Colin Coates (born 26 October 1985) is a semi-professional footballer from Northern Ireland who plays as a defender for

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the Mi ...

Early life

Coates was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, and attended

Grosvenor Grammar School Grosvenor Grammar School (formerly Grosvenor High School) is an 11–18 co-educational controlled grammar school and sixth form in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. History Grosvenor Grammar School was founded in 1945 as Grosvenor Hi ...

, not traditionally a football-playing school.

Club career

Crusaders

Coates made a name for himself at Crusaders. He later revealed that at 15, he had the choice of signing for either Crusaders or

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

. He made his first-team debut against Chimney Corner in the

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Foo ...

on 29 October 2002, and scored on his league debut, a 2–4 defeat to Glentoran on 9 November. He has developed a formidable partnership in the centre of defence with David Magowan over the years, and he was part of the team which won the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

in 2009, He also scored a late equaliser in normal time in the

final against Linfield. The Crues went on to win the game 3–2. Coates was instrumental in Crusaders' triumph in the

2012 Setanta Sports Cup The 2012 Setanta Sports Cup was the seventh staging of the annual All Ireland, all-Ireland association football competition. It commenced on 11 February 2012 and ended on 12 May 2012, with the final played at The Oval (Belfast), The Oval, Belfast. ...

. In the semi-final second leg against

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

, he scored an extra-time penalty which put Crusaders into the final. In the final itself against

Derry City Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, he scored twice in a 2–2 draw, and scored in the resulting victorious penalty shoot-out in a man of the match performance. He also scored in the 2012 Irish Cup Final in a 1–4 defeat to Linfield. Coates has become the highest scoring central defender in Irish league football with his goal against Glentoran in late 2016. His presence in the box, neat finishing and even freekick taking make him an all round player with a great left foot. Coates attained three

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

titles with Crusaders.

Glenavon

After playing 577 senior games for Crusaders, spanning 18 years, Coates signed an 18-month contract with Glenavon on 30 January 2020, with the option for a further year. On 21 June 2021 it was announced that Coates had been transfer listed due to restructuring of the playing staff post COVID-19. On 28 August 2021, it was confirmed that Coates had left the club.

Cliftonville

After his release he signed for

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay. The original Palm Bay estate was ...

. he was part of the side that won the

2021–22 Northern Ireland Football League Cup The 2021–22 Northern Ireland Football League Cup (known as the BetMcLean League Cup for sponsorship purposes) was the 35th edition of Northern Ireland's football knock-out cup competition for national league clubs, and the seventh edition of the ...

Ballymena

On 14 June 2023, Coates signed for

, on a two-year contract.

International career

Coates was called up to the

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

squad for the match against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 6 June 2009, in which he played the full 90 minutes to receive his first cap. In May 2010, he was selected for friendly matches against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

(against both of whom he played as a second-half substitute). He also appeared in a friendly against

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. As of 11 August 2011, he has received six caps, and is the most capped Crusaders player of all time.

Honours

Club

;Crusaders *

(3): 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18 *

(2): 2008–09, 2018–19 *

Setanta Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of Ir ...

(1):

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Irish League Cup The Northern Ireland Football League Cup (BetMcLean League Cup for sponsorship purposes), also known colloquially as the Irish League Cup, is a national football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland open to all member clubs of the Nort ...

(1): 2011–12 *

(3): 2009–10, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

IFA Intermediate League The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Lough 41 Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Championshi ...

(1): 2005–06 * IFA Intermediate League Cup (1): 2005–06 *

Steel & Sons Cup The Steel & Sons Cup (also referred to as the Steel Cup) is an intermediate football competition in Northern Ireland run by the North East Ulster Football Association (also known as the County Antrim & District Football Association). The compe ...

(1): 2005–06 Cliftonville *

: 2021-22

Individual

* Irish League Team of the Year (2): 2008–09, 2009–10

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coates, Colin Living people 1985 births Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Crusaders F.C. players NIFL Premiership players People educated at Grosvenor Grammar School Cliftonville F.C. players Glenavon F.C. players