A truly great player and a great man
TRIBUTES PAID TO LEEDS AND SCOTLAND LEGEND LORIMER:
LEEDS United lost another of its treasured sons yesterday but the man fondly known as Hotshot or Lash will live on in the record books. Peter Lorimer made an indelible mark at the Yorkshire club from the moment he travelled south from Dundee as a 15-year-old to become their youngest ever player.
When he hung up his boots 23 years later, he did so as Leeds’ all-time leading goalscorer with 238 across all competitions. It is hard to envisage either of those two marks ever being surpassed.
Tributes poured in from across football after his death at 74 following a long illness.
Lorimer won 21 caps for Scotland, playing at the 1974 World Cup finals in Germany, and the Scottish Football Association said yesterday that it was ‘deeply saddened’ to hear of his death.
But it was in his adopted city that the tears flowed for another of their true greats.
Arriving in 1962, he never really left, aside from a four-year spell when he featured for York City and in the North American Soccer League for Toronto Blizzard and Vancouver Whitecaps.
After finishing his playing days with Leeds, he moved onto the board of directors at Elland Road and later became a local radio and newspaper pundit, as well as running a pub in the Holbeck area of the city.
In 2013, the Scot became a club ambassador and, up until last month, he still wrote in the matchday programme.
‘Peter’s contribution to Leeds United will never be forgotten and his passing leaves another huge hole in the Leeds United family,’ read a club statement.
‘He will always remain a club icon and his legacy at Elland Road will live on. Our thoughts are naturally with Peter’s wife Sue and the rest of his family at this difficult time. Rest in peace, Peter.’
No one knew him better than his fellow Scot Eddie Gray, a team-mate in Don Revie’s great Leeds side of the Sixties and Seventies, and a lifelong friend.
‘Peter was a truly great player and a great man,’ said Gray.
‘I first saw Peter play at Ibrox in 1962 for the Scottish Schoolboys against England, I was a year younger than Peter and I couldn’t believe how good he was.
‘I thought to myself that night at Ibrox: “If I want to be a player, I have to step up to the mark”, because he was truly sensational.
‘As well as being a great player and a great goalscorer, he was a great lad. He was my roommate for 12 years, travelling all over Europe and up and down the country together.
‘Today you hear managers say they’re not going to be in the market for a £50-60million player, but you would need a lot more money than that to land a player like Peter.’
Indeed, it was his fellow wing man Gray, who, as manager, brought Lorimer back to the club in 1983.
He had earned his reputation and various nicknames during a trophyladen first spell in Yorkshire. To the Leeds supporters, he was known as Hotshot, Lash or Thunderboots for his shooting prowess. His efforts on goal regularly touched an astonishing 90 miles per hour.
He is the fourth member of the Leeds 1970s side to have died inside the past 12 months following Norman Hunter and Trevor Cherry last April and Jack Charlton in July. ‘It’s so sad we’ve lost so many greats of the club this year. It’s some team looking down on us now,’ said former manager Simon Grayson.
‘Peter was a true legend and to play the number of games he did, and score that many goals, says it all.’
His first appearance of 705 came against Southampton early in the 1962-63 season, after Leeds beat off considerable competition for his signature that summer. He was just 15 years and 289 days old.
The first of his record goal haul came three years later, in September 1965, during a season in which he finished as the club’s most prolific scorer with 19 goals.
His trophy haul included two First Division titles, FA Cup and League Cup, two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups and the Charity Shield.
Arguably, his most talked about goal was the one controversially ruled out in the 1975 European Cup final as Leeds went down 2-0 to holders Bayern Munich.
News of Lorimer’s illness emerged last month when it was revealed he was being cared for at a hospice.
‘My prayers are with the family. It has been an honour to meet you and host you at Elland Road, your home,’ tweeted Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani.
‘Fly High, Peter. A legend that we all aspire to be like,’ added club captain and Scotland defender Liam Cooper.