{"id":265016,"date":"2026-01-26T17:23:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T17:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/265016\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T17:23:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T17:23:14","slug":"footballer-terry-yorath-remembered-as-funny-kind-man-at-funeral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/265016\/","title":{"rendered":"Footballer Terry Yorath remembered as ‘funny, kind man’ at funeral"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iolo Cheung,reporting from Leedsand<\/p>\n

Angela Ferguson,BBC Wales<\/p>\n

\"PAPA Media<\/p>\n

Terry Yorath’s daughter Gabby Logan was among the family members to attend the funeral<\/p>\n

Family and friends have paid moving tributes to Wales football legend Terry Yorath, with his son describing him as a “funny, kind, humble and proud man”.<\/p>\n

Around 100 mourners attended the funeral of the Cardiff-born midfielder, who died aged 75 earlier this month<\/a> following a short illness.<\/p>\n

The service, which included hymns from the Welsh choir C\u00f4r Meibion Taf, took place at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Leeds, before a wake at Leeds United’s Elland Road ground.<\/p>\n

Yorath’s son Jordan said the family were appreciative of the “truly heart-warming stories” shared by well-wishers.<\/p>\n

\"PAPA Media<\/p>\n

Floral tributes adorned the coffin as it arrived at the church<\/p>\n

He said his father “persevered through pain” following the death of Daniel, who collapsed and died suddenly when he was 15 from the genetic heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.<\/p>\n

Yorath was also player-coach of Bradford in 1985 and was at Valley Parade when a fire killed 56 people. <\/p>\n

“Football was his lifeblood,” said Jordan, noting that after the Bradford fire, Yorath attended the funerals of all those who died. <\/p>\n

Presenter and comedian Elis James delivered a eulogy, saying that Daniel’s death “devastated the whole family and the whole community”, coming seven years after the “horror” of Bradford. <\/p>\n

Yorath was “ravaged by grief”<\/a> for the rest of his life, James said, adding that despite this “wherever he went he left people feeling better\u2026 he had time for everyone”.<\/p>\n

James added that the hope was that after Yorath’s final breath, “what he heard was ‘Hello Dad'”. <\/p>\n

Speaking after the service, James said it was an “honour” to have read a eulogy to Yorath.<\/p>\n

“His Wales team of the 80s and 90s is what made me fall in love with football,” James told the BBC.<\/p>\n

“He was part of every big moment in Welsh football between the 70s and the 90s, either as captain or manager.<\/p>\n

“For me, he’s on the Mount Rushmore of Welsh football.”<\/p>\n

Footballer-turned-pundit Chris Kamara described it as a “beautiful service”. <\/p>\n

“Terry – what a marvellous career. He did everything and he suffered as well – the Bradford fire and his son Daniel. What a man,” he said. <\/p>\n

Liverpool legend Ian Rush paid tribute to Yorath for the huge influence he had on his career. <\/p>\n

“He gave me all the confidence,” Rush told BBC outside the church. <\/p>\n

“As a manager he always put players before himself and he was something special.”<\/p>\n

Rush said he would “never forget” the day in 1991 when he scored the winning goal when Wales beat Germany 1-0.<\/p>\n

“It was with the help of Terry making me feel confident and that’s something I’ll never forget,” he added.<\/p>\n

\"Ian<\/p>\n

Ian Rush was among the former footballers to attend the service<\/p>\n

Yorath’s coffin was adorned with flowers in the blue, yellow and white colours of Leeds United, along with a floral arrangement in the shape of the Wales flag.<\/p>\n

As the cortege entered the church, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau was sung and the first hymn was Cwm Rhondda.<\/p>\n

His grandchildren, Paloma and Phoenix Yorath also led prayers.<\/p>\n

Gabby Logan’s son, Reuben Logan, read a poem before her daughter Lois Logan sang the hymn Jerusalem, at Yorath’s request.<\/p>\n

The service ended with Danny Boy, sung by C\u00f4r Meibion Taf, in what was described as a “poignant” tribute to Daniel.<\/p>\n

The choir also sang You’ll Never Walk Alone as the congregation left the church.<\/p>\n

The family then on to a private burial service, with a wake to be held afterwards at Leeds’ stadium, Elland Road.<\/p>\n

\"PAPA Media<\/p>\n

In 1975, Yorath became the first Welshman to play in a European Cup final<\/p>\n

James said Yorath “was fierce and proud to play for his country”, captaining the team during the Euro 1976 campaign.<\/p>\n

He was also instrumental in pushing for changing the anthem played before Wales games from God Save The Queen to Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, James said.<\/p>\n

In his personal life, Yorath encouraged his children to play all sorts of sports, many of which they excelled at.<\/p>\n

In his sermon, Father Dennis Cassidy said Yorath “lived life to the full in generosity”. <\/p>\n

He paid tribute to his “warmth, kindness and sense of humour”, adding that the family was “deeply moved by the very many messages that they have received”.<\/p>\n

“Those who are mourned are not forgotten,” he added.<\/p>\n

\"GettyGetty Images<\/p>\n

Gabby Logan said she had found comfort in the support shown by fans and people from across the football world<\/p>\n

Several former Wales players who played under Yorath were among those filing out the church following the service. <\/p>\n

They included Ian Rush, Kevin Ratcliffe and Mickey Thomas, as well as representatives from the Football Association of Wales.<\/p>\n

Former Leeds striker Noel Whelan and former Wolves player Don Goodman were also among the mourners at the service, along with sports commentator Bryn Law.<\/p>\n

Yorath captained Wales in 42 of his 59 international appearances, and was part of the Leeds side that won the First Division in 1973-74 and lost in the 1975 European Cup final.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Eleri Griffiths and Oliver Slow <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iolo Cheung,reporting from Leedsand Angela Ferguson,BBC Wales PA Media Terry Yorath’s daughter Gabby Logan was among the family…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-265016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}