This week I asked RoM favourite, Giles Oakley, to reflect on some of his favourite Manchester United moments. Here is his account on the first time he saw the King of the Stretford End, Denis Law, play.
I became aware of Denis Law a good couple of years before he joined United in the summer of 1962. I was at a friend’s house late one wintry evening in January 1960 when I was transfixed by all-too- brief and un-announced TV News highlights from an FA Cup replay played in swirling snow at Upton Park. It was very rare to see any footage of football in those days and live coverage was largely confined to the FA Cup Final, ‘Home Internationals’ and the occasional England friendly. I have no idea why this match got preferential treatment, and nor can I remember which channel it was on (there were only two then, BBC and ITV).
At the heart of the underdog’s victory was an electrifying performance from a skinny kid called Denis Law, aged about 17, who scored two or three (I think the final score was 3-5, but I might be wrong). Law seemed to be at the heart of everything, and I can still picture his loose striped shirt flapping round his scrawny frame as he skimmed across the icy surface past floundering defenders in the deepening snow. The next day there was huge coverage of this rising star, and I wistfully wondered if United might make a bid for him, true to the spirit of the Busby Babes, little knowing that Matt had already tried to sign him from his old pal Bill Shankly, recently departed manager of the Town, now installed at Liverpool.
Of course it was very galling to see Man City snap up Denis Law for £55,000 not long after I’d first been so impressed by him in those fleeting pictures destroying the Hammers, and I couldn’t understand why United had let that happen…
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Giles Oakley you are so lucky
i got to meet him last year at a dinner
but to see him play
wow
p.s. i cant wait to hear the tale of the best law goal you ever saw
Great article.
Fantastic article!Thank you Giles Oakley.And it was very detailed.I hope that i will be able to remember the current era as detailed as this 40 years later.Thanks for giving him the platform Scott.
Thanks for that lads. Very enjoyable and brings back great memories.
@Giles : excellent article and i almost could see the videos of Law in my mind.
btw, you have a great memory Giles to remember the exact dates & names of players.would like to hear bout Sir Matt one day soon.
Scott we appreciate you for giving Giles the chance for this article & maybe some more to come
em… i’m in awe..
a guy from works brother is married to Denis Law’s sister.
small world
meet him in a bar in manchester once, the guys a gentleman, talked utd none stop, LEGEND
A wonderful read. With a lack of video from that era, insights like these are invaluable. Keep ‘em up, Giles.
WOW!!! …Giles… WOW!!!
Giles, I can’t wait for the follow-ups. You’ve got a strong style and a great memory. More, please.
Thank you very much Giles from the botttom of my heart, Dennis was the King and will always be it. Seen him played late 60s early 70s (the dark ages). Some things about players stick out, maybe a goal, a tackle that sets them apart. My one of Dennis was probably one of the saddest days of my life. The day at OT when he scored for Shitty that relegated us.
He instinctively backheeled the ball, to his horror he scored. He didn’t celebrate he just walked off the pitch, he hadn’t been subbed, he didn’t care, I think he felt the same as I did. Even with my heart breaking, my utter respect for Dennis was blinding. One of the Immortals
Long live the KING
Great read Giles! Your writing style’s fantastic and it’s a joy to manufacture the images in my head as I read your descriptions.
Keep up the good work mate!
I remember his worst ever goal….. he was playing for Shitty and he scored to send us down a division….. but fair play he didn’t celebrate just simply turned and trotted back to the centre circle shrugging off Shitty’s celebrations….
Also I read in one of Besty’s autobiographies that he was a goal poacher of some repute…. when Man Utd were at their peak after one cross that Denis had scored from he ran over to Besty and moaned at him. When Best asked what he was moaning at, cos after all it was his cross that he headed in, Denis told him that when he headed it the laces on the ball were making his forehead sore, so to make sure that when the next cross came over could he make sure the laces were to facing away from him…..
Always nice to hear stories of the Babes, well written Giles, you have a bloody good memory too.
@GILES Oakley- must say that this is one of the finest articles i have ever read on ROM. Please write more about these past events as they are very insightful and makes us aware of the greatness of the players that have represented United over the years. Please continue the articles and also write about the current crop of players or the golden generation of scholes,giggs,beckham,neville.
