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Birthdate:
15.11.1937
Birthplace: Aberdeen, Scotland
Other clubs: Dundee Utd, Tranmere, Los Angeles Skyhawks, Santa Barbara Condors (USA), Stalybridge Celtic (amateur), Barrow (amateur)
Bought from: Dundee Utd
Signed for LFC: £22000 22.07.1961
International debut: 03.10.1964 vs. Wales
International caps: 2/0 - 07.12.1965
Liverpool debut:
19.08.1961
Last appearance: 28.04.1971
Debut goal: 23.11.1963
Last goal: 17.10.1970
Contract expiry: 30.12.1971
LFC league games/goals: 358 / 13
Total LFC games/goals: 454 / 16
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Player Notes:
Rowdy Yeats was Liverpool's captain for 10 years, from seasons 1961/62 to 1969/70, the longest serving captain in the history of the club. His father was a butcher and it was fitting the boy would grow up strong as an ox. Yeats signed a professional contract with Dundee Utd and stayed there until Shankly came calling. He captained Dundee United at an young age and also the British army side during his national service. When Shankly was manager of Huddersfield he had wanted to buy Yeats, but the board couldn't finance the deal. Now the time was right.
Shankly told the Liverpool board that with Yeats in defence, Liverpool would be promoted within a few years and win the FA cup! He sold LFC to Yeats in his usual extravagant manner.
Shankly met Yeats and the board of Dundee United at a hotel in Edinburgh in July. Shankly took a walk around Yeats and uttered words that now have become legend: 'Jesus, you must be seven feet tall, son?' Yeats said: 'No I am only six feet tall'. 'Well, that’s near enough seven feet for me.' Yeats wasn’t quite sure where Liverpool was on the map and asked Shankly where Liverpool was situated. Shankly answered: 'Liverpool is in 1st division.', Yeats replied hesitantly that he thought Liverpool was still in 2nd division. 'With you in the side we will soon be in the 1st division.' If Yeats harboured any doubts about moving south they evaporated at this meeting. Shankly paraded him in front of the press at Anfield and invited them to take a look at the giant centre-half.
Ian St. John, who had arrived two months earlier, and Ron Yeats were the last pieces in the puzzle for Liverpool to succeed in 2nd division. Shanks later reminisced: "They were the greatest signings and they were the beginning of Liverpool. He was a tower, a fantastic man, 6ft 2½in, quickest thing on two feet and strong as an ox." After a few months in the side, Shankly gave Yeats the captain’s armband and the giant was his eyes and ears on the field. Liverpool clinched their place in the 1st division on the 21st of April 1962. Two goals from Kevin Lewis gave Liverpool a 2-0 win against Southampton at rainy Anfield. But conditions didn´t prevent a party amongst the Liverpool supporters. "Just after the final whistle, everyone was going beserk and amid the celebrations I got thrown into the boys´pen!", Yeats remembers fondly. "The Liverpool fans didn´t want to let go of Yeats and it took him about fifteen minutes to return to the dressing room. Bill was very relieved to see his captain again and said: 'Jesus Christ, son, I thought we´d lost you forever!'" Two years later, in the spring of 1964, Yeats raised another trophy high into the air to celebrate the English championship after Liverpool had beaten Arsenal 5-0 at Anfield.
The defence didn't change much during Shankly's reign in the 60's. Tommy Lawrence was in goal, Chris Lawler on the right, Gerry Byrne on the left and Tommy Smith and Yeats in the middle. Yeats' most glorious moment came in 1965 when he had the honour of lifting the FA cup trophy for the first time in Liverpool's 73-year history after the 2-1 Leeds win in 1965. "It was an emotional time getting the cup from the Queen. In fact I just wanted to throw it into the crowd, to the Liverpool supporters. We won it now. Lets share it between us." 1n 1966 the English championship was won again and another final was on the cards. Liverpool had for the first time reached an European final. The European Cup Winners' Cup was at stake. Liverpool played Borussia Dortmund in Glasgow. The game went into extra time when both sides had scored one goal after 90 minutes. Roger Hunt equalized after Dortmund had taken the lead with a goal from Sigfried Held. In the 107th minute disaster struck. Reinhard Libuda tried his luck from all but 30 yards and the ball seemed to head straight into Liverpool’s goal. Yeats chased back to prevent the goal. But unfortunately the ball hit the post and Yeats couldn´t get out of the way and the ball went of his thigh into the net. Liverpool’s efforts proved fruitless and Dortmund celebrated victory.
Despite his success with Liverpool Yeats only played 2 international games for Scotland in his career, which is surprisingly little, but the fact is home-based players were preferred for the national team so he would have played more internationals if he was not playing south of the border. Yeats’ last season as a regular was the 1969/70 season. He had constant back aches and Shankly had found a replacement in Larry Lloyd. In his last season 1970/71, he played 16 games as right back and scored one goal with a bullet header in front of the Kop in a 2-0 victory over Burnley in October 1970. His last game in Liverpool’s shirt was at Maine Road on the 26th of April 1971. Liverpool drew 2-2 with Manchester City. Yeats was close to making the side that faced Arsenal in the FA cup final but Larry Lloyd was declared fit to play only two days prior to the game. Yeats was replaced in the centre of defence by Larry Lloyd in 1970/71. But Ron still managed to play 16 games as left-back and even score one goal in the process in front of the adoring Kop.
Yeats moved to neighbours Tranmere Rovers and played around 100 matches there and managed the team for 3 years. He later had an unhappy stint as player-manager in California where he stayed four months. In 1986 he was brought back to Liverpool in the role of chief scout. He had asked Graeme Souness, then manager at Glasgow Rangers, about a job because he wanted to get back into football. Souness said he had a job for him, but in the meantime Kenny Dalglish called Yeats and offered him a job at his beloved Anfield. Yeats couldn´t resist returning to his former club. Souness could well understand and they were later to work together at Anfield. Yeats retired from Liverpool in 2006. |
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