Terry Yorath, former Wales and Leeds midfielder, dies aged 75

The former Leeds and Wales midfielder Terry Yorath has died at the age of 75 after a short illness, his family have said in a statement.

Born in Cardiff, Yorath played a big part in the Leeds team under Don Revie, winning the First Division title in 1974, before spells with Coventry, Tottenham and Bradford. He also won 59 caps for Wales.

Speaking on behalf of the family, his children said: “To most he was a revered footballing hero, but to us he was Dad; a quiet, kind and gentle man. Our hearts are broken but we take comfort knowing that he will be reunited with our brother, Daniel.”

Yorath was a key member of Leeds’ 1973-74 championship-winning team as Revie marked his final season at Elland Road by beating Liverpool to the title by five points. The following season Yorath became the first Welshman to play in the European Cup final when Leeds lost 2-0 to Bayern Munich in Paris.

Yorath, by now skipper of a Wales team that would reach the quarter-finals of Euro ’76 in an era when only the last four reached the tournament, moved on to Coventry in 1976. He was captain of a Sky Blues team that spent an entire First Division season in the top 10 – eventually finishing seventh – before joining Tottenham for £300,000 in 1979.

Yorath pictured with Coventry City in 1978. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy

Yorath wound his career down at Vancouver Whitecaps in Canada and at Bradford, where he became assistant manager to his former Leeds teammate Trevor Cherry. He was at Bradford in 1985 when 56 fans were killed by a fire at their Valley Parade home, Yorath himself injured when he was forced to jump out of a window after evacuating supporters from a bar.

After winning promotion at Swansea from the old Fourth Division, Yorath was appointed part-time manager of Wales and combined managerial roles at Swansea and Bradford with the national job before concentrating on Wales in 1991.

Wales reached their then-highest Fifa ranking of 27 in August 1993 and almost qualified for their second World Cup in the US in 1994. Needing to beat Romania at home in their final qualifier, Wales were drawing 1-1 in the second half when Paul Bodin’s penalty struck the bar. Wales ended up losing 2-1 and, instead of being granted national hero status by taking the country to the World Cup, Yorath found himself out of work.

The Football Association of Wales did not renew Yorath’s contract and appointed Real Sociedad’s John Toshack as a part-time manager instead. But Yorath’s former teammate resigned after just one game with Wales fans still upset at the dismissal of his predecessor.

At the start of that World Cup campaign he suffered personal tragedy when his son Daniel died at the age of 15 from an undetected heart condition while playing football in the back garden.

He was the father of three other children and his daughter Gabby Logan became a well-known broadcaster and television presenter.