By Harley George
Steve Bates is the current Academy Manager of Hampton and Richmond FC, who has been part of the club for over thirty years. Some of his most memorable moments whilst being a part of the club consist of, playing in FA Cup fixtures, watching Play-off finals as a fan, and going on a fantastic FA Youth Cup run as with his academy side.
Bates became Academy Manager in 2018 after taking over from former Academy Boss, Alan Dowson, who is now currently at Woking FC. He oversees the Under 18’s and Under 19’s Academy team where he has been successful. This season, his side moved up to the National League U19 Alliance League South Division, which he described the promotion as a “a superb achievement for the club” and said “it has been quite a tough experience and I would suggest that it is the best standard of football, outside of the professional ranks – it has been a positive experience so far.”
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and following the Government decisions in March, the Academy were forced to have all of their matches postponed and had to resume all education to a format that doesn’t include face-to-face contact. In an interview on hamptonfc.net he stated that "We have been preparing for this and we have worked tirelessly with our education partner SCL. So, we have in place a remote system so our students education will not stop, it will just change in terms of format."
In his recent ‘The Beavers Blog’ interview, Bates spoke about how COVID-19 had affected himself and his Academy players in terms of training and fitness. He said, “we are trying to keep our boys focused, we’ve been very fortunate since I became the Academy Manager – they have been set a fitness plan and programme. The players need to stay home and stay safe.”
In this interview, Bates also briefly spoke about the Malcom Dickenson Testimonial match which took place in 1992 against Arsenal XI. Dickenson signed for the club in 1983/84 season and spent 11 seasons at the Beavers, with 452 competitive matches played for the club. Following a broken leg injury in 1987, he was side-lined for the 1987/88 season, and didn’t return until January 1989. Due to his service to the club he was awarded the testimonial match, which Steve Bates described the match as “a great occasion for the club.”
As well as working with Hampton and Richmond, Bates is a Head Coach for NPL Youth FC, who are based in Teddington and the club provides teams between the ages of seven and 18. In 2017, Bates’ NPL Youth U-18’s side lifted the Surrey Youth League Premier Elite trophy, which made it back to back league and cup double winning seasons for the team.
Finally, next season will be the centurion year for the club as they have currently been running for 99 years after they were established in 1921. Bates commented on the youth players emerging that could get a chance to be promoted to the first team for the Beaver’s 100th year. He declared that “I’m hoping that four or five boys will be included in first team training with Gary (McCann) (First Team Manager). They will have to stand up and look after themselves, but they will be very well supported.”
We are very grateful for Steve’s time, and wish himself and his Academy, the very best of luck for the future.
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