In two spells with Rovers Phil Bater appeared in 310 league games following his league debut, against Aston Villa, on 14th September 1974.
He signed his first professional contract with the club in October 1972 and joined Wrexham for a fee of £50,000 in September 1981 and went on to feature in 73 league games for them.
He returned to Rovers two years later and on leaving Eastville again in the summer of 1986 he appeared in 19 league games for Brentford and 76 for Cardiff City.
His later career saw him return to Rovers in a number of roles, namely U-16 coach, first team coach, assistant manager and caretaker manager (twice). He also managed a number of local clubs including Clevedon Town, Mangotsfield United and Larkhall Athletic.
Phil, a tough tackling defender and a very popular, well liked and well respected player and coach was the 427th player to make his league debut for the club and he received his cap to commemorate that milestone on 15th April.
We would like to thank Bristol Rovers Former Players Association Chairman Tony Mills for making the presentation on our behalf.