Herbert James Leopold "Rigger" Coates (29 September 1901 – 25 October 1965)[1] was an English amateur footballer who played as an inside forward for Southampton in the 1920s and 1930s.
[7] He was described by one of his teammates as:"One of the finest inside lefts that ever wore an England Amateur jersey, and his clever dribbling, his brilliant anticipation and his terrific shots more than compensated for the fact that his play may have been a bit on the showy side.
"[2]For the 1931–32 season, Arthur Wilson had taken over from Dougall as the regular inside-left, but Coates did manage a run of seven games between September and November, plus three later appearances across the forward line.
[8] At the end of the season, both Dougall and Wilson had left the club and Coates hardly missed a match in 1932–33 (making 30 appearances) until April, when Tom Ruddy replaced him.
The "Football Echo" reported that "Coates was tucking his jersey into his shorts when Bradford scored immediately following the restart and before the amateur was ready" – this was the only goal of the game.