Robert Oates (born 26 July 1956) is an English former

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 ...

who made 357 appearances in the Fourth Division of

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

playing for Scunthorpe United and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. He played primarily as a

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

. While still a non-League footballer, he was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

for the England youth team.

Life and career

Oates was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, and began his football career with Yorkshire League club Leeds Ashley Road. While still playing for that club, he was selected for the England youth team, and played in a match against Northern Ireland youth at Prenton Park,

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

' ground, in April 1974. No other non-League footballer represented England at youth level for 37 years, until, in February 2011,

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 ...

forward Cauley Woodrow made his debut for the England under-17 team. Oates signed for Fourth Division club Scunthorpe United in August 1974. He made his debut during the 1974–75 Football League season, and gradually established himself as a first-team regular over his first couple of years with the club. In November 1979, by which time he was captain of Scunthorpe, he was moved from his customary

position to play as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, and scored both goals in a 2–0 defeat of

. After six seasons as a regular, he missed a significant part of the 1982–83 season through injury. Scunthorpe were promoted to the Third Division, and Oates was released. He had made 315 league appearances over his nine years with the club. He spent one season with Rochdale, also in the Fourth Division, before moving back into non-league football with Watton United.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oates, Bob 1956 births Living people Footballers from Leeds English footballers England youth international footballers Association football defenders Leeds Ashley Road F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Watton United F.C. players English Football League players Burnley F.C. non-playing staff Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff