Dwight Yorke
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Dwight Eversley Yorke CM (born 3 November 1971) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian former 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 ...
and current
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...
of Australian
A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
club
Macarthur FC Macarthur Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in South Western Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). On ...
. Throughout his club career, he played for
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
,
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
,
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
,
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
,
Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...
and
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, mainly as a
forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...
, between 1988 and 2009. He was the assistant manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national team until the completion of the qualifying matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Yorke scored 123 goals in the
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 ...
, a record for a non-European which was not broken until
Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest play ...
in 2017. At international level, Yorke represented Trinidad and Tobago on 74 occasions between 1989 and 2009, scoring 19 goals. He helped his nation reach the semi-finals of the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and also helped Trinidad and Tobago to qualify for the
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
for the first time in its history, later representing his national side in the final tournament in 2006.


Club career


Aston Villa

Yorke was first discovered by
Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...
, at the time the
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
manager, on a tour of the West Indies in 1989. Yorke, aged 17, appeared in a team that played a friendly against Aston Villa, Taylor was impressed and offered Yorke a trial at Villa. Yorke was subsequently given a permanent contract and played for the Villa Reserve and Youth sides for the majority of the 1989–90 season, making his First Division debut for Aston Villa against Crystal Palace on 24 March 1990: Crystal Palace won the game 1–0. During his time with Aston Villa, from 1989 to 1998, Yorke played initially as a right winger until the 1995–96 season, he then switched to centre forward and quickly established himself as one of the
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 ...
's top strikers. Yorke was an integral member of the Villa team that reached the
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
Final in 1996. Villa won 3–0 against
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
with Yorke getting on the scoresheet. On 30 September 1996 he scored a hat-trick against Newcastle United in a 4–3 defeat. Newcastle were leading 3–1 at half-time and Aston Villa were down to ten men, with
Mark Draper Mark Andrew Draper (born 11 November 1970) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1988 to 2003, notably in the Premier League for Leicester City, Aston Villa and Southampton. He ...
being
sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...
late in the first half. Yorke showed great character in leading his team in a brave fight back by scoring two more goals in the second half to complete his hat-trick, although it was to no avail as Aston Villa still lost the game. Yorke thought he had scored a fourth goal to equalise the game at 4–4, only for it to be ruled offside. It was performances like this that led to interest from Manchester United in August 1998. Yorke appeared for Aston Villa on 284 occasions, scoring 97 times. He also has the distinct honour of being the last Villa player to score in front of the old Holte End standing terrace, notching both goals in a 2–1 victory on the final day of the 1993–94 season, 7 May 1994. The circumstances of his departure from Aston Villa were controversial. John Gregory, Aston Villa manager at that time, made it known that the club did not want to sell Yorke to Manchester United unless they were prepared to exchange striker
Andy Cole Andrew Alexander Cole (born 15 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. His professional career lasted from 1988 to 2008, and is mostly remembered for his time with Manchester United, who paid a Briti ...
. Yorke then approached Gregory to state that he wanted to leave the club, to which Gregory was later attributed as saying that he would have shot Yorke if he had had a gun in his office. Yorke played for Villa on the opening day of the season at Everton on 15 August 1998, however it appeared he made no effort during the match as he was unhappy at not being allowed to leave the club. Villa were left with no option but to sell the player and he was transferred to Manchester United for £12.6 million on 20 August 1998.


Manchester United

In his first season Yorke was a key player in guiding his club to a unique treble of the Premier League title,
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 ...
and
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
, and forming a legendary partnership with Andy Cole. Yorke finished the season as the top league goalscorer with 18 goals and contributed goals against
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
,
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
,
Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...
, and
Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
in the Champions League, and he won the
Premier League Player of the Season The Premier League Player of the Season is an annual association football award presented to players in England, which recognises the most outstanding player in the Premier League each season. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the ...
. Yorke was also a regular member of United's 1999–2000 title winning team, contributing 23 goals in all competitions. Despite a less successful third season personally, Yorke scored his 100th Premier League goal in a 3-0 victory over
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...
on 24 November 2000 and also netted a
hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
in the top of the table clash with
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
as United went on to win a third successive title. In January 2002 a move to
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 ...
fell through. He played his last game for United that month, and was not issued a squad number for the 2002–03 season. Altogether he scored 65 goals for Manchester United in 152 appearances.


