Career
His position on the pitch was right-back. Pate began his career at Scottish junior side Renfrew Juniors, and was signed by Watford in 1965. He had played as a right-winger in his younger days, but was converted into a right-back at Watford, where he remained a reserve behind player-manager Ken Furphy, a right-back himself.
In October 1967, Pate was signed by Mansfield Town, and immediately put into the side by manager Tommy Eggleston.
At the time of his retirement, Pate had made a club-record 479 first-team appearances for the club (413 of those in league competition). The record has since been broken by his teammate Rod Arnold, but Pate remains in second place on Mansfield"s all-time appearance list.
He still lives in the Mansfield area. In June 2009, Pate was honoured by the club when the supporters" bar at the club"s Field Mill ground was renamed the Sandy Pate Bar.
