Background
Coates was born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham.
Coates was born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham.
Coates played for Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient, making 480 appearances in the Football League. Coates also earned four caps for England during 1970 and 1971. He was an apprentice colliery fitter and his footballing ability was spotted by Burnley"s North-East scout Jack Hixon.
Coates joined Burnley on trial in 1961 and after a period as an apprentice turned professional in 1963.
He would go on to make 261 appearances for Burnley in all competitions scoring 32 goals. After Burnley had been relegated from the First Division in 1971 Coates was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £190,000.
Coates left Tottenham in 1978 and had a short period playing in Australia before returning to play for Leyton Orient where he was also on the coaching staff He played 84 games in all competitions for Orient scoring 12 goals.
He retired from professional football in 1982 but continued to play non-league football for Hertford Heath, Ware and Nazeing.
Coates played eight times for England U-23 and four times for England. After his football career ended Coates moved into the leisure industry managing leisure centres in Chelmsford and Boreham Wood and was involved with Tottenham Hotspur for over 20 years where he worked as a match-day host. In early December 2010, he suffered a series of strokes and was hospitalised.
He died on 17 December 2010 at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital National Health Service Trust aged 64.
He was a member of the initial squad for the 1970 World Cup but was not selected for the final squad which travelled to Mexico.