One of the greatest – Sir Alex Ferguson leads tributes at funeral of Denis Law | OneFootball

Sir Alex Ferguson led the tributes to Denis Law as the football community paid their final respects to ‘the King’ in Manchester.

An exquisite footballer and a brilliant man, the much-loved former Manchester United and Manchester City forward died aged 84 on January 17.

Law remains the only Scottish player to have ever won the Ballon d’Or and no man has scored more goals for the national team.

Sir Kenny Dalglish is joint top with him on 30 goals and was among the mourners as Law was remembered in the heart of the city on which he left an indelible mark.

Former boss Ferguson was one of many United stars past and present at Tuesday’s funeral and paid a heartfelt tribute during the service inside Manchester Cathedral.

“Denis Law was one of the greatest players at Man United,” he said. “Doesn’t matter what time, all the time.

“Part of the Holy Trinity with Sir Bobby (Charlton) and George (Best) at a club that has nourished many greats and stars as far back as Sir Matt Busby’s days, who cemented our history as we know it today.

“Trying to place Denis in the pantheon of the great players is made easier by Pele. Pele was asked was there any British player who could play for the Brazil team. He said without equivocation, Denis Law. It was a fantastic tribute when you consider what a great player he was.”

The hearse made its way into the city centre from Old Trafford, where hundreds of fans congregated as the funeral cortege passed a ground where Law’s success saw him immortalised in two statues.

One of those looms over the East Stand forecourt, with Law stood with his right arm aloft between fellow United greats Best and Charlton. That ‘United Trinity’ statue faces one of former manager Sir Matt Busby.

Law’s daughter Diana Buckley – one of his five children – hopes there is now a new team in heaven.

“There is an Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman – don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a bad joke,” she said towards the end of a beautiful tribute to her father.

“They’re all up there in heaven, reunited, smiling down, and I’d like to think they’ve started a team with all the others. Sir Matt is at the helm and mum’s making them all a cup of tea.

“Dad would want me to thank you all for coming and, more importantly, for your friendships over the years. He has certainly left a legacy, and hopefully his character and contribution to football will inspire future generations.

“As a father, grandfather and father-in-law, he will be remembered for his unconditional love, his generosity and for just being fun and we will miss him.”

Bagpipes played as the proud Scotsman and Aberdonian’s coffin was carried into the packed funeral, where there was a mixture of prayers, hymns and readings on top of heartfelt tributes. At the end of the hour-long service, Law and Sir Rod Stewart’s rendition of ‘Angel’ echoed around the cathedral.

United head coach Ruben Amorim, captain Bruno Fernandes and long-serving defender Harry Maguire were among those in attendance, as were women’s team boss Marc Skinner and skipper Maya Le Tissier.

Chief executive Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox were there, so too a variety of Law’s former team-mates including Alex Stepney, Willie Morgan and Brian Kidd.

“He was just a wonderful person,” the latter said. “Very humble. I’ll never forget him, the ‘Lawman’. It’s a sad time.”

Former City team-mate Mike Summerbee was also in attendance. Law spent two spells there, on top of stints with Huddersfield and Italian side Torino.

United comfortably had the strongest representation at the funeral. Among the names in attendance were Wayne Rooney, Bryan Robson, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Peter Schmeichel was another and the former United goalkeeper said: “There are probably five names that go through Manchester United’s history and he’s one of those names.

“He was the King. How many statues are there around Old Trafford? He’s got two. Only the King gets two.”