They have been close friends since they started making waves in the football world back in the 1950s and 1960s.
And although Sir Alex Ferguson and Denis Law grew up in different cities, they were products of post-war working-class backgrounds who believed in the value of communities pulling together and the benefits of healthy exercise, which led to countless hours of football, come rain, hail or snow.
Only a year separates them: Law entered the world in Aberdeen in 1940 and Ferguson in Glasgow in 1941, but while they may be contrasting characters, they have been firm friends from the moment they first clapped eyes on each other and knuckled down to becoming the best they could be.
There was no denying that Law was a far superior player, a charismatic competitor with the ability to weave and feint past defenders as if they were statues, but Ferguson excelled in man-management and transforming good performers into exceptional ones through the force of his personality.
Memory lane
The Granite City moulded the young Denis into a lad who loved the game, even if he never actually played for the Dons, while Alex steered the Pittodrie club to their unprecedented series of triumphs in the 1980s – so it’s fitting that they have both previously been granted the Freedom of Aberdeen.
And it will welcome the duo back this week when a new statue of Law is unveiled by his long-time confrere and inspiration in a ceremony at Marischal Square where there will be plenty of chances to trip down memory lane.
Sir Alex has never had the reputation as being one of life’s shrinking violets, but he admitted to being awe-struck when he first met his compatriot.
He said: “Denis Law was my hero as a player, I idolised him.
“When I first met him, I was so excited. It was at a game in Paris, where he had played in the first half and we went for a cup of tea afterwards.
“I thought: ‘This is it, I’ve made it, I’m having a cup of tea with Denis Law!’
“For me, he epitomised everything that a Scotsman is about. He was daring and courageous, he had that bravado about him and he had style. He was a truly fantastic footballer.”
It’s more than 50 years since Denis Law was in his pomp, but, as Aberdeen’s greatest footballer, the former winner of FIFA’s Ballon d’Or remains as committed to helping his native city as ever.
Many former stars gradually turn into cantankerous curmudgeons, forever complaining things aren’t as good as they used to be in their day.
But Law, even now that he is fighting dementia, still has traces of the same blithe boy who didn’t receive his first pair of boots until he was 16, and subsequently developed into one of his country’s true nonpareils.
He has been in Manchester since the Swinging Sixties, taking a keen interest in affairs at Old Trafford even after his retirement and, as you might expect, he regards Sir Alex as one of the greatest managers in sporting history.
But not just for what he achieved with the Red Devils.
As Law said: “Just look at Alex’s record at Aberdeen, where he took on the Old Firm clubs and knocked them off their perch for a while. That was amazing.
“While he was at Pittodrie, he won all those league titles and domestic cups, then topped it off with the European Cup-Winners Cup in 1983.
“Aberdeen are a big club, but they’re not in the same league as Rangers and Celtic where money is concerned. So what he achieved and the strength of the squad he assembled tells you all you need to know about his ability.”
He added: “Fergie’s qualities are very similar to those of Sir Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Jock Stein. They all had that hunger to succeed.
“Every now and then, you can spot somebody has a spark, an ambition to move to a higher place and Alex had that throughout his career.
“I was actually surprised when he announced his retirement in 2013. I thought he would carry on until he was 90 before giving up.
He brought so much to Old Trafford
“When he came to United, originally, there was a spell that didn’t look good and he could even have been given the sack. Thank heavens he wasn’t.
“But then, he completely turned it around and created what Matt Busby had done. And he didn’t just create one great side, but two or three of them which dominated English football for 20 years.
“I see Alex quite often and I get on great with him – he’s a good friend and he has been for many years. I treasure the fact we have been friends for so long.”
Both these redoubtable individuals have retained links with the north east. Sir Alex regularly brought star-studded line-ups to Aberdeen for testimonial matches and he opened Cormack Park, the club’s training complex in 2019.
Denis, meanwhile, is delighted at how the Streetsport initiative, the creation of Cruyff Courts in his home city and the endeavours of the trust bearing his name has gathered the momentum of a snowball rolling down a mountain.
He said: “My love for the city and its harbour has never left me, and whenever we go back to visit, my wife, Diana, and I always take a drive round the place, and the city, seeing all the old granite buildings which are still there.
“They are part of my life and they always have been.”
No wonder the pair are held in such high esteem in Aberdeen and beyond.
