Club Legend: Ron Yeats
There are so many people associated with Liverpool Football Club that it is almost impossible to label any of them as being the true catalyst for the club’s success over the years. Bill Shankly will always be thought of as the father of modern day Liverpool FC, whilst Kenny Dalglish’s work on the pitch, in the dugout and simply as an ambassador will mean he’s never far from the conversation.
If you want to discuss players that changed everything, though, the name of Ron Yeats will quickly be on your lips. The ‘colossus’ that Shankly brought in from Scotland helped his fellow Scot change the direction the Reds were heading in forever.
@lfconline As we mourn the passing of Liverpool legend Ron Yeats, here he talks about meeting Bill Shankly for the first time. RIP Big Man! ronyeats billshankly liverpoolfc lfc liverpool
He arrived at the club when Liverpool were in the Second Division, helping Shankly get them promoted into the top-flight. As if that wasn’t good enough, he went on to win the First Division twice, as well as being part of the team that lifted the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history. Even after he left he remained in the game, being player-manager for Tranmere Rovers on the Wirral, having been Liverpool captain for more than 400 games during his time at Anfield.
His death in the September of 2024 showed the measure of the main, with everyone within the game offering their condolences for one of the best ever.
Life Before Liverpool
Ronald Yeats was born on the 15th of November 1937 in Aberdeen, Scotland. When he was a young lad he began playing for Aberdeen Lads’ Club and became an Under-15 schoolboy international. He broke his leg in the 1950s, recovering from that enough to head to Elgin City for a trial with the then-Highlands League club.
He wasn’t offered a contract, so he returned to Aberdeen and continued playing as a youngster there. In 1957 he signed for the part-time Scottish Division Two club Dundee United, having been spending his time before then earning money by working in a slaughterhouse not far from his home in the granite city.
When Bill Shankly signed Ron Yeats from Dundee United he was so chuffed he told the press: ‘With Yeats at centre-half we could play Arthur Askey in goal & still win.’
R.I.P. Ron Yeats. pic.twitter.com/DuYqMoVrMh
— Martin Knight (@MartinKnight_) September 7, 2024
When Jerry Kerr was appointed as Dundee United manager, he noticed Yeats’ ability as a centre-half almost immediately. So integral did he consider Yeats to be that he asked the military authority to allow the defender to leave his National Service duty each Saturday in order to ensure that he could play.
As Kerr’s first season in charge came to an end, St Johnstone won the title but Dundee were battling with Hamilton Academical and Queen of the South for the other promotion spot. A 1-0 win over Berwick Rangers on the final day of the season ensured promotion, seeing the club play top-flight football for the first time since the 1930s.
Moving to Liverpool
The following season saw Dundee United cement their place in the Scottish First Division, finishing in a respectable ninth place. Yeats had been a crucial part of that, flourishing under Kerr’s management alongside the likes of Jim Irvine and Dennis Gillespie.
He played so well that he had caught the eye of Liverpool manager, and fellow Scot, Bill Shankly. He had played 118 games for Dundee United, 95 of which were league games, when Shankly persuaded him to depart Tannadice Park for pastures new, agreeing a fee of around £20,000 for his signature. Almost as soon as he arrived at Anfield, Shankly made him the club captain.
It was the first time that Yeats was seen by the press that became folklore. Standing at six foot and two inches and being stocky in build, Yeats was an imposing figure. That caused Shankly to tell members of the press to head into the Liverpool dressing room and ‘take a walk around him‘, describing him as a ‘colossus’.
Years later, Shankly would admit that the signing of Yeats as well as the arrival of Ian St John was the ‘turning point’ for Liverpool. Yeats’ debut came in a 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers in the league, with the Reds finishing the season eight points clear at the top of the table in an era when it was two points for a win.
Winning Silverware
Although Shankly had jokingly said that the Reds could ‘play Arthur Askey in goal‘ as long as they had Yeats in central defence, the reality was that the Scot was putting together a team that could compete with the best of them. If Yeats still needed to win over some Liverpool fans then that almost certainly happened on the 23rd of November 1963 when he scored the winning goal in a 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.
It was part of the club’s winning run that saw them crowned Football League champions at the end of the 1963-1964 season, which wasn’t too bad for a club that had been little more than a decent Second Division side before his arrival.
One of the good things about being my age is that I'm old enough to have seen Ron Yeats entire LFC career. A giant of a man, an absolute rock at the heart of our defence. The centre of Shank's famous "spine" & the catalyst for much of what has happened since. R.I.P. big man.
