Former Liverpool captain Ron Yeats has died at the age of 86.
Dubbed a ‘Colossus’, the defender signed from Dundee United in 1961 and was pivotal in the club’s return to the First Division the following year.
Yeats won two league championships during a decade with the Reds but became immortalised after skippering the side which won the 1965 FA Cup.
He led Bill Shankly’s men up the Wembley steps to claim the famous trophy for a first time after defeating Leeds in the final, ending a 73-year drought.
After leaving Anfield in 1971, Yeats had spells at Tranmere and Barrow as player-manager in addition to time solely on the pitch with Stalybridge Celtic.
Stints in the United States with Los Angeles Skyhawks and Santa Barbara Condors followed, managing the latter, before hanging up his boots in 1978.
Yeats returned to Liverpool in 1986 to work as the club’s new chief scout under several managers in a position he held for two decades before retiring.
One of the players he was credited with identifying was fellow centre-back Sami Hyypia, who enjoyed his own 10-year spell at the heart of defence.
Yeats passed away on Friday after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
“The thoughts of everyone at LFC are with Ron’s wife, Ann, all of his family and his friends at this incredibly sad time,” read a club statement.
“Flags across club sites will be lowered to half-mast today as a mark of respect.”