Longer standing supporters of the Club will recall the outstanding contribution he and his fellow striker Ray Haywood made to our highly successful 1973/74 season before going on to enjoy a long and successful time as a player, assistant manager and manager in League football. Best remembered for his spells at Shrewsbury Town, he is also fondly recalled for his times with Bristol Rovers, Swindon Town and Stoke City.

From https://southern-football-league.co.uk/News/127263/They%60ve-Played-For-Your-Cluband8230;Stourbridge

Phil `Chic` Bates

There`s no doubting Chic Bates` place in Stourbridge`s history.

He joined the club in 1969 when they members of the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division and helped them to finish in third place in his first season.

Stourbridge finished sixth in 1970/71 but were elected to the expanding Southern League and, after establishing themselves, in Division One North alongside big non-League names like Burton Albion, Cheltenham Town, King`s Lynn, Gloucester City and Kettering Town, the Glassboys soon enjoyed success themselves under manager Alan Grundy.

In the 1973/74 season they won the Division One North title, with Burton Albion in second and Cheltenham third and also won the Merit Cup for being the highest goalscorers in all three divisions.

Twin strikers Bates and his partner Ray Haywood were mostly responsible for Stourbridge winning the Merit Cup as each notched 50 goals in all competitions that season.

Another highlight in 1973/74 was a fine run in the Welsh Cup, in which the Glassboys disposed of both Swansea City and Wrexham on their own grounds and then faced Cardiff City in a two-leg final.

A record crowd of 5,726 at Amblecote saw Stourbridge lose the home leg 1-0 and then also go down 1-0 at Ninian Park.

Bates` took his total of goals scored for the Glassboys to 197 goals but former Derby and Wales midfielder Alan Durban, then in charge of Shrewsbury Town, needed strikers and in the summer of 1974, he surprised supporters by signing both Bates and his strike partner Haywood for a joint fee of around £10,000.

No-one realised though that it would lead to a 40-year relationship between Bates and Shrewsbury Town.

In his first season with the Shrews, Bates scored 17 goals as Durban`s side gained promotion to the Third Division.

He added another 7 to that total in the 1975/76 season and followed that up with 13 in the 76/77 campaign.

He started the 1977/78 season well and it attracted the attention of Swindon Town who eventually paid £30,000 for his services midway through that season.

However, that wasn’t the end of Bates’ relationship with Shrewsbury. He returned just three years later, this time from Bristol Rovers, for £20,000.

When he returned, Shrewsbury were now in the Second Division and were managed by Graham Turner.

Bates’ second spell with Town was certainly less productive in front of goal as he scored just 24 goals in all competitions, compared with the 52 goals in his first spell, but his role was no less important as he featured 160 times during six seasons.

Bates passed his coaching badges in July 1981 and it came as no surprise when he was lined-up as Graham Turner’s successor when Turner moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1984.

Bates managed to guide Shrewsbury to their highest ever Football League finish of eighth in the Second Division in 1984/85.

But Bates left the club in 1987, a move which saw chairman at the time, Tim Yates, resign.

Bates returned to Swindon as assistant to Lou Macari and then followed the former Manchester United star to Stoke City and Celtic.

When Macari left Stoke for the second time in 1997, Bates took over as manager but that would only last a year.

And he returned once more to Shrewsbury in 1999 to become assistant manager and he twice took on the top role again on a caretaker basis, before eventually retiring from football.

Tributes have been paid to Chic this week, including the article below from the Shropshire Star.

Chic will forever remain a part of our Club's history and a legend in the eyes of so many.

RIP Chic.