Blackburn Rovers

In July 2002, Yorke moved to
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
for an initial £2 million, potentially rising to £2.6 million; United had wanted a fee of £6 million. He was signed to cover the long absence of Matt Jansen from a traffic accident, and was reunited with his former United strike partner Andy Cole. Yorke scored 13 goals in all competitions in his first season at
Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...
, including the winner on 26 October 2002 as Rovers won 2–1 at reigning champions Arsenal. The following 4 January on his return to
Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...
, he scored twice in a 4–1 win in the FA Cup third round. On 11 May, in the last game of the season, he opened a 4–0 win at
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 ...
as Blackburn beat Everton to sixth place and
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
qualification.


Birmingham City

On 31 August 2004, transfer deadline day, Yorke moved to
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
on a one-year deal with the option of a second. Instead of a loan to
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
, he chose to join Birmingham for a "substantial but undisclosed fee". It was later reported as £250,000. Yorke scored on his home debut for Birmingham in a 1–1 draw against
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...
, with the equaliser seven minutes after replacing
Clinton Morrison Clinton Hubert Morrison (''né'' Chambers; born 14 May 1979) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Since his retirement from playing he works as a pundit. Morrison began his career at local side Crystal Palace in 1998, f ...
. He scored again against Graeme Souness's Newcastle on 3 October. However, Yorke fell out of favour at St Andrew's and was released by mutual consent in April 2005.


Sydney FC

Yorke immediately signed for
Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...
, with a salary of $1 million a season. He scored the first goal for Sydney FC in its first A-League regular season match, a diving header against the
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...
. Yorke came to Sydney FC with the biggest pedigree of all players in the A-League, having won the treble with Manchester United. Yorke scored 7 goals in the A-League, with three of them being from penalty kicks. Sydney FC coach
Pierre Littbarski Pierre Michael Littbarski (; born 16 April 1960) is a German professional football manager and former player of 1. FC Köln and the West Germany national team. Known for his dribbling abilities, he was mainly used as an attacking midfielder o ...
moved Yorke into a midfield role and gave him the team captaincy. He played a major role in leading Sydney FC to victory in the inaugural A-League Grand Final on 5 March against regional rivals
Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...
. He set up the only goal, scored by
Steve Corica Stephen Christopher Corica ( born 24 March 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Australian club Sydney FC. A technically gifted and skillful attacking midfielder during his playing ...
, in front of a sell out crowd of over 41,000 at
Aussie Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier recta ...
, and was awarded the
Joe Marston Medal The Joe Marston Medal is an A-League award given to the player of the match in the A-League Grand Final each year. Introduced in 1990, previously the award was also given to the best player in the National Soccer League grand final. The medal i ...
as best player in the grand final. Yorke was the
marquee player A marquee player is an athlete who is considered exceptionally popular, skilled, or otherwise outstanding, especially in professional sports. Its name comes from theater marquees, on which the names of the stars of productions in said theater ar ...
for Sydney FC – meaning that his salary fell outside the salary cap. He was also a star name for the A-League as a whole. Aside from his footballing talents, the drawing power and credibility he brought both locally and internationally proved to be beneficial for the competition in its inaugural season, leading the
Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...
to use his image and name for the promotion of the A-League's second season. Due to the schedule of football in Australia, Yorke returned to Manchester United for training from March to June 2006, to retain fitness for the World Cup. Yorke returned to Sydney FC to take part in a friendly against Everton in 2010. The game was considered his 'farewell game' as he never had the chance to say a proper farewell to the fans at Sydney FC. Everton won the match 1–0, and Yorke was substituted midway through the second half.


