Mark Stephen Anthony Yeates (born 11 January 1985) is an Irish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a winger for

Bamber Bridge Bamber Bridge is an urban village in Lancashire, England, south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". The population was 13,945 at ...

. Yeates began his career with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

but failed to make the transition to the first team, spending time on loan at

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. On leaving Spurs he returned on a permanent deal to Colchester before spells with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

and

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. He has three under-21

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

Career

Tottenham Hotspur

Yeates started his career at

, but first played professional football in loan spells with

and

during the 2003–04 season. Loaned to Swindon as part of the transfer to Spurs of Swindon player

Leigh Mills Leigh Mills (born 8 February 1988) is an English former professional footballer who was signed to Tottenham Hotspur between 2004 and 2009. Career Tottenham Hotspur Mills started his career as a youth team player at Swindon Town but was signed ...

, Yeates only played four games before being returned to

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

after a disagreement with then manager

Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to: * Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist * Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist * Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...

. He made his Spurs debut against

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

on the final day of the 2003–04

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

season, setting up a goal for

Robbie Keane Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional Association football, football coach and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Keane served as Captain (association football ...

. He made three first team appearances for Spurs. During the 2005–06 season, Yeates played on long-term loan at

, scoring five league goals, as they achieved promotion from

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

. Prior to 2006–07 Yeates signed a two-year contract extension with Spurs. He joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

team

on a season-long loan, but hardly featured for them before returning to his parent club midway through the season. He then signed a loan contract until the end of the 2006–07 season with another Championship side,

. He scored on his Leicester début at the

Walkers Stadium King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...

in a 1–1 draw with

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. On 25 April 2007, having only featured 16 times for Leicester, and not once under

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

Nigel Worthington Nigel Worthington (born 4 November 1961) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of York City. He played a defender and a midfielder, playing his club football for Ballymena United, Notts County, ...

, he was allowed to return to Spurs after being deemed surplus to requirements.

Colchester United

On 3 July 2007 he completed a permanent move to

. Yeates was set to sign for Crystal Palace Football Club, but due to the fact that he failed his medical, the transfer was abandoned. He had a productive year in League One, during which time, he scored the first competitive goal at the new

Colchester Community Stadium Colchester Community Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as the JobServe Community Stadium, is a football stadium in Colchester, England. It is the home of Colchester United Football Club. It has a capacity of 10,105 and opened in August 200 ...

in a game against Oldham.

Middlesbrough

Yeates then signed for newly relegated Championship team

for £500,000 on 26 June 2009. He made his début for Middlesbrough on 7 August 2009 in a 0–0 draw with

. In and out of the team in the first part of the season, he scored what turned out to be his only goal for Middlesbrough in their 5–1 win over

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus R ...

in December 2009.

Sheffield United

After finding himself surplus to requirements under new boss

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...

, Yeates signed for Boro's Championship rivals

. He scored his first goal for Sheffield United in a 2–1 defeat at Preston North End on 9 February 2010. Having made the move, Yeates found himself playing no more regularly at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

than at Middlesbrough. In an eighteen-month stay, he was in and out of the side and never showed any real consistency. By the time

Micky Adams Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a Full-back (football), full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a ninete ...

took over as manager of the Blades, Yeates was virtually frozen out of the first team altogether.

Watford

In July 2011, Yeates signed for

on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He scored on his debut against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

to put Watford 2–0 up, with the game finishing 2–2. Yeates was a regular in the Watford side up until their

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

clash against

on 27 January, in which he lost his place to

Sean Murray Sean Murray may refer to: * Sean Murray (field hockey) (born 1997), Lisnagarvey player and senior Ireland international * Sean Murray (footballer, born 1993), Dundalk FC player and Irish youth international * Sean Murray (Gaelic footballer), Dubli ...

. However, he continued to make substitute appearances and retained his place in the squad the following season under then-new manager,

Gianfranco Zola Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea. He spent the first decade of his playing career playing in ...

. During this period, Yeates was primarily played in a central role rather than his usual wide position, with Yeates stating that he actually preferred this new position On 7 June 2013, Watford announced that Yeates' contract would not be renewed and he was to be released as a free agent.

Bradford City

On 3 July 2013, Yeates signed a two-year contract with

, the third time that Yeates had worked under manager

Phil Parkinson Philip John Parkinson (born 1 December 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently manager of National League side Wrexham. Parkinson is the only manager to take an English fou ...

, having previously played under him at Hull City and Colchester United. Yeates made his Bradford debut on 3 August, the opening day of the season, playing 66 minutes of a 2–2 draw against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. and scored his first goal for the club during his second appearance, in a 4–0 win against

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

. On 26 November, Yeates came off the bench to score his second goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

Oldham Athletic

On 25 August 2015, Yeates joined

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

on a short-term deal. Yeates scored one goal in 20 League One games.

Blackpool

On 7 January 2016, Yeates joined

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on an initial 18-month deal from

with the option for a further year.

Notts County

On 30 January 2017, Yeates signed for

Eastleigh

On 28 June 2017, Yeates joined

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

side

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

on a two-year deal.

AFC Fylde

Yeates left Eastleigh to joined

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

on 12 June 2019.

Bamber Bridge

Yeates joined

Bamber Bridge F.C. Bamber Bridge Football Club is a football club based in Bamber Bridge, near Preston, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium. The club is fully owned by a community organisation that repres ...

from AFC Fylde in September 2020.

Personal life

His late father Stephen played for Shelbourne, Shamock Rovers (two goals in 11 appearances in 1989–90),

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

and

Kilkenny City Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilkenn ...

Honours

Club

;

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

Runner-up: 2005–06

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yeates, Mark 1985 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland B international footballers Association football wingers Premier League players English Football League players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Watford F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players AFC Fylde players Bamber Bridge F.C. players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players