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 Yeats in 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ronald Yeats[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1937-11-15)15 November 1937 | ||
| Place of birth | Aberdeen, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 6 September 2024(2024-09-06) (aged 86) | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre half | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1955–1957 | Aberdeen Lads' Club | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1957–1961 | Dundee United | 96 | (1) |
| 1961–1971 | Liverpool | 358 | (13) |
| 1971–1974 | Tranmere Rovers | 97 | (5) |
| 1975 | Stalybridge Celtic | ||
| 1975–1977 | Barrow | ||
| 1976 | →Los Angeles Skyhawks (loan) | ||
| 1977 | Santa Barbara Condors | ||
| 1977 | Formby | 10 | (0) |
| 1977–1978 | Rhyl | ||
| Total | 561 | (19) | |
| International career | |||
| 1964[3] | SFA trial v SFL | 1 | (0) |
| 1964–1966 | Scotland | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1971–1974 | Tranmere Rovers | ||
| 1975–1977 | Barrow | ||
| 1977 | Santa Barbara Condors | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ronald Yeats (15 November 1937 – 6 September 2024) was a Scottishfootballer.
He started his professional career withDundee United in 1957 before joiningLiverpool in 1961. He became club captain and won six trophies—twoleague titles, oneFA Cup and threeCharity Shields—over the following ten years. In 1971, he joinedTranmere Rovers, where he spent three years asplayer-manager before serving in the same role atBarrow andSanta Barbara Condors.
He also won two caps for theScotland national team.
Yeats was an Under-15 schoolboy international who played forAberdeen Lads' Club, aJunior club in his home city ofAberdeen. In 1956, following a leg break, Yeats had a trial withElgin City, then aHighland League club, but was not offered a contract.[citation needed]
In 1957 he was signed byDundee United, then a part-time club ofScottish Division Two. Previous to signing for the club, he worked in a slaughterhouse in Aberdeen.[citation needed]
Yeats's career took an upward turn followingJerry Kerr's appointment: Kerr regarded Yeats as so vital to the fortunes of the team he sought his release to play each Saturday from the military authorities while Yeats served hisNational Service. In 1959–60, Kerr's first full season in charge,St Johnstone finished as Division Two champions. United's challengers for the second promotion spot wereHamilton Academical andQueen of the South. Hamilton were beaten 5–1 at Tannadice with seven games to go before a crowd of over 11,000, putting Hamilton firmly in United's rear view. United went toPalmerston Park to play theIvor Broadis inspired Queen of the South with three games to go. United returned home with a 4–4 draw to maintain their one-point advantage over QoS. Promotion was clinched with a last game of the season 1–0 home win againstBerwick Rangers before a crowd of near 17,000.[4] This brought top division football back toTannadice Park for the first time since they had been relegated in 1932.[5]
In the following 1960–61 season, United retained their top division place, finishing in ninth. Other players to flourish like Yeats were the forward pairDennis Gillespie andJim Irvine. Yeats played 118 matches (95 in the league) for Dundee United.[citation needed]
Yeats, a stockily built 6 ft 2 in central defender, was bought by managerBill Shankly in 1961 from United for a fee of around £20,000 and was immediately installed ascaptain.[2] When Yeats was signed, Shankly was so impressed with the physical presence of his new player that he told waiting journalists"The man is a mountain, go into the dressing room and walk around him". Shankly later described Yeats's arrival, along with that of strikerIan St John also in the 1961 close season,[6] as the "turning point" as Liverpool began their quest to compete with — and beat — the best in England and in Europe. Yeats made his debut in a 2–0 league victory overBristol Rovers atEastville on 19 August 1961. After Yeats's first season, Liverpool gained promotion from the Second Division with a runaway eight-point margin over their nearest rivals (two points for a win)[6] after eight seasons away from English football's top flight. His first goal came on 23 November 1963 in the 75th minute of the 1–0 First Division victory overManchester United atOld Trafford. Yeats lived up to the reputation and the nickname ("The Colossus") his huge frame gave him, playing at the heart of Liverpool's defence for a decade and winning the club's first major honours in nearly 20 years.[7]
Liverpool were the1963–64 Football League champions.[6] The next season, they won the1964–65 FA Cup beatingLeeds United 2–1 after extra time in the final atWembley Stadium.[6] This was the club's first ever FA Cup trophy. However Liverpool lost in theEuropean Cup semi-final toInter Milan that season.[6] The next season Yeats skippered Liverpool to the1965–66 Football League title. In Europe Liverpool reached the1966 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final atHampden Park in Yeats native Scotland. However Liverpool lost out after extra time toBorussia Dortmund.[6]
