Former Liverpool captain Ron Yeats has passed away after a battle with Alzheimer's.

The Scot joined Liverpool from Dundee United in 1961, spending 10 years at Anfield and winning several trophies.

Yeats was given the captaincy by manager Bill Shankly immediately after moving to Liverpool for a $26,000 transfer fee.



Liverpool won the Second Division title in Yeats' first season with the club, and two years later, in 1964, they won the First Division, before repeating the feat in 1966.

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Yeats was the Liverpool captain when the Reds won the FA Cup for the first time in the club's history, and he also got his hands on the Charity Shield three times, in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

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In total, the center-back played 454 times for Liverpool, scoring 16 goals before departing the club for nearby Tranmere Rovers.

Born in Aberdeen in 1937, Yeats began his professional career at Dundee United in 1957, earning promotion to the Scottish top flight in 1960 before departing for Anfield a year later.

After his spells at Liverpool and Tranmere, Yeats turned out for Stalybridge Celtic, Barrow, the Los Angeles Skyhawks, the Santa Barbara Condors, Formby and Rhyll, taking on the role of player-manager for Tranmere, Barrow and the Santa Barbara Condors.

Yeats' career ended in 1977 and nine years later he returned to Liverpool as the Reds' chief scout, a position he remained in until his retirement in 2006.

Three years after his retirement, he was made an honorary Scouser by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool.

Legendary former Liverpool boss Shankly was a huge fan of Yeats, telling journalists after signing him in 1961: "The man is a mountain, go into the dressing room and walk around him."

Yeats earned the nickname "The Colossus" and Shankly viewed his acquisition as a key moment in Liverpool's transformation from an under-achieving club to one of the best teams in England and a competitive force in Europe during the 1960s.


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