Sunderland

On 31 August 2006, Yorke's transfer to
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
was announced. The transfer for a fee of £200,000 ( A$ $500,000) re-united Yorke with ex-teammate Roy Keane, manager of Sunderland. Yorke made his debut in the home match against Leicester City and received a rapturous standing ovation from home fans when he came on as a substitute in the first half. Yorke was used as a defensive midfielder rather than his usual striker role. He scored his first goal for Sunderland in the 2–1 loss against Stoke and was accepted by the people of Sunderland, switching on the city's Christmas lights in 2006. On 2 January 2008, during Sunderland's 1–0 defeat to Blackburn, Yorke was given a red card by referee Rob Styles. Yorke stated several times he would like to return to the
A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
, preferably Sydney FC. However, following Sydney FC's signings at the time it seemed unlikely that Sydney would have been able to fit him under the salary cap. It was reported that Yorke play for rivals Central Coast Mariners, the team bankrolled by the man who brought him to Sydney, Peter Turnbull. On 11 March 2008, it was announced that the Mariners were in "advanced negotiations" with Yorke to become the marquee for two years. However, on 1 July he signed a new one-year contract to stay with Sunderland for the 2008–09 season. He was named
man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...
for his performance against Arsenal on 4 October 2008, with Sunderland drawing 1–1 at home. Following Keane's departure in December 2008, Yorke and Neil Bailey were named as assistants to
Ricky Sbragia Richard Sbragia (born 26 May 1956) is a Scottish football coach and former player. His playing career, mainly in the English lower leagues began at Birmingham City, Walsall, Blackpool, York City and a loan spell at Darlington. Sbragia had a b ...
. Yorke was released at the end of the 2008–09 season.


Post-retirement

Yorke has completed his Level B coaching badge, and in 2010 was quoted as being interested in pursuing a career in coaching, ideally with Aston Villa. On 17 April 2011 he completed the
London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...
in a time of 3 hours and 32 minutes. On 14 August 2011, Yorke signed a two-year deal to work for
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
as a pundit.


