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CASUALS LEGEND PROFILE
Steve Cates
The former Club Captain and midfield stalwart is second in the all time appearances list having played for 11 seasons with the club, recording 59 goals.
He became the first Casuals manager to win a league championship when his team wrapped up the 1998/99 London Commercial League Division 3 title in some style.
Back then he owned the left flank and would gracefully glide past opponents with consummate ease, often going back to beat a player again and again.
As he approached his mid-thirties the Liverpool FC fanatic took up residency in the heart of the Casuals midfield engine room and built an impressive partnership with his equally combative (and talkative) young work apprentice John Skelly.
Consecutive KDFL championships and cups followed, with arguably Catesy's finest moment coming in the 2004 Teck Intermediate Cup Final when aged 36 he scored twice and gave a man of the match performance in a 4-1 victory at Hampton & Richmond FC's Beaveree Stadium.
2004: Catesy's finest hour and a half A series of hamstring injuries not to mention Old Father Time conspired to bring an end to his incomparable Casuals career as the curtain fell on the 2005/06 season.
There can be no doubting his immense contribution to the Westminster Casuals through good times and bad.
Catesy, we salute you.
Casuals Appearances/Goals: 236 / 59
Number of Bridgend Tours: 8 (1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)
Honours:
1995/96 London Commercial League Div 6 Runners up
1998/99 London Commercial League Div 3 Championship
2002/03 KDFL Div 3 Championship
2003 Deckers 6-a-side Champions
2003/04 KDFL Div 2 Championship
2003/04 Teck Intermediate Cup
2004/05 KDFL Div 1 Championship
2004/05 Surrey Junior Cup
2004/05 Teck Senior Cup
2004/05 League Senior Cup Runner-up
2005/06 KDFL Premier League Champions
2005/06 Teck Senior Cup Runner-up
2005/06 Surrey Junior Cup Runner-up
2005/06 League Senior Cup Runner-up
2000/01 Player of the Year
Debut: 16 Sept 1995. Drew 2-2 with Ealing Old Boys in London Commercial League Division 6.
Final game: 10 May 2006 League Senior Cup Final v Maori Park. Came on as a sub in a 3-0 defeat.
Personals
Full Name: Stephen Andrew Cates
Nickname: Catesy
Birthplace: Toxteth or Margate - can't quite remember
Date of Birth: 4/12/67
Resides: The Castle, Chobham
Occupation: Employment Lawyer. Skelly's boss
Other clubs: St Giles Primary School, St Giles Cub Scouts, Wakeman School U11 - U16, Shrewsbury Schools Area U11-U16, Shropshire County FA U17-U18, Shrewsbury VI Form College, Shrewsbury Town FC, Steamwagon FC, Heathgates FC, Abbey FC, Coach and Horses FC, University of Kent, Guildford College of Law, East Kent FA Rep team, Freshfields Solicitors, Corinthian Casuals Vets (as under-aged player), Linklaters Solicitors, London Legal League Rep team, Laytons Solicitors.
Interests/Hobbies: Allotments
Superstitions: Walk under ladders/Pick up pennies/beat Piltch
Preferred Position: Right Handed
Boyhood Hero: Ray Kennedy/ Dalglish
Ideal Woman: Ella Richards
Mastermind Specialised Subject: Ella Richards
Biggest Influence on football career: Skelly
Favourites:
Football Club: Liverpool
Footballer: Luis Garcia
Films: Lord of the Rings
Music: Not bothered
Food: Any curry
Casuals
How did you come to join the Casuals: I was a tea boy for ex-casual Geraint Thomas - he said his team were a good bunch of lads. Went to training and met Danny the Comb and Smithy....
Who else did you introduce during your 11 years with the club: Loads - Piltch of course (sorry), Jeyesy, Arf, Bart (sorry), Skelly, Grumpy Jim (sorry but at least that led to Geordie and Hitman)
PILTCH: Sorry Highlight of Casuals Career: That cup final
Lowlight of Casuals career: Hamstrings
Favourite match: Loads stand out but possibly the 2 all draw against the deaf at their place which essentially clinched the league
TWO -ONE TO THE CASUALS! Catesy celebrates the double with Phil and Fulham's Christof Worst match: Where to start...
Best team performance: When we beat Maori Park in the Surrey cup when we were a division below them - that was good
Most memorable Casuals goal you scored: In one of my first games down in Chiswick I scored an overhead kick from the edge of the box. If I tried that now I would be straight down to A&E.
Most Embarrassing Moment: Too many to mention!
Worst player you played alongside: Piltch/Houlker
Funniest player: Bart - great endeavor. Absolutely shite.
Funniest thing you have seen during a game: That 200 year old ref was pretty funny...
Funniest thing you have seen on a Casuals night out: That curry in Bridgend when Phil was humiliated again. The Roadhouse brawl wasn't funny - it was too frightening...
Favourite Bridgend tour memory: Some blonde bird on my third tour
What do you remember about your first season (95/96): Very, very little save for that goal above and mad Rog getting twatted in a cup game
Having won a championship in 98/99 the club finished second from the bottom of the league the following season. What was the reason for this dramatic change in fortunes? Retirements and availability. And the new players we brought in like Lee Humphries were shite.
How does your managerial style compare with that of Phil Malcolm's? I understand a bit about the game. Phil was/is an administrator.
You famously give referees a hard time. Why do you hate them so much: Incompetence. Little fucking Hitlers
How's the hamstring: Fucked
Are you still playing: About once a month if I'm lucky - 6 a side on Sunday's in Woking Rec. I blow out my arse
What do you do now on Saturday afternoons: Golf/Allotment
Having given your first two daughters the initials LFC, any plans for the third to be WCFC? No more kids. Otherwise it would be a shoe in
Tell us something we don't know about you after all these years: Fuck off
Best Advice Given by a fellow Casual: Fuck all
How would you like to be remembered: Committed
Best thing about being a Casual: Goes without saying. The crack. Best bunch of lads you could hope to waste 15 years of your life with
Message to the current team: Pride, Passion and Commitment (the best thing by far Brailsford ever did for the club was that motto)
Q&A completed on 25 April 2008
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