Terry Yorath, former Leeds and Wales midfielder, dies at age 75
Terry Yorath, the former title-winning midfield enforcer for Leeds who captained Wales and came agonizingly close to qualifying his national team for the 1994 World Cup as its coach, has died following a short illness. He was 75.
Yorath's death was announced on Thursday in a statement by his family to British media. “To most he was a revered footballing hero," his children, including BBC TV presenter Gabby Logan, said in the statement, “but to us he was Dad; a quiet, kind and gentle man.”
The Football Association of Wales described Yorath as a “tough, intelligent and commanding midfielder” whose time as Wales coach “helped restore belief, competitiveness and national pride” in the national team. Yorath played 59 games for Wales from 1969-81, including 42 times as captain, and was in charge of the team from 1988-93.
He attempted to qualify Wales for its first World Cup since 1958 but a dramatic last-round 2-1 home loss to Romania — after Wales left back Paul Bodin missed a second-half penalty at 1-1 — meant the team missed out. It was in a nine-year spell at Leeds where Yorath flourished as a tough-tackling player, winning the First Division title in 1974 under manager Don Revie and being part of the team that lost the 1975 European Cup final to Bayern Munich in Paris.
He later had spells at Coventry, Tottenham and then Bradford, where he became player-assistant coach and was at the club's Valley Parade stadium in 1985 when a fire ripped through a wooden stand, killing 56 people. Daniel, one of Yorath's four children, died at the age of 15 in 1992 from a genetic heart condition after playing football in the garden with his father.
Gabby was presenting BBC soccer highlights show “Match of the Day” on Wednesday when she left part-way through the program to be replaced by Mark Chapman, who confirmed the change was made due to “a family emergency." “Our hearts are broken,” read the family statement, "but we take comfort knowing that he will be reunited with our brother, Daniel.
