Football legend Denis Law will be at Pittodrie today as a special guest of Aberdeen – and the 73-year-old still wishes he had been given the chance to play for the Dons during his illustrious career.
Law, who played for Huddersfield Town, Manchester United, Torino and Manchester City, and his former United team-mate and fellow Aberdonian John Fitzpatrick have been invited by the Dons to this afternoon’s match against Dundee United.
The pair will take a bow in front of the supporters at half-time and Law, the 1964 European footballer of the year and Scotland’s joint-top scorer of all time, says he would have loved the chance to have played on the Pittodrie turf.
He said: “I always wanted to play for Aberdeen but I didn’t get the opportunity. Do you think I wanted to go to Huddersfield as a young boy at 15 years of age when I was living in Aberdeen? I would have loved to have played for Aberdeen instead of having to leave home. I didn’t know anyone at Huddersfield. I was fortunate as the manager Andy Beattie realised I was a bit homesick and got another Aberdeen boy to come down, Gordon Low, who went on to have a good career as well.
“It was 11 hours on the train to get to Huddersfield in those days, so I would have loved to have stayed and played for Aberdeen.”
Fitzpatrick made almost 150 appearances for Manchester United before his career was cut short at the age of 26 after a succession of knee injuries.
He has been impressed by Derek McInnes’s new-look Dons.
He said: “There are a lot of promising young players coming through and Ryan Jack is one I have been impressed with. They can only get better.
“Derek McInnes comes across very well. He talks about the game in the right way.
“He isn’t scared to throw in the young players which is great because if they are good enough then they should get their chance. That was what happened with us.”
Law added: “This will be the first time I have seen the Dons since Derek McInnes took over and I am really looking forward to it.
“Hopefully, the supporters get behind the team and they get the win.”