Soccer Legend

To a generation of soccer fans Ted Bates was a legend and on the south coast his name regarded with the same aura as some of the football greats from the north of the country.

His statue outside Southampton Football Club’s St Mary’s Stadium in the city is a fitting tribute to the man who in effect was Mr Saints FC for 66 years.

He was part of Southampton Football Club for all that time first as a player from the age of 19, and subsequently to become coach, manager, chief executive, director and president. That spanned 66 years from 1937 until his death in 2003.

He was Saints manager from 1955 until 1973, handing over to Lawrie McMenemy who led the club to a memorable FA Cup victory over Manchester United in 1976.

But the statue itself was not without controversy and had to be changed soon after it was placed outside the stadium. Even so, the name of Ted Bates, MBE is still a soccer legend in Southampton; there is even a road nearby named after him.