Former Liverpool legend Ron Yeats dies aged 86
Legendary former Liverpool captain Ron Yeats has died at the age of 86.
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The ex-Scotland defender was part of the Liverpool side that won the Second Division title in 1962, before going on to win two top-flight titles, the FA Cup and the Charity Shield three times.
He played 454 games before joining Tranmere in 1971.
More than 400 of those appearances were as captain, a tally bettered only by Steven Gerrard.
The Liverpool legend Ron Yeats, skippered the club to their first-ever FA Cup final triumph.
He had for some time been living with Alzheimer's disease.
Yeats, who died on Friday night, spent more than 10 years at Anfield having been signed by Bill Shankly from Dundee United in July 1961, and went on to make 454 appearances while scoring 16 goals.
Liverpool had been languishing in Division Two for seven years before the arrival of Yeats but, having been instantly installed captain by Shankly, he helped them back into the top flight as the Reds won the title by eight points.
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Yeats, a Scotland international centre-back whose imposing frame earned him the nickname "The Colossus", scored his first goal for the club with a winner at Manchester United in November 1963 as Liverpool went on to win the championship ahead of the Old Trafford side.
He was then the captain as Liverpool ended their 73-year wait to win the FA Cup with a 2-1 win over Leeds United at Wembley, with Yeats receiving the trophy from the Queen.
The following season, the Reds won the title again, but there was disappointment in the European Cup Winners' Cup final where an unavoidable own goal from Yeats in extra time sent Liverpool tumbling to a 2-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in Glasgow.
Despite his success at Anfield, Yeats earned only two caps for his country during a period in which Scotland preferred to use players from their own domestic league.
After leaving Liverpool in 1971, Yeats spent three years at Tranmere Rovers as player-manager and two years at Barrow in a similar role, in between s playing spell at Stalybridge Celtic.
He also had brief stays in the United States with Los Angeles Skyhawks and Santa Barbara Condors - also manager at the latter - before finishing his playing days at Formby and then Rhyl.
In 1986 he returned to Liverpool to work as chief scout, where he worked under a succession of managers before retiring in 2006. Among the players he was integral in the club signing was another centre-back, Sami Hyypia.
A statement from Liverpool read: "The thoughts of everyone at LFC are with Ron’s wife, Ann, all of his family and his friends at this incredibly sad time.