International career

Yorke 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 ...
72 times for the Trinidad and Tobago national team, scoring 19 goals. Along with his friend
Russell Latapy Russell Nigel Latapy CM (born 2 August 1968) is a Trinidadian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and is currently the assistant coach of Macarthur. In a senior career which spanned more than twenty years at b ...
, Yorke was a member of the 1989 'Strike Squad', the national team which narrowly failed to qualify for the
1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...
. He retired from international football in 2001 after a disagreement with coach René Simões, who cut Yorke and
Russell Latapy Russell Nigel Latapy CM (born 2 August 1968) is a Trinidadian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and is currently the assistant coach of Macarthur. In a senior career which spanned more than twenty years at b ...
from the squad prior to a decisive game of the 2002 World Cup qualification, as both missed practice following a night partying. However he returned to the team for the 2006 World Cup qualification campaign, in which the team qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time in their history after a 2–1 aggregate qualifying victory over
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
. Yorke was captain for all of Trinidad and Tobago's games at the 2006 World Cup and was man of the match in the 0–0 draw against
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, pipping his close friend
Shaka Hislop Neil Shaka Hislop CM (born 22 February 1969) is a retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in England, he played for them at under-21 level before representing Trinidad and Tobago at senior international level. The majority of his ...
to the honour despite the then
West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
goalkeeper making several world-class saves. He was one of six players in the Trinidad squad (the others being
Brent Sancho Brent Sancho CM (born 13 March 1977) is a Trinidadian former professional football player and politician. In February 2015, he became the Minister of Sports for his home country, Trinidad and Tobago. Club career College Born in Port of Spa ...
,
Dennis Lawrence Dennis William Lawrence CM (born 1 August 1974) is a Trinidad and Tobago former professional footballer and current first-team coach at Coventry City. He was the manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national team from 2017 to 2019. Prior to coa ...
,
Chris Birchall Christopher Birchall CM (born 5 May 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He scored 21 goals in 322 league and cup appearances in a 16-year professional career, and scored four goals in 44 international matches ...
,
Carlos Edwards Akenhaton Carlos Edwards CM (born 24 October 1978) is a Trinidadian former professional footballer who plays as a winger or right-back for Bury Town. He started his footballing career in Trinidad and Tobago before moving to Wrexham in 2000 ...
and Stern John) to have played every minute of the campaign. Yorke was rated the best defensive midfielder in the opening stages of the World Cup. Yorke announced his retirement from international football in March 2007, choosing to focus on his club career at Sunderland. He captained the side in Germany, and up until his retirement. However, he made a guest return appearance for a friendly against
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in June 2008 after being invited by
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
vice-president Jack Warner. On 10 July 2008, the TTFF announced Yorke's return to the national team for the
2010 World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oce ...
campaign. On 15 October 2008, he scored his first international goal after returning from retirement against the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in a 2010 World Cup qualification match. The game ended 2–1 for Trinidad and Tobago. His goal was a crucial tie-breaker scored in the 79th minute, which put Trinidad and Tobago in a great situation to advance to the next qualifying stage, needing only a tie against Cuba in their final game. On 11 February 2009, Yorke scored a 26th-minute penalty for his country, but was sent off in the dying seconds of Trinidad and Tobago's opening match of 2010 World Cup qualification against
El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
(2–2) after exchanging heated remarks with Mexican referee
Marco Antonio Rodríguez Marco Antonio Rodríguez Moreno (born 10 November 1973 in Mexico City) is a Mexican former football referee. Career An international referee since 2000, Rodríguez has been selected for three FIFA World Cups. In the 2006 tournament in Germany, ...
(the Trini star had voiced his disapproval of the disruptions caused by the home crowd) and was consequently banned for four games due to his use of abusive language. The suspension was later reduced to two matches. After being released from Sunderland and being unable to find a club before the end of the current
transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...
, Yorke retired from football altogether in September 2009, and took up the post of assistant manager with the Trinidad and Tobago national team.


Management career


Early career

On 21 April 2019, Yorke was interviewed for the vacant role at
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
Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...
, Sutton would appoint Matt Gray Instead. On 12 November 2021,
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
appointed
Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...
as their new manager. Yorke said he was disappointed not to be hired instead. On 21 April 2022 it was revealed that Yorke was being considered for the vacant manager's position at
Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...
in the Australian
A-League Men A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
. Yorke responded to the speculation by stating "I don't want to be just handed the job on the back of my playing achievements. I want to earn the job the traditional Perth Glory way - by being hired as an assistant then taking over once the head coach gets sacked and the club has carried out a worldwide search." On 25 May 2022, Yorke managed the A-Leagues All Stars in their 3–2 loss against
FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...
.


Macarthur FC

On 1 July 2022, Yorke became the new manager of
A-League Men A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
side
Macarthur FC Macarthur Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in South Western Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). On ...
, replacing
Ante Milicic Ante Milicic ( ; hr, Ante Miličić ; (born 4 April 1974) is an Australian soccer manager and former professional player. Personal life The son of Croatian immigrants, Milicic grew up in Strathfield, a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney. Mi ...
to become the club’s second ever manager. Exactly three months later, he led the club towards its first ever trophy after winning the 2022 Australia Cup Final.


