Peter Patrick Lorimer (14 December 1946 – 20 March 2021) was a Scottish professional footballer who mainly played for Leeds United and Scotland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. An attacking midfielder and the club's youngest-ever player, he was renowned for his very powerful shots from distance. From 1984 to 1985 he was club captain. Lorimer is the club record scorer with 238 goals in all competitions. He was voted Leeds' ninth greatest player ever and on to the greatest Leeds United team of all time.
After retiring as a player, Lorimer became a member of the Leeds board of directors, provided match commentary on BBC Radio Leeds and Yorkshire Radio and wrote a regular column in the Yorkshire Evening Post. From April 2013 he held the position of club ambassador.
Early life Lorimer was born in Dundee to Janet and Peter Lorimer and was brought up in Broughty Ferry on the edge of the city. He attended Eastern Primary School and later Stobswell Secondary School, where he played for the school's football team.
Club career Leeds United After playing junior football in Dundee for Stobswell Boys and Broughty YMCA, Lorimer signed for Leeds United in May 1962 after scoring for the Scotland Schoolboys team in a 4–2 win over England. He made his Leeds debut on 29 September 1962 against Southampton, aged 15 years and 289 days, becoming the youngest player to play for the first team.
Lorimer came to regular prominence in the 1965–66 season, making 34 League Championship appearances and scoring 19 goals, more than any other player at Leeds United managed that season. A skilful and industrious player who operated best in a drifting position either wide on the right (though not as an orthodox winger – he was more likely to cut in and shoot than stay wide and cross) or behind two main strikers (usually Allan Clarke and Mick Jones), Lorimer was a frequent and often spectacular goalscorer, earning himself several nicknames stemming from his powerful shooting – HotShot and Lash being two of the more prevalent. He became renowned for these strikes, with his shots reaching speeds of up to 90 mph. One penalty kick was recorded at 107 mph.
In the 1966–67 season, Lorimer made his first major headlines when a free-kick equaliser against Chelsea in an FA Cup semi-final was controversially ruled out by referee Ken Burns and retaken, for the Chelsea players had not retreated the necessary 10 yards. Chelsea held on to win the game. In the 1975 European Cup Final, Lorimer scored to give Leeds a 1–0 lead, only for the goal to be controversially disallowed by referee Michel Kitabdjian, with Leeds going on to lose the game. In summer 1971, Lorimer had a short spell on loan at Cape Town City in South Africa. Lorimer left the club in 1979, having scored 219 goals in 616 appearances. During this time he had won two League titles, an FA Cup, a League Cup, a Charity Shield, and two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups.
Later career He played for York City and then tried his luck in the North American Soccer League (NASL). Lorimer played for two clubs: the Toronto Blizzard (1979–1980) and the Vancouver Whitecaps (1981–83). In January 1983 he signed for University College Dublin.
Lorimer returned to Leeds United in 1983, aged 37, two seasons after Leeds had fallen into the Football League Second Division. He played under former team-mate Eddie Gray (more than a year his junior) and broke the club's goalscoring record in the process, ending up with 238 goals from 705 appearances until retiring just before his 40th birthday at the end of the 1985–86 season. However, Leeds were still a Second Division team when Lorimer played his final game for them and it would be another four years before they returned to the First Division.
International career Lorimer made his international debut for Scotland against Austria in November 1969. He won 21 caps for Scotland and scored four goals, having played in all three of their matches at the 1974 FIFA World Cup. His Scotland career was, however, affected by a ban imposed on him in 1971 after he spent a summer playing for Cape Town City in apartheid-era South Africa.
After playing In his retirement Lorimer ran the Commercial Inn pub in the Holbeck area of the city. Lorimer remained a dedicated spokesman for Leeds United after retirement – he was always one of the first ex-players to whom broadcasters and journalists turned when the club was in the news. He worked as a pundit at games for BBC Radio Leeds and as a columnist for the local paper, the Yorkshire Evening Post. He wrote a column in the club's match programme (his final one being the match against Aston Villa on 27 February 2021) and acted as a summariser for Yorkshire Radio on every Leeds away match.
On 26 February 2021, it was announced that Lorimer had been placed under hospice care due to a long-term illness. He died on 20 March 2021, aged 74.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsLeeds United1962–63Second Division100000——101963–64Second Division000010——001964–65First Division100000——101965–66First Division3413230093—45191966–67First Division299622251—42141967–68First Division37165264128—60301968–69First Division299213073—41131969–70First Division39148230731058191970–71First Division38124210105—53191971–72First Division4223734221—55291972–73First Division4115835392—63231973–74First Division3712520050—47141974–75First Division3694053841053161975–76First Division29102021——33111976–77First Division2632000——2831977–78First Division2860043——3291978–79First Division300010——40Total45015155203718743020618219Cape Town City (loan)1971National Football League68——68Toronto Blizzard1979North American Soccer League299——299York City1979–80Fourth Division298——298Toronto Blizzard1980North American Soccer League182——182Vancouver Whitecaps1981North American Soccer League278——2781982North American Soccer League2810——28101983North American Soccer League254——254Total80228022University College Dublin (loan)1982–83League of Ireland30——30Leeds United1983–84Second Division2243000——2541984–85Second Division4091031——44101985–86Second Division1440020—21185Total7617405100218022Career total69121759204219743041870287
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsScotland196910197000197120197253197330197471197530Total214
Scores and results list Scotland goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Scotland goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Peter LorimerNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland2–02–01971–72 British Home Championship2Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland1–01–01971–72 British Home Championship3Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland2–02–01974 FIFA World Cup qualification4Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany1–02–01974 FIFA World Cup
Honours Leeds United Football League First Division: 1968–69, 1973–74 FA Cup: 1971–72; runner-up: 1969–70, 1972–73 Football League Cup: 1967–68 FA Charity Shield: 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1967–68, 1970–71; runner-up: 1966–67 European Cup runner-up: 1974–75 European Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 1972–73
Individual Leeds United Player of the Year: 1971–72 Rothmans Golden Boots Awards: 1973
References
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