Terry Yorath was a stoic warrior for Wales and his title-winning Leeds side, writes IAN LADYMAN – but his greatest achievement was always finding a way to prevail through immense tragedy

Terry Yorath was a determined footballer, a title-winning midfielder at Leeds United and a formidable warrior in red Wales. Football and all the challenges presented to a player of his position in the mud and nettles of the 1970s and 1980s never came close to leaving a scar.

But when life dealt Yorath the cruelest blow on a sunny day in his own garden almost thirty-five years ago, he may never have fully recovered.

Yorath, who has died aged 75, lost his teenage son, Daniel, to an undiagnosed heart condition during a backyard trip in 1992.

‘The moment I saw Daniel’s eyes I knew he was dead,’ Yorath wrote in the Guardian in 2005.

‘That afternoon will never leave me.’

Yorath dealt with the tragedy in the same way he handled his football for Leeds, Coventry, Tottenham and Wales. Doggedly, stoically, and without outward fuss or complaint. But the stranger—a lady—who showed up at his door a week after Daniel’s death and told him he would never forget it, was right. By his own frank and heartbreaking admission, he never did.

But the life of the former actor and his family was forever marked by the death of his son Daniel (pictured in 1978).

Yorath remains unchanged in his generous spirit, his love as a father and his dedication to the sport he adores. He never really stepped up to the outside world.

For example, had it not been for Paul Bodin’s missed penalty in Cardiff in 1993, Yorath could have led his country all the way to the 1994 World Cup Finals in America.

He continued to work diligently at Cardiff and Sheffield Wednesday and even had a successful spell as coach of the Lebanon national team. Meanwhile, when a journalist he knew had a health problem with one of his own children, Yorath was the first to answer the phone.

But if grief did not entirely define Yorath in the second half of his life, which began in Cardiff’s Grangetown in March 1950, it did cast a persistent and sometimes devastating shadow. Alcohol was a particular problem for a while.

“I was stubborn and resisted counseling,” Yorath said.

‘I know I have to go now.

‘I went to see a medium but I didn’t really believe it and never went again. ‘All I did was cry anyway.’

Yorath’s football training was very difficult. A 17-year-old Leeds apprentice, his intelligent and crafty defensive midfielder was perfect for what Don Revie was building at Elland Road and would be ideally suited to the Premier League today. Unfortunately, two players, Bremner and Giles, stood in his way.

Although it took some time to break into a Leeds team full of great players, Yorath eventually found his footing (withdrew in 1974)

It took a long time for the time to come. He barely played during his formative years at the club. But Yorath was a quiet, unhurried student who understood the Leeds culture of the 1970s. As he began to fully advance, he became very knowledgeable about unity, collective spirit and, above all, the importance of finding a way to prevail.

Yorath won a league title at the age of 24 and stood shoulder to shoulder with the greats of the Revie side in doing so. Hunter, Lorimer, McQueen, Cherry, Grey. He soon realized his disappointment. The European Cup Winners’ Cup final was controversially lost to AC Milan in 1973, and a similar European Cup Final was lost to Bayern Munich two years later.

None of this team, indeed Revie, could easily shake off the mantle of perceived injustices. But unfortunately for Yorath, true perspective would emerge over time.

After his playing career, which included almost 350 league appearances and 59 Wales caps (42 of which were won as captain), ended in 1986, management was a natural call for a man of empathy, deep thought and understanding.

But the first great loss of his life was felt at Valley Parade, Bradford, on a desperate spring day in May 1985. Yorath, the club’s then-manager, threw a chair through the window of the directors’ lounge to escape a fire that would kill 56 people.

“He didn’t sleep very well for a long time after that incident,” TV presenter Gabby Logan, Yorath’s daughter, told an ITV documentary.

Yorath never shied away from a challenge as a manager and took over in Lebanon in 1995.

During his time as Wales head coach, Yorath’s squad was just one stroke away from the World Cup.

‘This was a terrible, terrible tragedy and it was never going to be something my father just walked away from.’

Logan, who was at the stadium that day as a 12-year-old boy, was presenting Match of the Day last night when he was informed of his father’s deterioration. His colleague Mark Chapman took his place in the chair.

Yorath was a father of four children – he also had another daughter, Louise, and another son, Jordan – and a jointly released statement noted the hardships endured by a family shattered by the loss.

‘To many he was a revered football hero, but to us he was a father; a quiet, kind and gentle man,” she said in the letter.

‘Our hearts are broken, but we take comfort in knowing that our brother Daniel will be reunited with him.’

Yorath’s campaign to raise awareness about Daniel’s heart condition (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) was admirable and will save lives. Likewise, he never made excuses for some of the life patterns that followed after his son’s death.

In 2004, while driving home from a country club dinner that exceeded the legal alcohol limit, Yorath hit a teenage girl with his car.

“I can’t believe I almost killed someone else’s child after Daniel,” Yorath wrote in the Guardian a year later.

Following Daniel’s tragic death, Yorath started campaigning to raise awareness of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (pictured with daughter Gabby Logan)

‘Spending the night in a police cell was a humiliating experience and I was horrified at the thought of going to prison.

‘I was very upset when I read my parole report.

‘In fact it said: “I recommend that Mr. Yorath not receive a prison sentence because in his present state of mind he may commit suicide.”

‘I don’t think for a minute I’ll do it, but you never know, right?

‘My friend Alan Davies, a player I signed three times, committed suicide. I didn’t see this coming, so who knows what would have happened to me if I had gone to prison?

‘I was lucky enough to end up doing my community service on a farm, helping disabled children ride horses. This experience opened my eyes.

‘I was embarrassed by my time there. Life goes on.’

For Yorath, life went on, although it was never the same. He continues to be respected at all the clubs he plays for. Wales legends in particular, including Ian Rush, Neville Southall and Kevin Ratcliffe, will mourn the loss of a leader, a mentor and a man who came close to scoring a penalty kick that led them into the best summer of their lives.

Typically, Yorath never blamed Bodin for the shot that hit the crossbar against Romania at Cardiff Arms Park. He has never been one to delegate responsibility to someone else. This was his team and therefore his failure. The Football Association of Wales clearly thought so, as his managerial contract was not renewed.

This decision angered the Welsh public, who today grieve the loss of one of their true heroes. Yorath was a great football player not because of his sport, but because of his life, and there is no shame in that.

His 2005 autobiography was titled ‘Tough Man, Hard Knocks’. On reflection, maybe that was only half true.