Joseph Morris Bates (22 May 1864 – 6 September 1905), usually known as Morris Bates, was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. Bates first played as an amateur for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, before moving south to London to take up work at the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proof test, proofing, and explosives research for ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

(along with former teammate Fred Beardsley). There, he met several other keen football fans, including Jack Humble and

David Danskin David Danskin (9 January 1863 – 4 August 1948) was a Scottish mechanical engineer and footballer. He was a principal founding member of Dial Square F.C., later renamed Royal Arsenal, the team that are today known as Arsenal. Career Born in ...

, and together they formed Dial Square Football Club in 1886; the club were soon renamed Royal Arsenal, and are today known simply as

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Bates continued to officiate as an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

at some of Forest's games; with Fred Beardsley, he was responsible for obtaining a set of red kit from their old club Forest, giving Arsenal the colours they still wear. Arsenal 1888 squad photo

Bates played 73 first-team matches for Royal Arsenal, mainly as a full-back, in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

(including the Gunners' very first FA Cup tie, against Lyndhurst on 5 October 1889) and various regional competitions. Bates went on to become Arsenal's captain and earned the nickname "The Iron Man", with a reputation for his powerful heading of the ball, in an era when footballs were far heavier and more dangerous to head than they are now. He skippered Arsenal to their first trophy wins – the

Kent Senior Cup The Kent Senior Cup is an English football knock-out competition played between senior clubs in the county of Kent. It is administered by the Kent County Football Association (KCFA). History Now known as the Kent Senior Cup it was originall ...

and

London Charity Cup The London Charity Cup was one of the London Football Association's cup competitions. History The London FA previously ran three senior cup competitions, the London Challenge Cup, the London Senior Cup (known also as the London Senior Amateur C ...

in 1890. Bates was 36 by the time of the cup wins and decided he was getting too old for the game; he quit playing for the Royal Arsenal first team in the summer of 1890. Unlike Beardsley or Danskin, he did not maintain his association with the club after retiring, as no mention of him is made in subsequent records, and he reverted to amateur football by captaining the

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north ...

club in 1892–93. He continued to work at the Royal Arsenal, specialising in

Maxim gun The Maxim gun is a Recoil operation, recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Maxim, Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first automatic firearm, fully automatic machine gun in the world. The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most ...

s, until his death from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

at 41.

Footnotes

References

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External links

Player profile - 11v11
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Morris 1864 births 1905 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Nottingham Forest F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in England Footballers from Nottingham