  THE FINAL FAREWELL

  No-one ever expected Denis Law to go quietly; that was never in the script. He kicked his last ball in competitive action at the age of 34 in the 2-0 victory over Zaire in Dortmund, West Germany, in front of 30,000 fans on 14 June 1974. It was, alas, his solitary appearance in the World Cup Finals. At least, looking on the bright side, he was afforded the luxury of performing on the most glittering stage global football had to offer and that was something even his great hero Alfredo di Stefano never managed to achieve. Nor his good pal George Best, for that matter.

  Before the 1974 World Cup Finals, there were rumours that Law had decided to hang up his boots at club level. However, Law has always been adamant that was not the case. In fact, he has insisted he had every intention of playing on and had a meeting with the Manchester City manager Tony Book after the West German tournament. Book, we’re informed, had told Law he was looking to the future. His plan was to play Law only in home reserve games to keep him fit if he was suddenly required for first team football. The idea did not sit well with Law. He had no intention of playing in the reserves and pointed out, ‘That is where players start their careers, not end them.’ After much deliberation, Law would announce his retirement on August Bank Holiday Monday. Putting it simply, he admitted, ‘I wanted to go out at the top.’

  Law’s version of events will no doubt be accurate. If he had made up his mind to quit at the end of the season, there is no way he could have kept it secret. The grapevine in football is a lively one. There is little doubt that the news would have reached Willie Ormond. Equally without question is the fact the manager would not have included a player in his squad for the biggest football tournament on the planet who had already thought it was time to give up the game. There was a clamour from many to go with the youthful strike partnership of Kenny Dalglish and Joe Jordan, both emerging as genuine international material. Lou Macari had his supporters, too. Ormond refused to be swayed by certain members of the public and press. Denis Law was in. He was going to West Germany, 16 years after taking his international bow against Wales in Cardiff. The average age of the squad was 25-and-a-half years. Denis was the oldest and Kilmarnock’s Jim Stewart, one of the back-up goalkeepers, was the youngest at 20, 14 years his junior.

  The 22 players who got the nod from Ormond were: Goalkeepers: David Harvey (Leeds United), Thomson Allan (Hibs), Jim Stewart (Kilmarnock); Defenders: Sandy Jardine (Rangers), Danny McGrain (Celtic), Jim Holton (Manchester United), John Blackley (Hibs), Martin Buchan (Manchester United), Willie Donachie (Manchester City), Gordon McQueen (Leeds United), Erich Schaedler (Hibs); Midfielders: Billy Bremner (Leeds United), Davie Hay (Celtic), Peter Cormack (Liverpool); Forwards: Jimmy Johnstone (Celtic), Kenny Dalglish (Celtic), Joe Jordan (Leeds United), Donald Ford (Hearts), Peter Lorimer (Leeds United), Willie Morgan (Manchester United), Tommy Hutchison (Coventry City) and, of course, Denis Law (Manchester City).

  Intriguingly, there was a startling contrast between the team that started the World Cup campaign and the team that kicked off the finals, with under two years separating the games. The line-up in the 4-1 triumph over Denmark in Copenhagen on 18 October 1972 was: Bobby Clark (Aberdeen); John Brownlie (Hibs), Eddie Colquhoun (Sheffield United), Martin Buchan (Manchester United), Alex Forsyth (Partick Thistle); Peter Lorimer (Leeds United), Billy Bremner (Leeds United), George Graham (Arsenal), Willie Morgan (Manchester United); Lou Macari (Celtic, sub: Kenny Dalglish, Celtic) and Jimmy Bone (Norwich City, sub: Joe Harper, Aberdeen). Thirteen players used by Tommy Docherty and only five boarded the plane for West Germany – Buchan, Bremner, Lorimer, Morgan and Dalglish.

  Davie Hay, one of the main performers of the 1974 World Cup despite only having three games to display his talent, recalled, ‘Willie Ormond was a smashing wee guy, very much his own man. Some people accused him of being sentimental in naming Denis Law in his squad. I rarely saw Willie hit the roof, but if you made that suggestion in his company you could expect an ear-bashing. Nothing could be further from the truth. Denis was in on merit. He wasn’t just there as a talisman, there was no chance of that. You just had to ask the players. We all knew what Denis could still do in the game. Okay, he may not have thrown himself around the way he had done in the past, but his reactions were still astonishing. Everyone witnessed that ability during his performance against Czechoslovakia in the crucial game in Glasgow and we saw it in training every day. I can tell you this – Denis would not have thanked anyone for taking him to West Germany for anything other than football reasons.

  ‘He was the consummate professional, a bit of a perfectionist and everyone realised he was going into the tournament with the same outlook he would have had as a teenager. His enthusiasm never waned, not once. Willie Ormond was a manager who listened to his players, but, in the end, we played the way he wanted. We were allowed to change things on the field as the game developed and our skipper Billy Bremner exercised that right every now and again. But this was Ormond’s squad. One thing that always impressed me about our manager was the fact he could spot a player. He had a marvellous knowledge of football and saw things in some performers that others might have missed.’

  Law, in his excellent autobiography The King, put it this way, ‘When I heard I had been named in the squad, I thought, “Whoops, that’ll do for me.” It certainly came as a bit of a shock at the age of 34, but Willie had ignored the press and gone with the fact that I was doing reasonably well up front and had the experience. To my mind, it was one of those selections where the player might be able to contribute something valuable in part of the game, maybe not the whole game, but somewhere along the line.’

  The Scots set up base at Erbismuhle in the Taunus mountains near Frankfurt. Security in the finals was intense. Peter Lorimer recalled, ‘After the massacre of the Israeli athletes in the Munich Olympics only two years beforehand, the German authorities were determined there would be no hint of a repeat. There were security people all over the place.’ SFA assistant secretary Ernie Walker recalled, ‘It was like playing the World Cup in a war zone.’ Reserve goalkeeper Thomson Allan noted, ‘If you went to the toilet a security guard went with
you.’ A photograph appeared in the national press of Danny McGrain happily posing with six policemen, one holding a machine gun. The uncertain climate wasn’t helped by an observer at the BBC in London who broadcast, ‘Trouble could come from the Arabs, the German Bader Meinhof anarchists or the invading horde of Scots fans.’

  Scotland were going into the unknown to play Zaire. There was very little knowledge of their players, their style of play, their strengths, their weaknesses, their overall tactics. What was known was that they had overcome Cameroon in the play-offs to become the only African nation in West Germany that summer. They were coached by Blagoje Vidinic, a former Yugoslavia international goalkeeper. It could be assumed, then, that they would be well drilled, at least, and their fitness levels wouldn’t be brought into question.