Phil Bates (footballer)

Philip William Bates (16 November 1897 – 19 January 1974) was an English professional football centre half who played in the Football League for Crystal Palace.

Personal life
Bates worked as a grocer. After Britain's entry into the First World War in August 1914, he enlisted in the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). After his deployment to the Western Front in 1915, Bates saw action at Ploegsteert Wood, Loos and was badly wounded in the right arm near the Hohenzollern Redoubt in March 1916, with the resultant paralysis leading to his discharge from the army later in the year. Despite the injury, he was able to return to work as a grocer and to football. Bates' grocer's in Beckenham was destroyed by a V-1 flying bomb during the Second World War.

Honours
Crystal Palace
 * Football League Third Division: 1920–21