 Owing to the fitness and form of Keith Millen and Terry Evans, Bates was unable to play his preferred centre back position, instead playing for long periods at full back.Brentford became a threat in the Third Division in the late 1980s and early 1990s and Bates was part of the team which reached the FA Cup quarter-finals in the 1988–89 season (Bates appeared as late substitute for Andy Feeley as the Bees were beaten 4–0 by Liverpool at Anfield) and went out in the 1991 play-off semi-finals to Tranmere Rovers.Bates made 42 league appearances in a triumphant 1991–92 season for the Griffin Park club and won the first silverware of his career in the form of the Third Division championship.