Denis Law
| ● The file | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1940, Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Golden Ball | 1964 |
| Manchester United | 237 goals — the era's heartbeat |
| Scotland | 30 goals, a record that stood 47 years |
Eight years after Munich, Manchester United were champions of England again with a rebuilt trinity: Charlton, the survivor; Best, the prodigy; and Law, the finisher. The 1964 Ballon d'Or was his — won during a season in which his goals carried the revival, a year before the trio took the league. He scored with a header, a volley, a backheel, and once, unforgettably, from a corner direct. The Stretford End crowned him King of the Kippax of song and scarf, a coronation no later United striker has held so securely.
His 30 goals for Scotland in 55 games stood for half a century as the national record. The last kick of his club career was a backheel for Manchester City that relegated United — the game's cruelest footnote, scored by a man who wept at the irony. Law's football was joy with a blade in it: the celebration with arm aloft and right sleeve thrown, the goals in bunches, the conviction that the ball was supposed to be hit hard and often.