TEARS FOR A LEGEND
AS DENIS LAW FACES UP TO CRUEL PLIGHT OF DEMENTIA, JIM McCALLIOG PAYS AN EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE TO THE STAR HE STILL IDOLISES
THE CRACK of emotion in Jim McCalliog’s voice is as undeniable as it is understandable. Talking about old friend and team-mate Denis Law invariably affects the former Scotland midfielder.
As enthusiastic and excited as McCalliog might be over a new age of flagbearers rising within the ranks of the national side, he cannot help but dwell on the sadness surrounding his own personal champion.
News of Law’s diagnosis with ‘mixed dementia’ hit him hard after the living legend became one more high-profile casualty of an epidemic among former footballers.
‘Denis was my hero; I think he was everybody’s hero,’ said McCalliog, at Hampden yesterday for the launch of his autobiography.
‘When I rang him to ask if he would do the foreword for my book and he said yes, I just burst into tears.
‘It’s horrendous, the news about Denis. Because he’s not only one of the best players Scotland’s ever had — he’s also a great human being. That’s the difference.
‘He was my hero growing up. But I had quite a lot of heroes. I was a greedy wee so-and-so!
‘I was fortunate to be here when Real Madrid played Eintracht Frankfurt. I had two heroes in that team in Puskas and Di Stefano…’
However much the young McCalliog might have idolised the glamorous foreign stars of great European teams, though, he grew up absolutely worshipping Scotland’s boys in blue. One, especially.
Forever remembered for making the most impactful Scotland debut in history, marking his first appearance by scoring the winner in the famous 3-2 victory at Wembley in 1967, McCalliog’s own memories of that golden international week invariably centre on his interactions with one person.
Recalling his first meeting with The Law Man himself, he admitted: ‘That was the scariest. I actually met Denis on the Wednesday. I played for Sheffield Wednesday against Man United at Hillsborough on the Wednesday. On the Saturday was the England v Scotland game.
‘I was more nervous about meeting Denis than playing against England. Honestly, I swear. It was great to meet him. I have still got a photo of him in the house. He was my hero.
‘And then I got the winning goal. To get the winning goal against England at Wembley and the first person to come over to congratulate you is your hero. It doesn’t get much better.’
Sitting in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame at the national stadium, McCalliog finds it easy to talk about a player whose renown has endured down the generations.
‘The thing about Denis was he could play as a striker and he could play in midfield,’ he said. ‘So he had a lot of football intelligence over and above the all-action Denis that we all know, getting up and heading the ball.
‘The thing that really marks him out is he was so feisty. There were all these big defenders, but Denis would be in among them like a dog with a bone. That is the way he was.’
McCalliog’s career took him from Chelsea to Sheffield Wednesday and Wolves before he spent an eventful year or so at Old Trafford.
A member of Tommy Docherty’s Manchester United side relegated from the old First Division, having been signed with ten games of the season remaining, he still recalls the famous derby when Law — then at City — scored to help his old club on their way down.
‘When that game finished, I was one of the first off the pitch at Old Trafford,’ he recalled.
‘I got in our dressing room and sat there with Denis, who was still in his blue and white gear; I went over to see him and sat talking. The next thing, Tommy Doc came in and I thought: “Oh my God something is going to happen here”. But it didn’t. He shook hands with Denis.
‘If anyone ever tries to say to Denis he put Man United down, he’s pretty feisty and he’ll tell you straight away. He’s right that he didn’t put us down. It was Birmingham winning eight games out of nine in the run-in. They kept themselves up.’
McCalliog only won five caps, which says something about the strength in depth available to a variety of Scotland managers in the 1960s and ’70s.
Ask him about his brief international career, however, and he insists: ‘Oh yeah, it was definitely the pinnacle.
‘We used to play over on Glasgow Green and, when we’d finished playing football on the pitches, we used to sneak on the bowling green and pretend we were at Wembley — especially if the internationals were coming up.
‘If Scotland were playing on the Saturday, we’d be there on the bowling green, putting something down for goals and playing until the warden would come and chase us away. Great times.
‘The bowlers never caught us — but we would have been in a bit of bother if they had.’
Looking forward to Saturday’s visit of Israel in an all-or-nothing World Cup qualifier, McCalliog
detects a change in the national mood.
Bringing the conversation full circle, he said: ‘What makes the difference is the Scotland support now have some heroes.
‘Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney, Scott McTominay, John McGinn, Billy Gilmour…
‘Every nation needs heroes and, looking back, we had heroes in abundance.
‘You look at Denis, Jim Baxter, John Greig, the greatest ever Ranger, Ronnie McKinnon, Celtic winning the European Cup.
‘That was why football was so popular, and I will keep coming back to it, the heroes. It is the heroes that keep it burning brightly.
‘In the current squad, you have guys playing in the Premier League who stick their chest out and have a bit more swagger. It gives confidence to everyone and you can feel it off them.
‘Baxter would strut about. He was the most confident player I ever saw.
‘We had finished training one day and he was sat on the bus. He had a pen and a bit of paper.
‘I was one of the first on. I said to him: “What are you doing? Are you a paper reporter now?”
‘He said: “No, I’m picking the ugly team. You’re all right, sit down”. He was winding everyone up. That was how confident Baxter was. It didn’t matter to him that he was playing England.’