By Andrew Warshaw
May 9 – Of all the present and former greats who have paid tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson in the past 24 hours following the announcement that he is stepping down after 26 years as Manchester United manager, few have Fergie in their hearts as much as United legend Denis Law.
As a lifelong Aberdeen fan, Law still remembers fondly how Ferguson broke the Celtic-Rangers stranglehold on Scottish football when, before joining United, he led Aberdeen to European Cup-Winners’ glory by upsetting mighty Real Madrid 30 years ago.
“What he did in breaking the monopoly, I realised there must be something special about the guy,” Law told InsideWorldFootball. “To win in Europe was an extraordinary achievement at that particular time. When he came south things didn’t start well but United kept faith with him and the rest is history.”
Law was as surprised as anyone by Fergie’s decision to finally call it a day after winning 38 major trophies. “I saw him only last week and he didn’t breathe a word. He will be recognised as one of the greatest managers of all time. Like Matt Busby, he loved young players coming through and going on to represent their country. He was also conscious of playing attractive football to give value to people who pay good money. He comes from a hard-working part of the world and wanted to give people entertainment.”
Law, who was nicknamed “The King” for his goalscoring and creative exploits during 13 illustrious years at United, is confident that whoever takes over at Old Trafford – and the heavy betting is on Everton boss David Moyes – will be given time, just as Ferguson was despite not winning a trophy for the first three and half years of his tenure.
“When he first arrived, he might have been given the sack but they didn’t do that and the new guy will benefit from the people upstairs recognising that success doesn’t always come straight away,” said Law. “They will be very reluctant, unless whoever it is does extremely badly, to get rid of him.”
Even if Moyes’ tenure has been trophyless, Law sees him as the perfect fit in terms of another hungry Scottish manager eager to succeed. “What David Moyes has done on relatively little money is achieve a certain status. People think very highly of him. We’re a small country and there’s a burning passion that we want to compete with Big Brother down south. Jose Mourinho has got the pedigree but would he be suitable for Manchester United? I don’t know. I have a feeling a foreign manager wouldn’t work.”
Law, who at 73 still has the same impish grin that marked him out as a player, was speaking at the Wembley launch of Royal Mail’s Football Heroes stamps, celebrating 11 of the greatest players ever from the four home nations. Others include Sir Bobby Charlton and the late Bobby Moore and George Best. “This has got to be one of the finest honours you could ever get, to be one of 11 on a postage stamp,” said Law. “It doesn’t get much better than that. I’m lucky to have been chosen and very proud.”
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