The ‘Holy Trinity’ of Manchester United have now sadly all died. The statute of them at Old Trafford is a reminder of three of the club’s greatest players – George Best, Sir Bobby Charlton and, the most recent to pass away, the ‘King’ Denis Law.

I have happy memories of all three, both on and off the pitch.

Sir Alex Ferguson once asked me who was the best player I ever saw play. As I never saw Pele in the flesh, so I replied George Best. He was so skillful and so brave, with the charisma to match.

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Pele had the World Cup stage in a great Brazilian team winning three World Cups –Sweden 1958, Chile 1962 and Mexico 1970. Best never reached with World Cup finals with Northern Ireland.

Best retired too young from United and died too young (59) in 2005. He was always magical to watch and charming, polite and helpful in my dealings with him off the pitch. It was so sad to see his decline through heavy drinking.

My wife, Katie, booked both Best and Law, after the two United greats had retired, together with Karren Brady with myself, for a customers’ night at the then Mercedes dealership in Stourbridge called Stillmans.

Law told a particularly lovely story, with Best listening, about one match. Best had the ball out on the wing and Charlton was in a good position to score if he makes the cross.

Best beat two opponents, Charlton started screaming at him to pass to him as Best beat another two. Then Charlton’s frustration turned to, “Oh! Great goal, George” as Best scored from a narrow angle.

Law was another superb footballer who was called ‘The King’ by United fans. He, too, had remarkable skills and just loved scoring with his trademark signal of pumping his right hand up in the air to celebrate.

He had speed, the turn and control. He would rather have played with the freedom of midfield, but Sir Matt Busby made him to play up front.

I spent the 1992 European Championships with ITV, covering Scotland with Law as my pundit. He was great fun and wonderful company, with plenty of humour.

But Law drove me crazy in his pursuit for a bath. It was all showers and saunas in Sweden!

After a spell in Gothenburg, the Scots moved to Norrkoping. When we checked into a country hotel there, Law enquired at reception if they had a room with a bath. The lady said there was one, which he took.

Sitting in my room five minutes later, I thought that this was too good to be true so I returned to the reception area.

There I found Law with hands on hips, sweater round his neck and smoking a cigarette asking the same lady: “Is my bath for (the equivalent of very small people)?”

The bath in his room turned out to be a bidet toilet! This is for washing personal parts and is very small.

The last time I was with Law was back in 2013 when he came to Sky Sports studios in Isleworth to appear on my series Sporting Heroes.

I introduced the programme, but thought it would be a good idea to ask Graham Taylor to interview Law, who was Graham’s hero. As ever, Law was smiling, funny and showing his great charm and personality. A special player and a special man.

Then there was Charlton, a man of class and dignity and an England World Cup hero from 1966. Another player with great skills and scorer of great goals for both United and England.

He became a good friend in the many years that I covered Manchester United.

He always came to say hello and have a chat on the many games that I covered with Sir Alex’s teams both at Old Trafford and around Europe. Charlton was a United director and wonderful ambassador loved around the world.

He did me a great favour before the 2002 World Cup final in Japan. ITV were head-to-head with the BBC for that final.

The ITV producers asked me to find a big name to do a live interview at the top of our coverage. I suggested our Charlton, who readily agreed.

He showed great patience as I guided him around the International Stadium in Yokohama to our interview spot high up in the stand in front of our camera.

Both Charlton and Law suffered from dementia in their last few years. Charlton died in October 2023, aged 86; Law passed on January 17, aged 84.

Three superstars and good people to be with. The ‘Holy Trinity’ of Manchester United will be remembered as long as football is played. I was lucky to know all three.

In next week’s Sunday Mercury, I will write about memories of Birmingham’s good looking heavyweight boxer Johnny Prescott, a star of the 1960s and ‘70s. He challenged Henry Cooper for his British and Commonwealth titles at St Andrew’s, where he was a big Blues supporter. He also had two memorable battles with Billy Walker.

Meanwhile, it is 23 years ago today since I suffered a stroke on my way to Manchester United. I am still here today and working! I will be writing about my recovery and other topics in my Tuesday column in both the Birmingham Mail and Coventry Telegraph, in association with Utilita Energy, as well as online.