Yeats the 'colossus'
By Robert Philip (Filed: 23/03/2005)
They may have overwhelmed Everton only 24 hours earlier in the 201st Merseyside derby, they could even end the season as champions of Europe, but the present Liverpool players are quick to recognise the presence of a true giant in their midst. Striding through the corridors of the club's magnificent training complex, goalkeeper Chris Kirkland spotted an improbably youthful 67-year-old posing for the camera and with a nod of acknowledgement offered a single word by way of greeting: "Legend".
It may be 34 years since Ron Yeats last pulled the red shirt over his strapping chest, but he will forever remain an Anfield legend. How could it be otherwise when it was he who Bill Shankly made club captain and around whom he assembled the team who would rise from the old Second Division to become a world power? Having signed centre-forward Ian St John two days earlier, Shanks saw the towering centre-half as the final piece of his jigsaw; after paying Dundee United £30,000 for his new captain, Shankly invited a group of newspaper reporters into the changing room to cast their eyes over his latest acquisition. "I've just signed a colossus. Come in and walk round him…"
"And it's a bit embarrassing being called a colossus," recalls Yeats, "when you've just stepped out the shower and are b*****k naked at the time."
Curiously, for a man who captained Liverpool to some of their greatest triumphs from 1961-71, Yeats was awarded a paltry two international caps, partly due to the consistency of the Old Firm's Billy McNeill and Ron McKinnon but mostly because of an unwritten tradition that required successive Scotland managers to select a home-based player over an 'Anglo' whenever possible.
Indeed, Yeats's second and last international appearance in 1966 was at No 9 when - just as Scotland will be forced to do again this week - they travelled to Italy for a World Cup qualifying tie with a squad ravaged by injury and missing an entire forward line in Jimmy Johnstone, Alan Gilzean, Denis Law, Neil Martin and Willie Henderson, not to mention Jim Baxter. And so part-time manager Jock Stein was forced into a radical change of tactics. "Jock had seen me mark the Italian playmaker Sandro Mazzola out of the game when Liverpool met Inter Milan in the semi-finals of the European Cup earlier that season," explains Yeats. "Jock asked me to follow Mazzola all over the pitch, never to let him out of my sight. 'If he goes to the toilet,' Jock told me, 'I want you to go to the toilet with him.' That's why I'm the only centre-forward in history to have kicked off then run backwards.
"I didn't have a bad game, and neither did Mazzola for that matter. He never got a kick of the ball and nor did I - we simply cancelled each other out. I felt sorry for Mazzola - who was a good, good player - because even if he drifted out to the corner flag in the hope of getting the ball, there was I grinning at him. No wonder he got madder and madder as the game went on.
"But without all our best players, Scotland never really had a chance. I think the general feeling among us was 'just let's keep the score down'. Italy were a great team and even without Mazzola they had Gianni Rivera pulling the strings. It was also the most intimidating atmosphere in which I've played with only a moat separating you from 60,000 mad Neapolitans. We had a couple of little chances but, in truth, we did well to lose 3-0. I felt sorry for Jock because he'd had no time to prepare."
Stein resigned to concentrate his managerial skills on Celtic and Yeats returned to Anfield, his brief Scotland international career over. "My one other appearance, the season before against Wales, in Cardiff had been equally miserable. 'The good news,' manager Ian McColl told me, 'is that you won't be up against John Charles because he's playing centre-half too.' It didn't matter; big John scored anyway and we lost 3-2. I'm glad I got the chance to play for my country but it never really bothered me that I only won two caps. Nothing could beat playing for Bill Shankly and Liverpool. Jock Stein was obviously a great coach and tactician, but although Shanks was no coach, when he delivered one of his monologues, the hairs on the back of your neck stood up. You couldn't get to the opposition quick enough."
Yeats's affection for Shankly remains undiminished 13 years after the great man's death. Under Shankly, Yeats inspired the club to promotion in his first season (after eight forlorn years in the Second Division), won two championship medals and became the first Liverpool captain to collect the FA Cup. Which is why, 44 years after he joined the club, Yeats is still at Anfield as a senior scout.
"As far as I can see, no manager has loved his club more than Shanks. Sir Alex Ferguson might be the only one who stands comparison and I'd love to spend a week with Fergie to see how he prepares his players for a big game. Like Shanks, Alex can get players to play for him. Jock Stein did the same at Celtic where he had a few great players but a lot of workers, too. It was a wonderful honour to be Shanks' captain for 10 years and I'm lucky that so many people still recognise me, probably because they've seen pictures of me receiving the FA Cup from the Queen."
Needless to say, we cannot take our leave of Yeats without hearing a couple of his favourite Shankly memories, such as his famous observation that with "my Colossus at centre-half, we could play Arthur Askey in goal".
"Maybe that's why big Tommy Lawrence, who was our goalkeeper, was scared to death of him. After our final tactic talk on a Friday - during which Shanks could talk for an hour and a half without pause no problem - he would pick one of the first team to compete in a penalty challenge with the loser donating a tenner to charity. Comes my turn: me, who had never taken a penalty in my life, and Shanks, who was a lovely kicker of the ball, slots home his first two against Tommy with all the players crowded around the back of the goal crying with laughter. Shanks scuffed his third attempt and Tommy managed to get a hand to it. Before Tommy could get to his feet Shanks, who hated losing at anything, was standing over him glaring down. 'I was lucky there, boss.' 'Aye, you were lucky, you fat t***,' came the reply.
"My turn; first one top corner, second one I close my eyes and ball goes right as Tommy goes left. No 3 I hit the best left-foot shot of my life, top corner just beyond Tommy's fingertips. Shanks, who hadn't lost in over a year, stood over Tommy's body. 'Not so lucky that time, eh, Tommy? But I'll tell you what' - and Shanks never swore - 'if it had been a ******* meat pie you'd have caught it!' "
And finally, to a confrontation with Tony Hateley, signed from Chelsea for £100,000 and shipped to Coventry less than two years later at a considerable loss. "Shanks didn't know he was a naturally funny man. 'Big man, I don't know why I signed you: you can't kick a ball, you can't pass a ball, you can't shoot…'
"Big Tony lost the head at this point, 'I'll give you that boss, but you have to admit I'm great in the air.' 'I'll grant you that, son, but so was Douglas Bader and he had two better legs than you'll ever have.' "
www.telegraph.co.uk/philip
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