No shortage of characters in the game when Law was at his peak

The death last week of Denis Law was a reminder of the days when English League football was peopled by characters, and Match of the Day a must-see every Saturday night.

Today’s pitches look like large-scale snooker tables. Back in the days when Law was dribbling his way past the most desperate of defender lunges, if a player came off the field in a strip that wasn’t thick with mud, his manager would want to have a word with him.

These words are not being printed here for the first time. Don Revie’s Leeds – Giles, Bremner, Hunter, Wor Jack (who became Our Jack), Gray and Clarke, et al – were flying in the league, but on this Saturday were shocked by Derby County in an away game.

Looking for an excuse, Revie said in a post-match interview:”Brian will have to do something about that pitch.”

Brian, of course, was Clough, the Derby manager, and the mud-covered pitch Revie was complaining about was the Baseball Grounds. (It’s one of the many quirks that football throws up: Clough became one of Revie’s successors at Elland Road. It wasn’t a happy stint – it lasted just 44 days.)

Charlie George, Stan Bowles, Rodney Marsh – later to play in the League of Ireland – Matt Le Tissier were just some of those who played as if winning wasn’t the be-all or end-all. Let’s just say they played with a smile on their face, not only when they scored a goal.

That’s not to say they weren’t good. George was on the Arsenal Cup-winning team of 1971, and, like the other three, played for England.

Denis Law played for Scotland, but it was a member of the Manchester Utd team that won the European Cup and several trophies at a domestic level that he’ll be best remembered.

He was part of the trinity, Law, Best and Charlton (the one with Bobby as his Christian name) that tormented defences. He’d invariably have a grip of his shirt cuffs as he wriggled towards goals, and as has been seen on television since the announcement of his passing, he had some spectacular finishes.

He also had that moment when, after crossing the rubicon, swapping the Manchester red jersey for a sky-blue, his back-heeled goal helped send his former club down to the Second Division, as it was at the time.

That, however, didn’t stop United from having a statue of Law unveiled outside Old Trafford, an honour that was also bestowed on Best and Charlton.

With money now a god in English football, success is often determined by how much of it is spent on transfers, and after that, wages, all we can do is hark back to the days of the most skilful players, like Law, mastering the mud-covered pitches of winter, the smell of Bovril wafting through the air, and the premier league title going around.

In the 14 seasons from 1958/’59 to 1971/’72, as many as eleven teams won the First Division (as it was then known), Man United, Liverpool and Everton the only ones to do a double.