The Scottish Cup Final was not the only footballing event on May 24th (well done Dons!). That Saturday the Great and the Good of Aberdeen were out in force in the Printfield area of Woodside. We are accustomed to the occasional Great and odd Good hereabouts, but on the day, you could hardly move for Coonsillors, MPs, MSPS and Provosts around Printfield Terrace. The event was, of course, the opening of the much-vaunted Denis Law Trail.
There was a good-sized crowd around the start of the trail, there to celebrate Denis Law’s life and achievements. Speeches were made and one of the famous blue plaques unveiled at the flat where Denis was born and raised at 16 Printfield Terrace. Especially moving were the words from the Law family. Then we all went round the trail itself, ending up with a splendid do at the Printfield Community Project, where the Cup Final was appropriately on the go in glorious technicolour.
After all the hype, I myself found the trail itself a wee bit underwhelming. When we all had the pleasure of witnessing the wonderful mural slowly appearing on the side of Clifton Court, I had hoped the grandiose title of ‘trail’ would give the visitor a complete picture of Law’s growing up environment. In the end, it’s not so much a ‘trail’ as the Denis Law Stroll, or maybe Denis Law Trapse around the Printfield backies. That said, the stations on the trail do tell the tale of Law’s life well, and after all, this would have been the space where the youthful Denis would have honed his burgeoning skills with his pals. I thought the sign-post a nice touch, pointing to all the places Law applied his renowned skills. One small quibble is that the Lads’ Club in Law’s youth was not in Tillydrone but on Hutcheon Street.
Denis Law died in January this year at the age of eighty-four. You can’t help but wonder what he would have made of it, all this carry-on in the neighbourhood where he was brought up. He was a proud Scot, returning to his boyhood home often. Law had gathered many honours before and after his illustrious career, but you can’t help but feel that this posthumous honour would have been especially important to him.
Denis was one of the truly great and extremely good footballers and probably Aberdeen’s most famous sports personality. Aberdeen City have done a fine job commemorating his life. The Denis Law Trail is a must for all those who love the Beautiful Game.