The Law Man was quicker on the trigger than Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok, or Doc Holliday. Aye, he was extra special, a swaggering lethal sharp shooter who lit up football across the great divides of club and country.

As with all idols Denis Law had many nicknames...the Law Man, the King, and to opposing fans Denis The Menace, a cartoon character created in his homeland by The Beano comic.

Having died at the age of 84 all football will mourn him and for me it is a great personal loss.

His influence was everywhere - Rod Stewart, a great lover of Manchester United and Scotland, modelled himself on Law with the blond spiky hair and cocky walk while the parents of Dennis Bergkamp named him after the great man. Oh, I can hear you say the first name has a different spelling but then the Dutch authorities strangely insisted upon an extra 'n' because they believed the other way was too close to the girl's name Denise!

Rod, one of my musical icons, would I suspect have given up pop star adulation and millions of the crinkly stuff to have been Denis Law. Perhaps even for a day. If Rod loved him then everyone did. Denis was an inspiration, a free spirit, an extrovert one-off with a rare mix of impudence and intelligence.

He was very much part of the United Trinity alongside Bobby Charlton and George Best. The last of the three geniuses to depart our world. However their statue outside Old Trafford will act as a memory jogger to all of what once was. While Beatle Bestie was a ladies' man of considerable repute Denis like Bobby was very much a family man. The bond for all three was football.

I was lucky and privileged to know Denis really well. We did a lot of talk-ins throughout the North East, often when he was due to come to Newcastle to see one of his five kids who was at university here. He was a wonderful bubbly character with a twinkle in his eye and a permanent smile flickering round the corners of his mouth. A man with an abundance of stories and time for everyone.

As I write I can see a copy of the Denis Law Annual in my bookcase. It is signed by Denis thanking me for my contribution just as other annuals from the same stable are by George Best and Alan Ball. Happy days of special men.

I had my bit of fun with Denis, a habitual winner of silver while we won nought, after Newcastle beat him, Wor Bobby, and Bestie at Old Trafford. It was the weekend following a humiliating FA Cup exit at non-league Hereford but the Mags shocked Man U rigid defeating them 2-0. Did I let Denis know all about it? What do you think?

Law was born in an Aberdeen council tenement and brought up in severe poverty but his originality as a footballer shone through from an early age. If Denis got his big breakthrough thanks to a neighbourly family from Aberdeen, he was made by a legend Bill Shankly.

Andy Beattie, whose family were from Printfield Walk just across the road from the Law household, signed young Denis when he was a puny bairn with a severe squint and a pair of National Health wire specs. The club later paid for him to have an operation and his confidence came soaring through. Shanks was Beattie's assistant at the time but took over as manager in 1956.

Denis told me: "Shanks knew that to overtrain this skinny little Scot would be stupid but he wanted to beef me up so he paid for a cafe across the road from the ground to feed me. He was just like a father really. I learned all of my football knowledge from Bill Shankly."

The future Liverpool legend gave Law his chance in the first team at the age of 16. He was in fact little more than an amateur because a player could not go pro until he was 17. By 18 Denis was a fully fledged international with Scotland.

It may not be a country which has won a lot over history but it has produced a steady stream of super talented footballers. Consider Law, Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Alan Hansen, Jim Baxter, Billy Bremner and Dave Mackay. Newcastle have benefitted from quite a few - the likes of Hughie Gallacher, Bobby Mitchell, Frank Brennan, Jimmy Scoular, Bob Moncur, goalkeepers Jimmy Lawrence and Ronnie Simpson, Tony Green and Jinky Smith. Yet Scotland has only had one Ballon d'Or winner... Denis Law.

What is not realised by the casual fan is that Law, a player forever associated with Man U, twice played across the great divide at Manchester City sandwiched either side of his Old Trafford legend. Denis appeared 404 times for Man U scoring 237 goals but he was at Maine Road early doors before going off to Torino in Italy's Serie A as all great players did in those days and then returned to blue late in his career famously scoring an impudent backheel goal against the reds and refusing to celebrate in his anguish.

The trouble was Denis fell out with Tommy Docherty and the parting of the ways became inevitable. I worked a lot with the Doc too but always kept them firmly apart - Tommy had a wit as sharp as it could be cruel and the pair were never milk and honey.

On April 27 1974 Law got what some would perceive as his 'revenge' when he scored a back-heeled winner in the Manchester derby but rather than give his usual clenched fist salute he hung his head in dejection when his typically-instinctive finish beat Alex Stepney.

Denis thought he had relegated United but the Red Devils would still have gone even if he had not scored because their rivals for the drop, Birmingham City, won their match.

Law was immediately subbed after his controversial goal and never played league football again. It was his last act.