Gabby Logan has paid tribute to her late father Terry Yorath and given an insight into their final moments together in an emotional statement on Instagram.
Football was plunged into mourning on Thursday morning after it emerged that the Leeds legend had aged 75 died following a short illness.
Logan had left Wednesday night’s Match of the Day broadcast halfway through due to what was described as a ‘family emergency’ by her replacement Mark Chapman.
She wrote on Thursday night: ‘Thank you for your messages of love and support today, it has meant the world to us. Our Dad a warrior on the football pitch, captaining club and country, a kind hearted and generous man off it, would have hated all the attention. (Well most of it).
‘The stories that have been shared by strangers with us today have been enormously comforting. He touched so many people’s lives.
‘We knew he had limited time, but it is still a shock. Yesterday afternoon [Wednesday] I sat by his bed in St James Hospital Leeds and we had a debate about whether roast potatoes were better with calves liver than mash potatoes.
‘That was the meal he’d decided he wanted when he went home, tomorrow [Friday]. I left and went to work, he was looking forward to watching Newcastle v his beloved Leeds. He won’t go home tomorrow. But he is reunited with Daniel and that will feel like home.
‘I am sorry he had to deal with so much pain, the tragedy of the Bradford Fire was forever in his heart and losing Daniel defined the second half of his life.
‘Thank you Dad for instilling your passion for fairness. Thank you for playing rounders, or making us race each other after dinner, even though Louise always beat me. Thank you for not making me pay you $1,865,986 after I kept losing at cards on double or quits, when I was eight years old.
‘Thanks for teaching me the value of money by challenging me to eat a pot of mustard at dinner in return for £5 so I could buy a pair of shoes I wanted when I was 12 (even though mum was horrified). Thank you for giving me a life long love of sport. Thank you for being a relentless tease with a wicked sense of humour.
‘And to the wonderful staff on J16 at Jimmys who cared for him with such tenderness, you are all Angels. I love you Dad.’
More to follow.
