Terry Yorath: Leeds and Wales legend dies aged 75
Former Leeds United and Wales midfielder Terry Yorath has died aged 75 after a short illness.
Yorath scored 11 goals in 199 appearances for his first professional club, Leeds, over a nine-year period since 1967.
He won the First Division title with Leeds in 1974 and won runners-up medals in the FA Cup, European Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup.
He made 59 appearances for Wales, 42 of them as captain, and took the team to the brink of the 1994 World Cup finals as manager, only to see his team lose 2-1 to Romania in the final qualifiers.
Yorath played as a player for Coventry City, Tottenham Hotspur, Vancouver Whitecaps and Bradford City before completing his playing career with a solitary appearance at Swansea City.
Yorath, father of BBC Sport presenter Gabby Logan, was player-coach at Bradford on the day of the Valley Parade fire in 1985, which killed 56 fans and injured 270 others.
Yorath’s children said in a statement: “To many he was a revered football hero, but to us he was a father; a quiet, kind and gentle man. Our hearts are broken but we take comfort in knowing he will be reunited with our brother Daniel.” he said.
In addition to Gabby, Yorath had three other children: Daniel, Louise and Jordan.
In 1992, Daniel died from the genetic heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at the age of 15 while playing football at home with his father.
Gabby was presenting Match of the Day on Thursday night but left during broadcast and was replaced by Mark Chapman, who said his co-host had to leave due to a “family emergency”.
After hanging up his boots, Yorath moved into management, with stints in charge of Swansea, Wales, Bradford, Cardiff, Lebanon, Sheffield Wednesday and Margate.
He guided Swansea to promotion from the Fourth Division in 1988, before almost leading Wales to their first World Cup final since 1958.
Leeds United said they were “devastated” to hear of Yorath’s passing, adding: “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Terry’s family, friends and former team-mates at this incredibly sad time.”
Former Bradford striker Dean Windass posted on X: “Sad news, great man and gentleman. Thoughts RIP to his family.”
Yorath spent 44 games in charge of Margate FC, winning the Isle of Thanet Gazette Cup in 2009-10.
“Our thoughts are with Terry’s friends and family at this difficult time,” Margate FC said on X.
