Terence Charles Yorath (born 27 March 1950) is a Welsh former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager at both club and international level. He represented Leeds United, Coventry City, Tottenham Hotspur, Vancouver Whitecaps, Bradford City, Swansea City and the Welsh national team. He later became a

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

for Bradford City, Swansea City, Cardiff City and

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, as well as assistant at Huddersfield Town. Yorath also managed the

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

national teams.

Club career

Early career

Yorath was an apprentice at Leeds United signing professional forms at the age of 17. Along with other Leeds midfield players of the time, such as Mick Bates and Terry Hibbitt, he found it difficult to establish himself ahead of Don Revie's preferred pairing of Billy Bremner and Johnny Giles. Between 1967 and 1972 he made just 14 League appearances for Leeds.

Leeds United

In the 1972–73 season, injuries and suspensions allowed Yorath to establish himself as a first team regular. His first season ended with two cup final runners-up medals; he was a substitute in the 1973 FA Cup Final, which Leeds lost 1–0 to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, and also appeared in the 1973 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final, which Leeds lost in controversial circumstances to AC Milan. Yorath finally won some silverware the following 1973–74 season, where he was a key member of the Leeds championship winning side. Yorath became the first Welshman to play in a European Cup final when Leeds reached the final of the UEFA European Cup, but again Yorath ended up with a runners up medal as Leeds lost 2–0 to Bayern Munich in controversial circumstances. Don Revie had left Leeds to manage England, and his eventual replacement Jimmy Armfield decided to dispense with Yorath's services in 1976, selling him to Coventry City for £125,000. During his time with Leeds, Yorath made 120 appearances and scored ten goals.

Coventry City

Yorath would be captain to one of only a handful of top flight Coventry City sides that spent an entire season in the top ten. Spearheaded by the prolific strike partnership of Ian Wallace and Mick Ferguson, and ably abetted by the legendary winger Tommy Hutchison and attacking full backs Graham Oakey and Bobby MacDonald, the Sky Blues would enjoy a 7th-place finish in the 1977–78 season, narrowly missing out on European football. Yorath's Coventry side containing such notables as Alan Green, McDonald and Mick Coop are still fondly remembered even today by the Sky Blue faithful. A remarkable 5–4 win over Norwich City at Highfield Road, Christmas 1977, replete with bicycle kick by Ian Wallace and last gasp penalty save by Jim Blyth, lives long in Coventry folklore. Yorath remained at Coventry for three years, playing 99 games and scoring three goals and was captain for most of this period. He moved onto Tottenham Hotspur in 1979 for £300,000, and then briefly to Vancouver Whitecaps in 1981, where he made 59 appearances, scoring four goals in his two seasons with the club.

International career

Yorath picked up the first of 59 Welsh caps in 1970 against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and he maintained a regular presence in the international side until 1981. Yorath also captained his country on 42 occasions.

Managerial career

In 1982, Yorath joined Bradford City as player/assistant coach. He was injured during the Bradford City stadium fire disaster in 1985 when he was forced to jump out of a window after evacuating supporters from a bar. He subsequently took up the manager's position at Swansea City in 1986 (making a single and final league appearance), and led the club to promotion from the Division Four to the Division Three at the end of the 1987–88 season. In 1988, he was appointed part-time manager of

, eventually taking up the post on a full-time basis whilst still managing Swansea. However, this caused conflict with the club, and Yorath left Swansea to manage Bradford. He was dismissed by Bradford after just one year in charge, and returned to manage Swansea again. In 1991, after a run of nine consecutive defeats, he left Swansea for a second time to concentrate on managing Wales. Yorath was popular amongst the Wales players and fans and guided them to wins over Brazil in 1990 and World Cup holders Germany in a European Championship Qualifier in 1991. Under Yorath, Wales attained what was then their highest ever FIFA ranking of 27th in August 1993 and came close to qualifying for the 1994 World Cup tournament. The qualifying group started disastrously with a 5–1 defeat away to Romania. However, Yorath turned things around with victories over the Faroe Isles, Belgium and Cyprus. Needing to win their final game of the qualifying group at home to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, Paul Bodin's penalty hit the crossbar with the scores level at 1–1. Romania went on to win 2–1. Following the failure to qualify Yorath's contract as manager was not renewed, angering many Welsh fans and John Toshack, then manager of

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, was appointed as a part-time manager. However, Toshack resigned after just one game – a 3–1 defeat to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

with the team being booed off the pitch in Cardiff by the Welsh fans still upset at the dismissal of Yorath. Yorath joined Cardiff City as general manager in 1994, after speculation that he would become manager of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

in May that year, and assumed control of team affairs in November of that year when manager Eddie May left the club. However, his time in the hotseat with the Bluebirds was brief, and he was sacked opening the door for Eddie May to return in March 1995 with the club headed for relegation, but he could not save them from the drop. In April of the same year, Yorath took over as coach of the Lebanon national team, and helped them rise 60 places in the FIFA World Rankings before leaving in 1997. Between 1997 and 2000 he worked as a coach at Huddersfield Town and Bradford City, before joining

as assistant to Paul Jewell. Yorath retained his position when Jewell was dismissed, and eventually became manager in 2001. However, he resigned in 2002 after a run of five defeats in six league matches saw Wednesday drop into the relegation zone. In June 2008, Yorath returned to football when he was appointed the director of football at

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Premier Division side

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

, where his brother Dai and nephew Dean had both played. On 21 November 2008, he was appointed manager of the club after Barry Ashby was sacked. However, Yorath resigned as Margate manager on 24 September 2009 following a run of disappointing results, leaving

Neville Southall Neville Southall (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh Manager (association football), football manager and former international association football, footballer. He has been described as one of the best Goalkeeper (association football), goalk ...

in temporary charge of the team.

Personal life

Yorath is the father of television presenter Gabby Logan. His eldest son, Daniel, died aged 15 due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy after playing football with Yorath in their back garden in 1992. Yorath's autobiography, published in 2004, is titled ''Hard Man, Hard Knocks''.

Honours

Player

Leeds United *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1973–74 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 1972–73

Manager

Lebanon * Pan Arab Games third place:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

References

External links

* *
Profile on NASL Jerseys
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yorath, Terry 1950 births Living people People from Grangetown, Cardiff Footballers from Cardiff Welsh men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Leeds United F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Bradford City A.F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Wales men's under-23 international footballers Wales men's international footballers Welsh expatriate men's footballers Welsh expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Welsh football managers Bradford City A.F.C. non-playing staff Swansea City A.F.C. managers Wales national football team managers Bradford City A.F.C. managers Cardiff City F.C. managers Lebanon national football team managers Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff Sheffield Wednesday F.C. managers English Football League managers Isthmian League managers Welsh expatriate football managers Welsh expatriate sportspeople in Lebanon Expatriate football managers in Lebanon Welsh football coaches