Just one question to you- was stepaney the goal keeper in the european cup final against benefica as good as Vds or peter schmeical because he really made some very good saves against a pretty strong benefica attack especially the one wonder save against Eusebio.
Great read, thanks for enlightening some of us who never saw the great man in the flesh.
Good read that Giles thanks. I can remember being at the Cliff training round with a mate who’d beeen offered trials at United and one of the highlights of the day was meeting Denis Law Bobby Charlton and my favourite player then George Best plus a few more. What a day that was apart from the fact my mate didnt get selected from the trials. Can remember it like it was yesterday.
Many thanks for all those kind comments from everybody, which mean a lot to me coming from people who love United and know their football. Thanks also to Scott for inviting me to write in the first place, I feel very honoured. I was rather shocked at how long it was when I saw what I’d written on the site, I had no idea I’d gone at such length, it just sort of poured out. Some of you have commented on my good memory, but it’s actually a variable thing, I can remember all sorts of things with great clarity from some matches, and nothing at all from maybe hundreds of others, not just United but other teams as well. I check the odd date or programme where I can but otherwise it’s just how I remember it. It’s probably lucky there is no footage from those distant days so no-one can contradict me! It’s interesting how many of us remember Denis’s back-heel which helped send us down in 1974. I wasn’t there, but what I recall from the TV pictures was his tremendous dignity as he walked off with such visible sadness in his heart. He’d played fair by his team mates, which was the honourable thing to do, but could take no pleasure in scoring against United, even though he’d been treated appallingly by Tommy Docherty when he got rid of him.TonyBee, I loved the story about Denis demanding Besty cross the ball with the laces facing away from him. It is said that Stanley Matthews would always cross that way to his centre forwards such as Tommy Lawton for England or Stan Mortensen for Blackpool (I saw Stan just once, aged 50 playing for Stoke at West Ham. He still had that mesmeric little shuffle to beat his man, but no longer had the acceleration to get away.) In answer to ManchesterUnited For Ever about how Alex Stepney compared with Schmeichel or Van der Sar, it’s a tough question. I have so many favourites I hate having to choose between them, it’s like choosing between one’s children. I would say this though, Stepney was a great goalkeeper, as shown by how long he remained at the club. He was a good shot-stopper and capable of outstanding saves, always appearing unflustered and secure. I’m sure he made errors, all keepers do, including PS and VdS, but I don’t remember any off hand. It’s worth remembering that Stepney played for United when they were at their best, as in the championship-winning team of ’67 and the European Cup winning team of ’68, but also in the worst team of the post-war era, the team that went down to Division 2. He helped that team to come back as Second Division Champions and went on to help win the FA Cup in 1977. That’s a terrific record, putting Stepney in the top 3 or 4 keepers in United’s history, if not higher. It’s much easier to be a good ‘keeper in a successful team than when you’re covered by low-quality defenders who lack confidence and skill. That wonderful save of his against Eusebio in the European Cup Final popped into my mind when I was unusually playing in goal 3 or 4 years ago, and I saved a piledriver which almost buried itself in my midriff. As to my amazement I held on to the shot, I shouted out, ‘Just like Alex Stepney!’ to which my teamates said, ‘Who the fuck is Alex Stepney??’
Denis’s best goal will follow soon. All I’ll reval about it is that I wished I’d worn another layer of clothing that day.
@Giles : we all loved the article and definitely some more to follow soon.you must be a healthy man to be playing in your 50′s as gk.
i would also like to hear the story of Sir Matt as i asked you the other day.
What a fabulous article Mr Oakley, the length doesn’t matter when the quality of the material is such as yours.
May I throw in my fourpennath so to speak of the man you call ‘The King’ but we call him ours!
The man himself did in fact score against WHU but it enabled us to earn a replay in London following our home 1-1 draw in the 3rd Round of the 1960 F A Cup campaign.
January 13th was indeed a wonderful day to be a Town fan as a Denis Law inspired visiting team won 5-1 on a frost bound pitch. Jack Connor and Les
Massie got a brace apiece with one from Bill McGarry.
Until reading your article I did not know any footage of the scintillating display of our young Scot and his teammates was around. How I would love to see it.
What was worth seeing was the early days of Denis when he first joined Huddersfield bespectacled and scrawny the club thought the wrong lad had caught the train from Aberdeen.
