Sport has always been a factor in the life of the town and in recent years the name of one man has become synonymous with all aspects of the major games, Terry Bates, who  established a reputation both as administrator and achiever. His main talents were as player and official of both the football and cricket clubs and his work over more than half a century rightly earned him the nickname of Bourne’s Mr Sport.

Terry Norman Bates was born at Grantham Hospital on 18th July 1936, only son of Kenneth Bates, headmaster of the village school at Morton, near Bourne, for more than 30 years, and his wife Edna, who was also teaching there and after joining them for his primary education, went on to Bourne Grammar School in 1947. He was already playing cricket and football for the village teams and by the time he left school in 1954, sport had become part of his life because he had joined the town cricket club which was to become a consuming passion.

He was called up for his two years of national service with the Sherwood Foresters, being posted to the British Army of the Rhine in Germany and then to Epsom, Surrey, as an instructor and on discharge, resumed his education at Kesteven Training College where he qualified as a teacher before specialising in physical education and completing a course at Carnegie College, now part of Leeds University.

While there, he played college cricket and football and captained the West Riding county side, playing at centre half and attracting interest from Preston North End and Walsall but was unable to play part time because of college restrictions. Despite that, he did manage to turn out for Wolverhampton’s B team before completing his PE course and going on to teach at Amesbury Secondary School in Wiltshire.

Terry returned to Morton for a time when his father became ill and after a brief spell at Lincoln Road Boys School in Peterborough, secured a post at Aveland High, then a new school at Billingborough, where he spent three years before moving to Bourne Secondary School [now the Robert Manning Technology College] in 1963 as head of PE where he remained for nine years.

He was elected to Bourne Urban District Council in 1970, serving as chairman of the estates committee, and was also a trustee of Bourne United Charities for two years, but in 1972 he decided to leave teaching and give up public life in Bourne to make a significant move to Wrexham in North Wales where he was appointed chief leisure and recreation officer with Wrexham Maelor Borough Council. This was to bring a number of opportunities in the sporting world, designing and opening one of the country’s first leisure centres and responsibility for community centres in 21 parishes while also spending two mornings a week with Wrexham Football Club, then playing in the Third Division, and in 1977 he took over as coach and development officer and manager of the reserve and youth teams.

There were many memorable moments during this three-year period of his life when Wrexham won the Welsh Cup and played in the European Cup winners competition, taking the Third Division championship, thus enabling them to play in the Second Division for the first time ever and, particularly, in the FA Cup run, beating Tottenham Hotspurs at White Hart Lane and twice putting out Bristol City when they were a First Division club. It was also during this period, that he met footballing great Emlyn Hughes who was to figure prominently in Terry’s later life.

His stay at Wrexham was rewarding but after three years, Terry moved back to Bourne, working briefly on the opening of the Toft House Hotel before joining Peterborough United as physiotherapist and youth team manager. Other appointments as leisure manager in Kent and Humberside followed until he again returned home in 1982 to become leisure services officer for South Kesteven District Council, a post he held until 1991. In April 1988, Bourne's new public leisure centre was built on land adjoining the Robert Manning College at a cost of £½ million in order that the school could enjoy the benefits from a "chance to share" scheme including a magnificent sports hall and Terry persuaded his old friend Emlyn Hughes OBE to perform the opening ceremony and unveil a commemorative plaque.

During the late 1980s, Terry was general secretary of the National Association of Young Cricketers, a voluntary appointment he held until 1991 when he decided to retire and lecture part time while also working as chairman and then president of the United Counties League (1984-2001) and managing and coaching both the Lincolnshire county senior football and cricket teams.

But the very day after his retirement decision, on 4th April 1991, came a defining moment in his life when he received a call from Lord’s asking him to join them for six months to help build up the England Development of Excellence Scheme and here he found himself working with former England and Sussex star Ted Dexter as chairman. He spent 13 years at Lord’s and in 1991 became Director of Administration and Development for the National Cricket Association and in 1997 became the first Head of Development for the newly formed England and Wales Cricket Board, setting up the structure of non-class cricket in the United Kingdom including the appointment of 38 county development officers.

His career during this period was almost breathless with activity, as chairman of the International Youth Tournament, managing the England amateur side along with the under 17 and 18 teams, grant aid manager for the Lord’s Taverners and managing the England professional team which visited New Zealand in October 1997 when the squad included Hampshire’s Robin Smith, Phil deFreitas, Chris Lewis, Mark Alleyne and Matthew Maynard. He was also Chief Executive of the Cricket Foundation and Lead Officer for cricket’s Racial Equality project.

In 1966, Terry married Sue Edwards, a PE teacher at the Robert Manning Technology College and they had two children, Lisa and Richard, both following in their parents’ footsteps by proving themselves highly proficient at sport.

Even after retirement there was no let up in his tireless efforts for various sporting organisations. He had been connected with Bourne Cricket Club since 1948, being appointed captain, secretary, president and patron and then, in 1967, he was elected an honorary life member. His connections with Bourne Town Football Club since 1961 were equally impressive, as player, manager from 1968-72 and winning three championships in the United Counties Football League in four years, secretary, chairman, president and in 1972, he was elected a life member.

He was also chairman of the Abbey Lawn Action Committee formed to protect the ground where both clubs are situated from vandalism and wanton damage and in 2006 was appointed a trustee of the Len Pick Trust, a charitable organisation set up to administer a £4 million bequest to the town by a local farmer and landowner. He was also a member of the Lord’s Taverners Foundation and organiser of their Street Cricket project in five counties and chairman of the Lincolnshire Premier Cricket League, all voluntary posts.

Terry was also responsible for several notable cricketing Sundays at the Abbey Lawn featuring national stars and players and designed to raise money for charitable causes and these have now become popular annual summer events, not just for cricket fans but also for the entire family.

He died after suffering a heart attack at his home in Mill Drove, Bourne, on Monday 5th January 2009. He was 72. His passing meant that Bourne lost a major sporting personality and, as he was also known to so many, a perfect gentleman. A few months before he died, Terry counted his blessings. “I am fortunate”, he said, “to have been involved in sport all of my working life as either an employee or a volunteer. I am so lucky to have been involved with so many top sportsmen and I have a chest full of memories from more than half a century.”

Over 500 mourners attended his funeral at the Abbey Church on Wednesday 14th January followed by interment at the village cemetery at Morton. Among them were many representatives from the sporting organisations with which he had been associated including the England Cricket Board and Wrexham Football Club. Civic leaders from Bourne were also present.

REVISED JANUARY 2009

See also     Bourne Town Football Club     Bourne Town Cricket Club