Denis Law was the “ordinary man who did extraordinary things” and put Scottish football on the world stage according to former Aberdeen manager Alex Smith.
The former Scotland, Manchester United and Manchester City striker died on Friday at the age of 84.
The Aberdonian, the only Scottish player to have won the Ballon d’Or, is the joint leading scorer in Scotland after netting 30 goals in 55 appearances for his country.
Former Dons boss Smith struck up a friendship with Law through their mutual friend Billy Bremner and says Law was a tremendous sporting ambassador for Scotland.
Smith said: “He was an ordinary guy who did extraordinary things. He was just special.
“He had this mentality where he could meet and play amongst the best yet be an ordinary guy, that’s what I remember of him.
“He was born with it, like all the great players.
“He was a shining light of Scotland. One of the big things that football people from Scotland enjoy, is being able to say where they come from.
“If you went abroad and said you were from Scotland the answer was always ‘Scotland? Ah, Denis Law.’
“He was from Aberdeen but the whole world knew him.”
‘He had time for everybody’
Law’s exploits for club and country are legendary and it is a measure of his ability that he was sold for a British record transfer fee on three occasions during his career.
He was a leading figure in football during his career and held in high regard but despite revelling in the fame his talent had given him, Smith insists Law remained an engaging yet humbler figure off the pitch.
The former Dons boss said: “I was fortunate enough to meet him in my managerial visits to London and Leeds when Billy Bremner played there.
“Billy was a mutual friend of Denis and I so we were in each other’s company several times.
“He was a great fella, apart from being a great footballer.
“His nature was great, he had time for everybody. He was one of those guys who, once he knew your name he would quickly pull you right into the conversation about football.
“Everything was so simple for him, despite the fact that at that time, he was a star in the game.”
Smith insists Law’s natural ability meant he would have been a star in any era and believes the sporting great would still have succeeded alongside the current superstars on the global age in the modern era.
He said: “I have no doubt he’s up there amongst the best ones to play the game.
“Take any modern day great and he would have been every bit as good as them in the games. Maybe a different style, but he would adapt.
“He was tremendous. He was a great player and a great finisher but above all else he was a wonderful ambassador for Scottish football.”
Law was truly special
Smith believes Law’s success in football speaks volumes of the former striker’s character.
Law was just a schoolboy when he left his family behind in the Granite City to pursue his dream of being a professional football player.
A diminutive figure but one with the heart of a lion, Law’s prowess meant he would play in England and Italy, as well as for his country, in a glittering career.
Smith says to do it all despite being homesick from his beloved Aberdeen in the early years of his career is testament to the drive Law possessed.
He said: “What made him stand out was that he didn’t come from the middle of Glasgow, or the middle of Edinburgh, or any of these heavily congested areas.
“He was an Aberdeen lad. They tended to have to have their own kind of character, you know?
“To make it back then you had to go to bigger stages in bigger cities to play football. He handled all that.
“I always remember his first game at Hampden when he scored with the header. He was only an inch bigger than me, but he looked bigger.
“He knew he was very good. He loved the limelight, he loved the one hand up in the air celebration when he scored a goal.
“There have been a lot of great players come out of Aberdeen, but Denis had a flair about him which set him apart, not just from his city but perhaps his country.
“He was truly special.”
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