Roy Gater (22 June 1940 – 1 May 2017) 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 ...

who played for Port Vale, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic,

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

, Weymouth, Dorchester Town and

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. He made 412 league and cup appearances in a 13-year career in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

Career

Gater passed through the Port Vale

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or Sports league, league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team (a ...

to sign professional forms under Norman Low in April 1960. He made his debut on 4 April 1961, in a 1–1 draw with Coventry City at

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game on 30 ...

. He played one further Third Division game in 1960–61, and was also a member of the side that won the Supporters' Clubs' Trophy. He only made three league and two

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 ...

appearances at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

during the 1961–62 season. He was sold to Bill McGarry's Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic for a "small fee" in June 1962. The "Cherries" finished fifth in the Third Division in 1962–63, before new boss Reg Flewin took the club to fourth in 1963–64 and 11th in 1964–65. Freddie Cox then took charge, leading Bournemouth to 18th in 1965–66, 20th in 1966–67, and 12th in 1967–68. In his six years at

Dean Court Dean Court, currently known as Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England, and is the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. The stadium has a capacity of 11,307. History I ...

, Gater scored three goals in 216 league appearances. He then transferred to Ernie Tagg's

, who would go on to be

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

into the Fourth Division in 1968–69. They finished 15th in 1969–70, before new boss Tom McAnearney took the "Alex" to 15th spot again in 1970–71. The "Railwaymen" then finished bottom of the

in 1971–72, before Jimmy Melia failed to lead them out of the re-election zone in 1972–73. In five years at

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History C ...

, Gater scored five goals in 156 league games. He moved on to Southern League side Weymouth, Dorchester Town and

(as

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

). He later became a coach at Poole Town before returning to Christchurch as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gater, Roy 1940 births 2017 deaths People from Chesterton, Staffordshire Footballers from Newcastle-under-Lyme English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Port Vale F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Dorchester Town F.C. players Christchurch F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players English football coaches Men's association football player-managers English football managers Christchurch F.C. managers 20th-century English sportsmen