Former Leeds United midfielder Mick Bates dies aged 73

Former Leeds United player Mick Bates has died aged 73, the club has announced.

The former midfielder made 191 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring nine goals between 1965 and 1976.

He is best known for playing for Leeds during the Don Revie period, helping the club to win the FA Cup in 1972 and the First Division in 1974, as well as two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups in 1968 and 1971.

How will he be remembered?

Bates, a popular and very talented midfielder, played in the shadow of other footballers at Leeds United during Revie’s reign as manager but in a career with the club spanning more than a decade, he became synonymous with that era nonetheless.

Bates’ appearances for Leeds totalled 191 and he featured regularly enough in their 1973-74 Division One title-winning campaign to claim a medal at the end of it. His finest hour came in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1971 when his finish against Juventus in Turin helped Leeds claim the trophy on the away goals rule.

Injuries limited his involvement in the final years of his stay at Elland Road and he left for Walsall in 1976 before finishing his career with Bradford City and Doncaster Rovers.

Born in South Yorkshire, Bates and other members of the Revie side were awarded the freedom of the city of Leeds during the club’s centenary year in 2019.

His death at the age of 73 follows a period of illness and brings about another period of mourning for Leeds, who have lost former players Norman Hunter, Jack Charlton, Trevor Cherry and Peter Lorimer in the past 15 months.