The football world is in mourning following the death of Manchester United icon Denis Law. The news was announced on Friday evening.
Law, who has scored 30 goals in 55 international appearances for Scotland, is one of United's best ever players, scoring 237 times in 404 appearances for the club.
He became the only Scottish player to date to win the Ballon d'Or, taking football's greatest individual honor in 1964 – and won four major honors with the Red Devils, including a European Cup in 1967–68 .
Law was part of United's famous 'Holy Trinity' alongside George Best and England World Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton, who died in 2005 and 2023 respectively.
During his esteemed career, Law also represented Huddersfield, Torino and Manchester City twice, with one of the former striker's most memorable moments coming during a Manchester derby while playing for City.
It has been widely reported over the years that Law's final kick of his professional career saw United relegated when he scored the winner for City in their final game of the 1973-74 season.
In the 81st minute of the match, Law scored a daring backheel but refused to celebrate after realizing his former club were on the verge of dropping out of the First Division.
Law later said he felt terrible and hoped the goal would be disallowed for offside.
“I didn't want to go there and I especially didn't want to win the match,” Law said of the match. 'I didn't feel like going there and being defeated either, so the match went well for me. 0-0, five minutes to go, whatever.
'I had no idea where the goal was. I got it right on the heels of it, it was a complete fluke. I turned and Stepney went that way and the ball went into the back of the net.
'It was terrible. The referee gave the goal, but he could have given it all, couldn't he? He could have called offside, he could have given a foul… but he got a goal.
'I was very sad… that turned out to be my last ever kick in competitive football.'
The story continues to be told since one of United's greatest icons, who are third in their all-time top scorer list, saw them relegated.
However, this is not strictly true as Law was not in fact responsible for ending United's 36-year stay in the top flight.
Heading into the clash, United would only have survived if they had beaten City and also seen their relegation rivals Birmingham and West Ham drop points.
They would therefore have to win their subsequent rescheduled match against Stoke, which fell after the Manchester derby.
And despite their defeat to City, Birmingham defeated Norwich and West Ham conceded a point against Liverpool, meaning that even if Law had not scored the goal, the Red Devils would still have been relegated.
Tommy Docherty's side lost 1-0 at Stoke in their final game of the season anyway, meaning Law simply confirmed their fate, rather than being responsible for it.
Despite Law emphasizing that this was his last ever professional match, this was in fact not the case.
Law was under contract for the next campaign, but City's new boss Tony Book informed the forward that he would likely struggle for game time.
Law didn't want his career to end like this, so he tried to change Book's mind and made two appearances in the 1974–75 season.
However, he eventually decided to retire on 26 August 1974, with his last professional match against Oldham on 10 August.
Nevertheless, Law's goal remains perhaps the most famous goal in the history of the Manchester derby.
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