Ken Jones: The King is dead as United's history is rewritten by the BBC

The careers of Denis Law, Jimmy Murphy, Nobby Stiles, Pat Crerand and other notable figures from Manchester United's past went untouched on BBC television last Sunday night in a welter of omission. An hour-long history of the club, punctuated with the prattling of celebrity supporters, gave not a mention to any of them.

Having arrived at a point in my life where nothing in sport seems to matter very much and nothing very much matters, I watched the programme with only half an eye until it became clear that Law had been written out of the script. This was roughly the equivalent of producing a history of horse racing without reference to Lester Piggott. Ignoring Rocky Marciano's status in heavyweight boxing. Len Hutton's in cricket. Or, as a colleague indignantly put it, failing to include Julius Caesar in a history of the Roman Empire.

Even if Law chose to tell the BBC what they could painfully do with a predictably flawed programme (allowing for dumb editorial constraints), it was not an excuse for overlooking his consistently dramatic contribution to Manchester United's success during the Busby era.

The day after the programme went out I spoke with one of its more credible contributors, the boxing manager and trainer Brian Hughes, whose genuine passion for the club provided relief from a bombardment of populist drivel. "I was amazed to discover that Denis [Law] had been left out," Hughes said. "Supporters didn't call him 'King' for nothing. And what about Nobby [Stiles]. Without Nobby to put the clamps on Euesbio, I doubt very much whether a pretty average Manchester United would have beaten Benfica in the 1968 European Cup Final. And yet he was another who barely got a mention."

One of the reasons I contacted Hughes is that he has written a book about Jimmy Murphy, whose devoted effort when serving for many years as Busby's valued assistant is regrettably underplayed by historians and programme makers. A tough Welshman from the Rhondda Valley in south Wales and a pre-war international, it was Murphy who hauled Manchester United through the trauma of the Munich air disaster while Busby fought to recover from serious injuries. "Sadly, it's been forgotten just how much Jimmy did for the club," Hughes added.

It includes Murphy's prominent, indeed critical, role in the development of outstanding graduates from the Manchester United youth team, including Bobby Charlton and Duncan Edwards. Bearing down on Mexico's goal at Wembley during the 1966 World Cup finals, Charlton heard Murphy's voice. "I could hear him saying 'Just hit the target son, just hit the target'," Charlton said. Letting fly from fully 25 yards, Charlton found the roof of Mexico's net.

There are plenty of stories that stand as a tribute to Murphy's gruff tuition, all of them worth more than the wearisome affection of actors and television presenters who have scrambled to board the Manchester United bandwagon. But then Murphy belongs in a proper survey of the club's history, not a mess of cheap comment and tired images.

The period in Manchester United's history between the dreadful accident in 1958 and victory in the 1963 FA Cup final took the presenter of last week's programme, the actor James Nesbitt, only seconds to dismiss. It sounded something like: "The next five years..." as if that time was unimportant, which it probably was for the scriptwriter because no prizes came to Old Trafford.

Apart from Murphy's ongoing contribution to United's recovery, big things that happened during those years were the arrival of Paddy Crerand from Celtic and, subsequently, the purchase of Law from Torino, where he had spent many unhappy months after joining them from Manchester City.

An immediate success, Law preceded George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham as a Manchester United icon. Alex Ferguson considers him to be Scotland's greatest-ever player. Asked to compare Law with Eusebio, the late João Saldanha, who coached Brazil during the 1960s, said: "There is no comparison. Law is out of this world, he would walk into our team."

Saldanha was referring to the team of Pele, Gerson, Tostão and Jairzinho. That the BBC could find no place for Law tells us something. What they are saying is leave sporting history to us. Be warned. It is not safe with them.