Alexander Montgomerie "Sandy" Pate (born 15 August 1944 in

Lennoxtown Lennoxtown ( gd, Baile na Leamhnachd, ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire council area and the historic county of Stirlingshire, Scotland at the foot of the Campsie Fells, which are just to the north. The town had a population of 4,094 at the 201 ...

, Scotland) is a retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who spent the majority of his career at

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

. His position on the pitch was right-back. Pate began his career at Scottish junior side Renfrew FC, and was signed by

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 ...

in 1965. He had played as a right-winger in his younger days, but was converted into a right-back at Watford, where he remained a reserve behind player-manager

Ken Furphy Kenneth Furphy (28 May 1931 – 17 January 2015) was an English football player and manager. Despite being on the books at Everton between 1950 and 1951, Furphy was a lower league player with Runcorn (1951–53) Darlington (1953–62) and then ...

, a right-back himself. In October 1967, Pate was signed by Mansfield Town, and immediately put into the side by manager

Tommy Eggleston Thomas Eggleston (21 February 1920 – 14 January 2004) was an English footballer and manager. Career Eggleston became a coach and manager after a playing career interrupted by the Second World War and then ended prematurely by injury. He was ...

. On 26 February 1969, Pate was a member of the Mansfield side that picked up a shock 3–0 win against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in the fifth 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 ...

to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in the club's history. Pate remained at Field Mill until 1978, and was a member of the Mansfield teams that won the Fourth and

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

division titles in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

respectively, before retiring from the game at the end of 1977-78, Mansfield's only season at the second tier of English football. At the time of his retirement, Pate had made a club-record 479 first-team appearances for the club (413 of those in

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

competition). The record has since been broken by his teammate Rod Arnold, but Pate remains in second place on Mansfield's all-time appearance list. He still lives in the Mansfield area. Included in his 479 first team appearances is a near seven year, run of 366 consecutive appearances in all competitions. In June 2009, Pate was honoured by the club when the supporters' bar at the club's

Field Mill Field Mill, currently known as One Call Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a Football pitch, football ground in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, and the home of Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield Town Football Club. It is the oldest ground in ...

ground was renamed the ''Sandy Pate Bar''.Stags' bar to be named after Sandy Pate
''Mansfield Chad'' (29 April 2009). Retrieved on 1 September 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pate, Sandy 1944 births Living people Scottish footballers Watford F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Association football defenders