‘The Lawman’ faces up to greatest battle of his life with typical humour
Hunited legend vows to tackle diagnosis of dementia ‘head on’ h‘king of Old Trafford’ wants to illuminate toll on colleagues
Denis Law has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia. The starkness of that news will hit those who recall the player, now 81, in his glorious pomp. What a footballer he was: athletic, cunning, his eyes sparkling with intent as he performed for Huddersfield Town, Manchester City, Torino, Manchester United and Scotland.
What a broadcaster he became, too, after he hung up his boots, a match analyst full of wit, insight and charm. Those lucky enough to work with him, who recall his friendliness and self-deprecation, will have immediately noted the manner in which he communicated the news of his diagnosis. In a statement he wrote: “The time has come to tackle this head on, excuse the pun.”
According to Roddy Forsyth, The Daily Telegraph’s Scottish football correspondent who shared a commentary box with him across two World Cups and countless European ties, that is typical of the man. “When I saw that joke I thought, aye, that’s Denis,” he says.
To the thousands who anointed him the King of Old Trafford, Law was a man of understated but irrepressible cool. Everything he did oozed class; not even Raphael Varane looks as good as he did in a suit.
It is all there in the statue of him outside Old Trafford. The man who still holds the record for the most goals scored in a season in a United shirt stands facing the main entrance to the ground, flanked by team-mates George Best and Bobby Charlton. His right arm is raised in salute of yet another goal, his shirt sleeve held in his fist in that characteristic celebration.
“I remember when I was younger watching that headed goal he scored against England at Hampden, the one shown on TV often enough,” recalls Martin Buchan, his teammate at United. “So when I got to play alongside him, as an Aberdonian that was wonderful for me. I can tell my grandkids I played with Law, Best and Charlton.”
Yet sadly, to look at that image of United’s holy trinity – for much of the 1960s the finest strikeforce in world football – is to be witness to the cruelties of the passage of time. Best has long gone, Law was there at his bedside when he died in 2005, while Charlton and now “the Lawman” himself have been diagnosed with dementia.
The thing about Law, though, is he has always been a fighter. He may stand only 5ft 9in, but on the pitch this was a striker who knew how to look after himself. He relished the scrap and those pictures of him in the maelstrom of an FA Cup semifinal against Leeds United, his shirt almost ripped from him, do not suggest a character who backed down.
Gordon Banks recalled once diving for the ball during an England versus Scotland game and looking up to see Law peering down at him. The Scot smiled at his opponent at his feet and said: “Aye, and I’ll always be here.”
That is the Law Buchan remembers. “He could certainly hold his own, Denis,” he says. So it is no surprise to learn that he is confronting his diagnosis with the same determination he showed standing up to Norman Hunter and Ron Harris.
“He was the son of an Aberdeen fisherman, but was afraid of water,” Forsyth recalls. “He was scared of flying, I know because I sat next to him on flights. He was terrified of illness. But when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in his sixties, he took it on board, survived it, beat it. He never let it get him down.”
His approach to his dementia appears similarly dignified. He released a statement that opens with the words: “I am at the point where I feel I want to be open about my condition.” Like novelist Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series, he is keen to use his experience to cast further illumination on the disproportionate toll dementia has taken on so many of his contemporaries.
Forsyth recalls how generous Law always was to those who approached him. “He’d go out of his way for people, but oddly didn’t like being recognised. Which was a problem as he was constantly recognised, particularly in Scotland where he became an icon. But while he never sought to use his fame, he was always so solicitous of people.”
What is clear from his statement is that Law is under no illusions about what lies ahead. He knows his journey from now will be “hard, demanding, painful and ever changing”. But that’s the Lawman for you: he never shied from any challenge, however brutal.
“Nobody’s invincible, not even Denis,” Buchan says. “But I’m hoping he’ll be with us for a while yet.”
Law’s daughter Di is undertaking the Thames Bridges Trek to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Trust on her father’s behalf. Donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/ thelawman