— @voiceofanfield (@VoiceOfAnfield) September 7, 2024
Shankly will have been incredibly proud of his achievement in winning the First Division title, but there was another trophy that the Scot had long had his eye on: the FA Cup. Liverpool had never won the famous trophy, missing out in losing finals instead of being able to lift the cup on the Wembley steps.
That was about to change, though, thanks to an FA Cup final appearance against Leeds United in 1965. The game itself went to extra-time, with the Reds ending up as 2-1 winners and Yeats, as captain, being the first to hoist the FA Cup above his head in the red of Liverpool, delighting everyone associated with the club.
Being Bombed Out
The FA Cup win made up for Liverpool losing in the semi-final of the European Cup to Inter Milan, but more trophies were to follow. At the end of the 1965-1966 campaign the Reds were champions of England once again, coupling that with a trip to Hampden Park in Yeats’ native Scotland for the final of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.
Sadly, though, Liverpool lost to Borussia Dortmund in extra-time. When they were drawn to face Johan Cruyff’s Ajax in the second round of the European Cup in the 1966-1967 season, the Reds were taught a footballing lesson and drew 2-2 at Anfield as well as losing 5-1 in Amsterdam to be knocked out 7-3 on aggregate.
@fulltimefanatics Rest in peace Ron Yeats: Liverpool legend passes away #restinpeace #liverpool #ronyeats #football #rip #legend #facup
For Shankly, the lack of European success would always rankle. More importantly, Liverpool entered something of a fallow period and the Scot knew that he needed to do something quite dramatic in order to improve the club’s fortunes.
The ‘dramatic’ thing that he opted for was a ruthless cull of many of the older players that he had brought in to give Liverpool such amazing success. One of the main victims of this vicious cull was the ‘colossus’, with Yeats being all but bombed out of the side. Having played 458 games for the Reds, more than 400 of which came as captain, he left the club in 1971 as one of the best defenders ever.
Life After Liverpool
Ron Yeats was the model for Liverpool’s all-red kit the first time that Shankly organised for them to wear it, yet nothing lasts forever. He had been the club captain for a decade, putting in place the building blocks on which the clubs future success would be built.
That is perhaps why he didn’t want to travel too far from his Liverpool home, becoming the player-manager of Tranmere Rovers in 1971. He played 97 league games for the Wirral side, scoring five goals. In 1974 he left the club, then a year later he took on a similar role at Barrow, remaining there until 1977. At that point he left the country and ended up in America.
So sad to hear about the passing of Ron Yeats. An incredible player and captain. Not to mention a bloody good scout too finding Sami Hyypia! pic.twitter.com/nE0QWpqdeK
— Jay Pearson (@JimmyCully) September 7, 2024
Initially playing for the Los Angeles Skyhawks, he then ended up being the player-manager for the American Soccer League side the Santa Barbara Condors. That was a short-lived arrangement, with Yeats obviously deciding that management wasn’t really for him. Instead, he went back to playing, appearing for another Merseyside team in Formby for ten league games prior to seeing his playing career out at Rhyl.
Having retired from football in 1978, Ron Yeats returned to Liverpool in 1986 when he took on the role of Chief Scout, which was a role that he remained in until he chose to retire from football in the May of 2006.
Ron Yeats’ Death
Ron Yeats was an excellent defender, so it is perhaps not all that surprising that his work as a scout benefitted Liverpool in the defensive department; he is widely credited as being the man who helped to identify Sami Hyypia as a centre-back that the Reds should sign. Yeats continued to live in Liverpool with his wife Ann long after his retirement.
Although Shankly didn’t treat him with the respect that he felt as though he deserved at the end of his career, he loved the club throughout his life and was forever proud to have lifted trophies as the captain as well as being able to say that he was ‘one of you’ to Liverpudlians.
Sadly, age and time catches up with all of us and Yeats was no exception. He died on the seventh of September 2024, with tributes to him pouring out from every corner of the footballing world. In the January of 2024 it had been announced that Yeats was living with Alzheimer’s disease.
The club released a statement saying, “Liverpool FC is mourning the passing of legendary former captain Ron Yeats. In the words of Bill Shankly, a ‘colossus’ in club history. The thoughts of everyone at LFC are with Ron’s wife, Ann, all of his family and his friends at this incredibly sad time”.
The post Club Legend: Ron Yeats appeared first on Friends Of Liverpool.