Terry Yorath: Leeds United manager leads tributes to a true leader on and off the pitch
TERRY YORATH showed his leadership qualities in 42 games as captain of Wales, and as the manager who came close to taking them to a first World Cup for 36 years, not to mention wearing the armband for Coventry City.
Yorath has died aged 75 after a short illness.
A key figure in arguably the best team Leeds United ever, Yorath managed Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford City, and coached Huddersfield Town.
But his leadership came to the fore in something far more important than football.
In 1985, Yorath was the player-coach of a Bradford side celebrating promotion from Division Four when a fire broke out at Valley Parade during their game with Lincoln City.
As it took hold, he helped evacuate supporters, including his own family, from the directors lounge, breaking a window and jumping out of it to save himself.
In the days that followed, he visited victims in hospital.
“It was the people who were injured who were lifting us up,” he recalled. “They were so pleased we had got promotion. We were telling them, ‘We’ve come to see you,' and they were turning the tables on us. It made us feel so humble.”
Yorath's emergence as a midfielder at Elland Road was somewhat unexpected given as a schoolboy he was seen more as a rugby union scrum-half, then a defender when he joined Leeds aged 15.
Manager Don Revie saw ball-playing capabilities he felt better suited to midfield. The only problems were Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles, Paul Madeley and Eddie Gray – hard players to get past.
Yorath only made 14 league appearances between 1967 and 1972 despite becoming a full Welsh international in 1969.
But in 1972-73 injuries and suspensions allowed him to establish himself. He ended it playing in the FA and European Cup Winners' Cup finals, only to lose both. The following season he was a regular in Revie's last and most expansive title-winning side, which reached the 1975 European Cup final under his successor, Jimmy Armfield.
The 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich was controversial, with Leeds to this day believing they were robbed.
He played for Coventry and Tottenham Hotspur before combining his first coaching job with playing for Vancouver Whitecaps. Next came Bradford, managed by another former Leeds colleague, Trevor Cherry, in December 1982.
He first managerial post was at Swansea City in 1986, combining it with the job as Wales manager two year later. He left Swansea for Bradford in February 1989 despite the Welsh club's legal attempts to stop him, but lasted just 13 months before returning to Vetch Field.
When Wales narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 1994 World Cup his now full-time contract was allowed to run down.
Later he would manage Lebanon, a country at civil war, and guided them 60 places up the FIFA World rankings in a two-year stint.
He coached Huddersfield and Bradford, assisting Peter Jackson and Paul Jewell respectively. He followed Jewell to Sheffield Wednesday in 2001, succeeding him later that year.
He resigned in 2002 after a run of five defeats in six league matches but remained a popular figure in Yorkshire footballing circles for the rest of his life, working in hospitality at Elland Road.
Leeds manager Farke cited Yorath as an inspiration to his 21st century players.
"He was a proper club legend," said the German.
"One thing's for sure he will never be forgotten and always part of our Leeds United family. His legacy will live forever here.
"We speak about our Welsh warriors here – Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu and all the others – and he was definitely a role model as a Welsh warrior who did so well for us as a club."