Terry Yorath enjoyed incredible highs and tragic lows as tributes paid to football icon

Football legend Terry Yorath's death at the age of 75 will see him 'reunited' with his son in heaven, his heartbroken family said today.

The former Wales manager was the proud dad of TV presenter Gabby Logan . She had to break off from filming BBC's Match of the Day on Wednesday evening to deal with the 'family emergency'.

Gabby and siblings Louise and Jordan paid tribute to a loving dad whose life was touched by tragedy. In 1992, their brother Daniel dropped dead at the age of 15 during a kickabout with his father in the back garden of their home.

And Yorath was a player-coach of Bradford on the day of the Valley Parade fire in 1985, which killed 56 fans and injured 27

"To most he was a revered footballing hero, but to us he was dad; a quiet, kind and gentle man," his family said in a statement. "Our hearts are broken but we take comfort knowing that he will be reunited with our brother, Daniel."

Logan was presenting the Premier League highlights on BBC1 when she was replaced after 20 minutes by colleague Mark Chapman. He told viewers: "Sadly, Gabby has got a family emergency that she's had to rush off and deal with."

Born in Cardiff , Yorath won 59 caps for Wales and played a big part in the Leeds team under Don Revie, winning the First Division title. Lauded as an "icon in Welsh football", players past and present recalled a fearsome competitor and respected manager.

He won 59 caps for Wales and managed his country between 1988 and 1993. They came so close to qualifying for the 1994 World Cup but missed a penalty in a 2-1 defeat to Romania. It cost Yorath his job as he lost the support of fans. But he remained a hero to generations of future stars.

"As a former Wales captain, he's such an icon," Ashley Williams, Wales' skipper at Euro 2016, said.

"It's a huge loss. I knew that you had to live up to what he achieved." Dean Saunders, another Wales legend, recalled asking feared Scotland and Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness: 'Is there anybody who you thought was harder than you?'

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"He replied: 'Terry Yorath'," Saunders added: "He respected Terry. He was hard as nails, straight down the middle. He was a big influence on my career."

Yorath made 199 appearances for Leeds, his first professional club, in a nine-year spell from 1967. He won the First Division title with them in 1974 and earned a runners-up medal in the FA Cup , European Cup and Cup Winners' Cup.

The club said: "Everyone at Leeds United is devastated to learn of the passing of club legend Terry Yorath. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Terry's family, friends and former team-mates at this incredibly sad time."

Yorath captained Wales into the quarter-finals of the 1976 European Championship and led them to their only Wembley victory over England the following year, as well as wins against Brazil and Italy.

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But for all the highs, there were also terrible lows. He spoke openly of the devastating loss of his son, and the vivid memories of the Bradford fire. Injured in the aftermath, he had to "break a window and jump out" of the directors' lounge.

He told the BBC in 2017: "The first thing I saw when I got outside was this old guy with his hands folded across his chest and you could see the burns on his arms. It was horrendous to go back there the next day and see the devastation. It was horrible, horrible... shocking."

Asked how he had coped with the death of Daniel, who had the undiagnosed heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, he admitted: "I didn't, really. I started drinking more.

"I would go up to his grave every night and do the things people do when they lose someone. I'd go into his room and smell his clothes."

Later, he campaigned with the charity 'Cardiac Risk in the Young' (CRY), calling for heart screening of young people.

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Gabby, 52, spoke movingly of the tragedy, recalling how her brother 'died on the spot' in front of her dad. In 2023, she told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs: "My dad was very much a person who felt the glass was half empty already.

"For him, this was confirmation that life was no good and he kind of pulled himself away from a lot of our family life."

She told how he became a doting grandfather to her sons Reuben and Lois, 20, by her husband, former Scotland rugby player Kenny Logan, 53.

Her dad would regularly visit when she was away covering various sporting events to see if he could help look after the twins; and she recalled how he called her every day during the London 2012 Olympics, to let her know how proud he was of her.

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Yesterday a clip of Gabby emerged from a 1999 episode of ITV's 'On the Ball', when she interviewed her dad while he was a coach at Huddersfield , preparing for an FA Cup tie against Derby County. They laugh about him sharing inside information with her, and she affectionately calls him 'dad'.

"You've had some injury problems and I understand you're going to be playing Ben Thornley in a different position,' she said. How do you know that, Gabby?' he asks, making her burst out laughing. "Have you spoken with your mam or something?"

She replies: "Dad, you did tell me but it's alright because the Derby players will be on their way to the ground now, they won't see this."