Edric Thornton "Ted" Bates MBE (3 May 1918 – 28 November
2003) was a former
Southampton F.C.
player, manager, director and president which earned him the
sobriquet
Mr. Southampton.
Playing career
Bates was
born in Thetford
and joined
Saints on his 19th birthday in 1937, transferring from Norwich City. He soon forced his
way into the first team as a centre forward. His career was
interrupted by the
Second World
War, during which league football was suspended in England.
He
initially joined the War Reserve police force, spending his time on
guard duty at the Shell-Mex oil depot at Hamble
or the
Pirelli-General cable works at Woolston
. In the early part of the war, Bates still
managed regular appearances for Saints in the wartime cups and
leagues.
On 8 June
1940, Bates married Mary Smith at St. James's Church in Shirley
, and that evening watched Saints play Charlton Athletic at The
Dell
. Shortly afterwards the Bates' home was bombed
and they moved to West
Wellow
, where Mary found work with the NAAFI. Bates resigned from the War Reserve and
went to work at the
Folland
Aircraft factory at Hamble, who also had a very good works
football team which, as well as Bates, included other professional
players such as
Bill Dodgin
(Southampton),
Harold Pond (
Carlisle United),
Bert Tann (Charlton),
Dick
Foss (
Chelsea),
Bill Bushby,
Cliff
Parker and
Bill Rochford (all
Portsmouth). Most of these players
also guested for Saints in the War leagues.
Bates' finest playing days came between 1947 and 1951 when he
formed a great partnership with
Charlie
Wayman.
After some declining performances on the pitch, Bates made his last
first team appearance on 20 December 1952 at home to
West Ham United. During his career he
made 216 appearances, scoring 64 times.
Management
After retiring from playing he became a coach at Southampton in May
1953. He was soon offered the manager's job, taking over from
George Roughton in September 1955.
He was set the task of getting Saints out of the (then regional)
Third Division
South and into the national
Second Division. He achieved
this in 1959 when Saints finished as Champions with
Derek Reeves hitting an amazing 39 league goals
(still a record).
After a few years in the 2nd Division, Saints were promoted to the
First Division in
1966. Almost 15,000 Saints fans packed out
Leyton Orient's ground as
Terry Paine headed the goal that meant top
flight football. Saints consolidated their place in the first
division with young talent like
Mick
Channon and
Ron Davies.
In this period Saints qualified for European football twice - in
1969 and 1971.
Bates decided to step down as manager in December 1973 and was
replaced by
Lawrie McMenemy. Bates
acted as McMenemy's assistant for the next few years, which
included the highlight of Southampton's history - an
FA Cup win in 1976.
Bates was the first person to congratulate
McMenemy and the players as the final whistle was blown at Wembley
.
Honours
Bates then joined Saints board, where he would serve as a director
for another 20 years before being appointed the club's president.
He was
honoured with the MBE in
1998 for services to football and received the freedom of the city
of Southampton
in the same year.
Death
Bates was widely regarded as a local hero for his dedication to the
club over a period of 66 years, and his death in November 2003 was
widely commemorated by the club and supporters' community.
The first
game after his death was the home match against Portsmouth in the League Cup and was the first derby
between the two local rivals since an FA Cup
match at The
Dell
in 1996. A minute's silence in Bates' memory
barely lasted 30 seconds after jeers and boos from fans in the away
end. Those who booed and jeered were widely criticised by the media
and by fellow Portsmouth fans.
Ted Bates Trophy
In 2003 the
Ted Bates Trophy was
innuagerated with a match against
Bayern
Munich. It is an annual friendly match held in Ted's honour by
the club he served so well,
Southampton
FC.
Statue Controversy
A statue
of Saints' greatest ever servant was unveiled outside the main
entrance to St Mary's
Stadium
on 17 March 2007. The statue cost
approximately £112,000 half of which was raised by fans via the Ted
Bates Trust and the other half met by Southampton Football
Club.
The statue was widely criticised by supporters just hours after its
uncovering, for not being in proportion or even resembling Ted
Bates, so the club pledged to organise a replacement. The
replacement statue was unveiled on Saturday 22 March 2008.
External links
References