Southampton News 24/7Writer: SFC Forever 
Date:Thursday June 3 2010
Time: 6:32PM
UK time is: 09:17:18
Choose your club
Other Sites
Network Navigation
Vital Partners
'If It's Football, It's Vital'
Ted Bates Widow Joins Her Husband
Born Mary Smith in the district of Shirley, she met 'Ted' shortly after he joined Saints in 1937 from Norwich City.
She married Edric Thornton (Ted) Bates in St James's Church Shirley on the 8th June 1940. That evening they watched Saints play charlton Athletic at the Dell.
Soon after the house in which they lived was bombed and they moved to West Wellow. Once there Mary began workingh for the N.A.A.F.I.
During Teds time at the Dell as a player Mary worked for the club as the secretary's assistant and then as PA announcer.
She finally left in 1958 to start a family. She stayed with Ted as he progressed from player to coach and on to manager.
when Ted handed over the reins to Lawrie Macmanemy he stayed on as his assistant. Nobody was happier than the Bates's when Saints duly won the FA Cup in 1976.
He then moved upstairs as a board member where he stayed for another twenty years. All the while he had his wife standing firmly behind him.
In 1998 Ted was awarded the MBE for services to football. At Southampton he was given the freedom of the city in the same year.
Widely regarded by saints fans as a hero for his 66 years of loyal service, he was widely commemorated in 2003 after his death.
The only possible sour note was the part of some Pompey fans during the game which followed his death.A minutes silence was barely able to last 30 seconds before it was ruined by their jeers and booing.
The media and fellow Pompey fans berated these fans as they were heavily criticised for their ignorance.
Mary was 88 years old when she passed away on May 25th. She will always be remembered as a Lady who was so closely associated with our club through her husband.
Her funeral is to be held at 11am on June 10th at the East Chapel of Southampton Crematorium. The family has requested that instead of flowers could well wishers make donations by cheque to the 'One Community Hillside Day Care Centre, via Nigel Guilder Funeral Directors of Chandlers Ford.
Seconds Out! Vital Boxing is here!
Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco
Your Comments
God bless you Mary. Rest in peace and enjoy your reunion with Ted.
VSrednwhite
Never saw either but as a Saints fans mrs I know how they were respected by all fans of the club. R.I.P
stellarnw
R.I.P Mary. Hope you are smiling now you are with Ted.
VS sparkle
The family are true legends as far as us Saints fans are concerned. Ted was a true gentleman and Mary backed him to the hilt.
SFC Forever
Have Your Say
Recent Articles
Saints Elite Centre Still Has Places Available (Thursday May 23 2013)
Jay Rod Thanks Fans (Wednesday May 22 2013)
Saints Bank Record Income (Wednesday May 22 2013)
Cork Happy With Saints First Season At The Top (Tuesday May 21 2013)
The First Of Many For Southampton (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Saints Fans Thanked By Club (Monday May 20 2013)
Lambert Pleased With Debut Season (Monday May 20 2013)
Pochettino Targets Improvement (Monday May 20 2013)
Kelvin Enjoyed Stoke Run Out (Monday May 20 2013)
Sunderland Man Of The Match (Monday May 20 2013)
Archived Articles
Vital Members League (view all)
| 1. | SFC Forever | 275 |
| 2. | sfc4ghg | 256 |
| 3. | Vital Saint | 136 |
| 4. | wilfster | 66 |
| 5. | VSrednwhite | 48 |
| 6. | VSgirlT | 33 |
| 7. | stellarnw | 26 |
| 8. | WillT | 13 |
| 9. | sinner92 | 10 |
| 10. | Jesus_02 | 2 |
League Results (view all)
| Latest Results | ||||
| Southampton | 1 | - | 1 | Stoke |
| Sunderland | 1 | - | 1 | Southampton |
| Spurs | 1 | - | 0 | Southampton |
| Southampton | 0 | - | 3 | WBA |
| Swansea | 0 | - | 0 | Southampton |
| Southampton | 1 | - | 1 | West Ham |
League Table (view table)
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 11. Norwich | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | -17 | 44 |
| 12. Fulham | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | -10 | 43 |
| 13. Stoke | 38 | 9 | 15 | 14 | -11 | 42 |
| 14. Southampton | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | -11 | 41 |
| 15. Aston Villa | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | -22 | 41 |
| 16. Newcastle | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | -23 | 41 |
| 17. Sunderland | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | -13 | 39 |
Breaking League News
| Lack of ambition confirmed!
» Newcastle : 24/05/2013 09:00:00
|
| Jamaica 0-0 Tottenham.
» Spurs : 24/05/2013 08:58:00
|
| The King is back where he belongs.
» Chelsea : 24/05/2013 08:51:00
|
| Stoke reject Nzonzi transfer request
» Stoke : 24/05/2013 00:46:00
|
| 10th or Else
» Newcastle : 23/05/2013 21:52:00
|
| Liverpool: Reds To Iago For Aspas
» Liverpool : 23/05/2013 19:51:00
|
| Saints Elite Centre Still Has Places Available
» Southampton : 23/05/2013 18:47:00
|
Current Site Poll (view all polls)
|
|
2 © - All content copyright Vital Network Ltd, not to be reproduced without explicit permission Copyright Issues
Cookie Policy
At Vital Football, we along with most other modern websites use small files called 'cookies' to create the most secure, effective and functional website possible for our users. Without these files our business model, based on advertising, breaks down and we would be unable to continue to provide the services that you are here to utilise. By continuing to use this website after seeing this message, you consent to our use of cookies on this device unless you have disabled them. For full details please read our Cookie Policy which can be found here. However, if you would like to disable cookies on this device, please view our Cookie Policy which contains an opt-out tool for disabling advertising cookies. Please also visit our information pages on 'How to manage cookies' if you would also like to block all other types of cookies. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies.