THERE’S a lot hanging on Town’s clash with Peterborough United – just like there was the first time the two met, back in February 1957.

But while at the talk today is about promotion, 54 years ago it centred on a pearl of a player, Denis Law.

Plucked from junior football in Aberdeen as a frail-looking 15-year-old, Law had become Town’s then-youngest debutant at 16 years, 303 days when, as an amateur, he faced Notts County at Meadow Lane on Christmas Eve 1956.

He wasn’t allowed to sign professional forms until turning 17, which happened two days before Town hosted Peterborough, then a non-league club, in the fourth round of the FA Cup two months later.

Word of Law’s talents had spread like wildfire, with Manchester United, Everton, Wolves, West Brom, Celtic and Rangers among those sniffing around.

Town manager Bill Shankly knew he had a battle on his hands to keep the player he had blooded both at reserve level, when he worked alongside Andy Beattie, and in the Second Division (now the Championship).

But it was another fight the former amateur boxer won, as recounted in his autobiography Shankly: My Story, originally written in 1976 and now republished in paperback, almost 30 years on from his death.

“I wasn’t at the club when he first signed, but apparently Denis was six-and-a-half stone, skinny, had on little iron-rimmed glasses and had a squint,” wrote Shankly, who was to become the legendary manager of Liverpool.

“But when he played, he was like a weasel, in and out, going through everybody’s legs.

“When I came, Denis was in the junior team, and after he gave Manchester United a terrible time in an FA Youth Cup tie, Matt Busby was very impressed.

“Denis stood out with his enthusiasm and will to win – nastiness if you like. He would have kicked you to have won. He had a temper and he was a terror, but with ability.

“One Sunday I got a phone call from his landlady who said Denis had hit one of the other apprentices.

“I went down there, asked what had happened, and was told the lad had said something Denis didn’t like.

“I said ‘Well let that be a lesson to you in future – keep your mouth shut’, because if he’d said it again, Denis would have hit him again. That’s the kind of fellow he was!”

While some doubted Law’s ability to withstand the rigours of first-team football, Shankly knew he had a diamond – and was determined to keep him at Leeds Road for as long as possible.

“We had a big problem, because as an amateur, Denis was free when he turned 17,” he explained.