Indeed a team mate of his, to be, Kevin McHale on first sight thought he had just delivered the milk to Leeds Road when he saw him coming out of the main entrance – going to the local hospital for his eye operation he was.
But when he pulled on his kit and stepped onto the Beck Lane pitch at Heckmondwike and bambozzled our entire first team defence in his first training session we knew the diamond we had on our hands.
What a player sadly not to remain with us too long as my heart was broken well and truly within a couple of months as a British transfer record took him over the Pennines.
Having watched him as part of the triad of Best Law and Charlton on what I think was their last appearance as a threesome for United at Leeds Road in October 1971 you could say I had the honour and pleasure of seeing from a distance one of the finest playing careers ever.
I have tried many times to make contact with the great man as to shake his hand would indeed be likened to a Lotto winner though I would settle for featuring him in our ‘Legends’ feature on http://www.thisisthebarmyarmy.co.uk
On our family website for any readers who are interested is an article on another Manchester United great the one and only Jimmy Nicholson. My boy hood hero and there are many, many more links between our great clubs.
Ian Greaves, Henry Cockburn whose England shirt I had the pleasure of wearing and nearly buckling at the knees when it was put on me by the man himself in ’64. Goalkeeper Ray Wood and more recently Ben Thornley.
By chance I came across this article and website what further wonderful memories you have provided. Thank you so much.
Beat wishes, David.
Thanks for your comments David @TerrierMirren, I’m so glad you had good memories of the King we have shared. Thanks also for the correct score in that FA Cup match in 1960. I had thought Denis scored in the replay, as with the mis-remembered photo-sequence of him sliding in on the keeper. Guess he missed or the keeper saved it. I was thrilled to hear how fondly-remembered Jimmy Nicholson still is, as shown in the delightful Huddersfield Town Legends site. Thanks for drawing our attention to that. I saw Jimmy play many times and was really sad when he left Old Trafford. It’s good to know he’s not forgotten, and that he enjoyed his time at the Town. I always liked Ian Greaves and it was good to see how well remembered he was at the time of his death.
Lovely article. Just to clarify, that story of the ball, the laces and the forehead first was read by me coming from the mouth of Tommy Lawton to Stanely Matthews. Its far more believeable, because firstly, Tommy was a whiner, albeit a great centreforward, but secondly, the ball was a hell of a lot harder 20 years before Denis appeared on the scene.
A Scouser’s childhood hero
I first saw Denis Law play at the awful defeat of Scotland at Wembley (you know the one) I was a10 year old. Travelling there with my Scottish father and Scottish relatives England played no part in my support, I was heartbroken at the defeat.
Denis played a big part of my life having various pictures of him on my bedroom walls along with the current Everton squads. I followed his career with as much interest as if he were an Evertonian and what joy to see him play at Goodison. Denis had so much ability to capture the imagination of youngsters new to watching professional football which I am sure resulted in lifelong support.
I had occasion to meet Denis at Manchester airport on the day of Jim Baxter’s funeral, he was alone in the smoking area having a cigarette until I walked in, but it was not really football we talked about but rather our respective fathers serving in the Navy during the war. Nice to have met a childhood hero who lived up to my expectations of being not just a great player but also a good man. To all the Mancunians out there I may have been born in Liverpool but I realised and recognised the gift of the wonderful Denis Law you had with you at Old Trafford. Here endeth my Liverpudlian praise, and my envy Denis was with you. John.
A belated correction… I just read this to check something and I’m embarrassed to see that I said Labour Leader Hugh Gaitskell died in 1960 on the same night as Denis had his magic performance for Huddersfield v West Ham. In fact it was in 1963 that Gaitkell died, as on 99 days out of a hundred I could tell you without a moment’s thought. The only reason I may have wrongly conflated the two events was that I was watching TV at my friend’s house on both of the two occasions. Bad mistake though, and I apologise for the record.
As a further update on Denis in December 2011 he returned to Leeds Road, sorry there I go again, the Galpharm and at last, again I got to meet the great man. As we shook hands I asked him if he remembered Beck Lane. He replied, ‘I certainly do, is it still there?. Yes Sir it is and still a football ground I proudly informed the Law Man.
A couple of weeks later a Town friend and long time fan gave me an envelope.
On opening it later at home. He had only taken a photo of me with Mr Law when shaking hands and I have now another very proud photograph to cherish.