Terry Yorath has died aged 75 after a short illness, with daughter Gabby Logan and her family saying their ‘hearts are broken’ but they’re comforted he’ll be reunited with son Daniel
Devastated Match of the Day host Gabby Logan has shared a moving tribute to her father, Terry Yorath, saying he’ll be reunited with his son, Daniel.
The ex-Wales football boss died at 75 following a brief illness. Gabby had to abandon Wednesday evening’s Match of the Day programme mid-broadcast due to what was termed a “family emergency”.
Word of Yorath’s passing has prompted an outpouring of tributes from across the footballing community. In a statement delivered on BBC Breakfast, Gabby and her relatives touchingly expressed their solace in knowing he would be reunited with his son, Daniel, who died tragically over three decades ago.
Daniel lost his life in 1992 at just 15 from the inherited cardiac condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy whilst playing football at home with his father.
Having recently signed for Leeds, Daniel was believed to be fit and healthy – there were no prior warning signs and he hadn’t previously shown any symptoms of illness or heart problems.
In 2022, Gabby told BBC Wales Live: “He was playing football in the garden with my dad and he fell over.
“My dad thought he just was messing about and went over and rolled him over, and he basically died on the spot – and had no previous indications whatsoever that there were any health problems at all with him.
“It’s like a sledgehammer coming down and sending everybody off in different directions, because it’s such a catastrophic thing to happen, and no warning – and everybody responds differently.”
Gabby, who was 19 at the time, added: “I was running around running from my grief probably and then by the end of my first year at university, so just around the time of his first anniversary I had some first year exams and it all kind of came crashing down.
“I’d stopped sleeping properly. I felt very wobbly, I just kind of lost my balance and I went to see a doctor and he gave me some sleeping tablets and I thought ‘That’s not what I need’.
“Even I knew that’s not the answer to what was going on, it was much deeper than that, it was the plaster and my dad had had a lot of problems with sleeping tablets. He said ‘Don’t take those, that’s not a good route’.”
Yorath’s passing was announced on Thursday morning, and the family statement read: “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 legendary figure for Leeds United throughout his playing days. He netted 11 goals across 199 appearances for Leeds, his inaugural professional club, during a nine-year period from 1967.
The club said: “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Terry’s family, friends and former team-mates at this incredibly sad time.”