Richard Bate (25 June 1946 – 25 April 2018) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and coach. As a coach, he was the head of the youth Academy for

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

, before leaving in 2015. Prior to that he was the Elite Coaching Manager of

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

, the governing body for football in England.

Playing career

Wilkinson moved to

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, southeast of Oldham and east of Manchester. The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshire ...

in December 1976 as player-manager and when he resigned the following May he recommended Bate as his successor and Bate was duly appointed player-manager in June 1977. However, despite steering Mossley into the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

for only the (then) third time in their history, he departed the club following a 2–2 draw with

Frickley Athletic Frickley Athletic Football Club is a football club based in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Westfield Lane. History Although the club itself claims it was formed in 1910, the team was activ ...

on 2 January 1978.

Coaching career

Southend United

In June 1987, Bate was appointed manager of

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

by the club's chairman Vic Jobson without consulting his fellow board members. He reign lasted just ten games with a solitary victory in the

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

and he departed with the worst record of any Southend manager in history. Bate moved on to join Lincoln City as assistant manager to

Colin Murphy Colin Murphy may refer to: * Colin Murphy (comedian) (born 1968), Irish comedian * Colin Murphy (ice hockey) (born 1980), Canadian ice hockey player * Colin Murphy (footballer, born 1950), English football (soccer) player and manager * Colin Murphy ...

, helping the club regain its

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

status at the end of the 1987–88 season. He moved on to rejoin Wilkinson at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

acting as a coach between 1988 and 1992. He moved to Malaysia as Technical Director, a role he held from 1992 to 1995, before joining the coaching staff of

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

. In 1998, he became the coach of the England youth set-up working with the U16, U17, U18, U19 and U20 teams. He was caretaker manager of the

England women's national football team The England women's national football team, also known as the Lionesses, have been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first in ...

for a match against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in April 1998; between the resignation of

Ted Copeland Ted Copeland is an English former football coach. He managed the England women's side between 1993 and 1998, leading them to a quarter-final appearance in the 1995 World Cup. Copeland spent 12 years working as a lecturer in physical education a ...

and appointment of

Hope Powell Hope Patricia Powell, CBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English former international footballer and former women's first-team manager of Brighton & Hove Albion. She was the coach of the England women's national football team and the Great Britain ...

Canada

In September 2005, the appointment of Bate as the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ( ...

's Technical Director was announced with the role commencing on 14 October 2005. He held the role for ten months before resigning in order to join

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

Watford

In July 2006, Bate was appointed Technical Director at

with the Hornet's then manager

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...

being quoted as saying "I want Watford Football Club to have the best Academy in the world and I believe we have captured the best developer of talent in the world in the shape of Richard."

Cardiff City

On 2 November 2012, it was confirmed that Bate was to take on the role of the Head of the youth Academy for Cardiff City, replacing the departing Neal Ardley.

Life after coaching

Before the time of his death in April 2018, Bate worked with

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

on a consultancy basis during the clubs redevelopment of the Barnfield Training Centre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bate, Dick 1946 births 2018 deaths Southend United F.C. managers Boston United F.C. players Buxton F.C. players Mossley A.F.C. players Mossley A.F.C. managers Watford F.C. non-playing staff Cardiff City F.C. non-playing staff Lincoln City F.C. non-playing staff England women's national football team managers Malaysia national football team managers English men's footballers English football managers English expatriate football managers British expatriates in Malaysia Expatriate football managers in Malaysia English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada Men's association football players not categorized by position Place of birth missing