In the1966–67 European Cup second round, Yeats and co were given a torrid time by aJohan Cruyff inspiredAjax, who won 5–1 in Amsterdam and 7–3 on aggregate.[8] The success of Liverpool then dried up, and he was one of the high-profile victims of a massive cull of the older players which Shankly ruthlessly undertook in 1970 in an effort to rebuild the side for a new decade. After 454 games, Yeats left in 1971.[2] He had played a record 417 games as captain for Liverpool, which was later surpassed bySteven Gerrard.[9]
Yeats won both his full caps forScotland during the three seasons when the Liverpool team of the 1960s were at their peak. The first came on 3 October 1964 in a 3–2 defeat toWales atNinian Park,Cardiff. His second was a year later in December 1965 in a World Cup qualification decider away to Italy. The Scots had beaten the Italians 1–0 at Hampden Park. HoweverJock Stein's side missing the absentDenis Law went out when losing 3–0 inNaples.[10]
Yeats servedTranmere Rovers for three years as player-manager.[11]
Yeats had a short spell playing forStalybridge Celtic.[12] He then served Barrow as player manager.[citation needed]
In 1976 at age 38, Yeats joined theLos Angeles Skyhawks of theAmerican Soccer League at the request of Skyhawk coachRon Newman. In his only season there, he played sweeper and anchored the defence of the A.S.L. champion Skyhawks. In 1977, Yeats became the player coach of the American Soccer League'sSanta Barbara Condors expansion team.[citation needed]
Returning to Liverpool, he had a short spell at the start of the 1977–78 season playing forFormby before moving toRhyl in November 1977. In 1986 Yeats returned toAnfield as the club's chief scout responsible for delegating duties to the club's talent spotters. He remained in that role until his retirement in May 2006.[citation needed]
In January 2024, it was announced that Yeats was living withAlzheimer's disease.[13] He died from complications of the disease on 6 September 2024, at the age of 86.[14]
Yeats was voted 29th in the official Liverpool website poll "100 Players Who Shook The Kop".[citation needed]
In April 2009, Yeats was made an "HonoraryScouser" by theLord Mayor of Liverpool.[15]
He is referenced in the Everton song "Royal Blue Mersey" in the line "We hate Bill Shankly, and we hate St. John, but most of all we hate Big Ron."[citation needed]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Others | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dundee United | 1957–58 | Scottish Division Two | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| 1958–59 | Scottish Division Two | 19 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | |
| 1959–60 | Scottish Division Two | 33 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 40 | 1 | ||
| 1960–61 | Scottish Division One | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | ||
| Total | 95 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 118 | 1 | ||
| Liverpool | 1961–62 | Second Division | 41 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 0 |
| 1962–63 | First Division | 38 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 0 | |
| 1963–64 | First Division | 36 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 1 | |
| 1964–65 | First Division | 35 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 1 | |
| 1965–66 | First Division | 42 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 2 | |
| 1966–67 | First Division | 40 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 2 | |
| 1967–68 | First Division | 38 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 3 | |
| 1968–69 | First Division | 39 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 2 | |
| 1969–70 | First Division | 37 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 3 | |
| 1970–71 | First Division | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | |
| Total | 358 | 13 | 50 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 36 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 454 | 15 | ||
| Tranmere Rovers | 1971–72 | Third Division | 19 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 23 | 2 | |
| 1972–73 | Third Division | 42 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 45 | 1 | ||
| 1973–74 | Third Division | 36 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 42 | 2 | ||
| Total | 97 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 5 | ||
| Formby | 1977–78 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 560 | 19 | 70 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 36 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 697 | 21 | ||
Dundee United
Liverpool
L.A. Skyhawks
