YORATH WAS A WELSH LEGEND

Yorath played for and managed Dragons

- BY PHIL BLANCHE

TERRY YORATH was a member of that exclusive club of footballers who have played for and managed their country - and he was just a missed penalty away from leading Wales to the World Cup.

Yorath, who has died aged 75, won 59 caps as a rugged midfielder between 1969 and 1981 before taking charge of the national team in 1988. Under his watch, the Dragons reached their then-highest FIFA ranking of 27 in 1993 and almost qualified for their second World Cup in the USA a year later.

Needing to beat Romania at home in their final qualifier, Wales weredrawing 1-1 in the second half when Paul Bodin's penalty struck the crossbar.

They ended up losing 2-1 and Yorath found himself out of work.

The FA of Wales did not renew his contract and appointed Real Sociedad’s John Toshack (inset) as a part-time manager instead.