Personal life

Dwight Yorke grew up as a
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 ...
fan and his first jersey was a white Tottenham Hotspur shirt. Yorke was once in a brief relationship with former model turned writer
Katie Price Katrina Amy Alexandra Alexis Price (''née'' Infield; born 22 May 1978) is an English media personality and model. She gained recognition in the late 1990s for her Glamour photography, glamour modelling work and had regular appearances on Pag ...
; they have a son, Harvey, who was born in May 2002. He is
autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...
, partially blind and has the genetic disorder
Prader–Willi syndrome Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder caused by a loss of function of specific genes on chromosome 15. In newborns, symptoms include weak muscles, poor feeding, and slow development. Beginning in childhood, those affected become c ...
. In a 2009 interview, Yorke conceded being unfaithful to Price during their relationship, and subsequently playing no role in the upbringing of their son. The
Dwight Yorke Stadium The Dwight Yorke Stadium, located in Bacolet, Scarborough, Tobago, (Trinidad and Tobago), is named after former Aston Villa, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, Sydney, Sunderland and Trinidad and Tobago footballer Dwight Yorke ...
in
Bacolet Bacolet is a town and suburb in the city of Scarborough on the island of Tobago Tobago () is an island and ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trinidad and about off the nor ...
, Tobago, constructed for the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship, was named in Yorke's honour. Yorke is a cricket fan. One of Yorke's closest friends is
Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing reco ...
. During the
1999 Cricket World Cup The 1999 Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Cricket World Cup '99) was the seventh edition of the Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted primarily by England, with Scotland, Ireland, Wales ...
, Yorke made regular appearances bringing on drinks for the
West Indies cricket team The West Indies cricket team, nicknamed the Windies, is a multi-national men's cricket team representing the mainly Commonwealth Caribbean, English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean region and administered by Cricket West I ...
. Yorke's older brother,
Clint Yorke Clint Gabriel Yorke (born 7 June 1962) is a former cricketer who played for the Trinidad and Tobago national cricket team in West Indian domestic cricket as an opening batsman. References External links * 1962 births Living people Trinida ...
, is a former first-class cricketer who has represented the
Trinidad and Tobago national cricket team The Trinidad and Tobago cricket team, or officially the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, is the representative cricket team of the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The Red Force takes part in inter-regional cricket competitions in the Caribbean, ...
as an opening batsman. Yorke featured extensively in an episode of Australia's ''
The Biggest Loser ''The Biggest Loser'' is a reality television format which started with the American TV show ''The Biggest Loser'' in 2004. The show centers on overweight and obese contestants attempting to lose the most weight; the winner receives a cash prize. ...
'', which aired on 28 February 2006. The episode involved Yorke coaching the "red team" of contestants while they competed against the "blue team" in a game of football.
Mark Rudan Marko Ante "Mark" Rudan (born 27 August 1975) is an Australian soccer manager and former player. He is currently the head coach for A-League Men club Western Sydney Wanderers. Rudan was one of the inaugural inductees into the Sydney FC Hall o ...
, Yorke's Sydney FC teammate, was the manager of the "blue team". As a member of the squad that competed at the 2006 World Cup, Yorke was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold Class), the second highest
state decoration A state decoration is an object, such as a medal or the insignia of an Order (distinction), order, that is awarded by a sovereign state to honor the recipient. The term includes: *Civil awards and decorations *Military awards and decorations See ...
of Trinidad and Tobago. He was also made a Sports Ambassador for the country. Yorke released his autobiography, ''Born to Score'', in 2009. In December 2018, Yorke avoided bankruptcy by paying a £1.5 million debt to
HM Revenue and Customs HM Revenue and Customs (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the His Majesty's Government, UK Government responsible fo ...
.


Career statistics


Club


International

:''Scores and results list Trinidad and Tobago's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yorke goal.''


Managerial statistics


Honours


Player

Aston Villa *
Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
: 1995–96 Manchester United *
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 ...
: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01 *
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 ...
: 1998–99 *
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
: 1998–99 * Intercontinental Cup: 1999 Sydney FC *
A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
: 2005–06 Sunderland *
Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...
: 2006–07 Trinidad and Tobago *
Caribbean Cup The Caribbean Cup was the championship tournament for national association football teams that are members of the Caribbean Football Union. The first competition, established by Shell and run by former England Cricket fast bowler Fred Rumsey, wa ...
: 1989 Individual *
Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 10 ...
: February 1996, January 1999, March 2000 *
PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...
: 1998–99 Premier League *
Premier League Player of the Season The Premier League Player of the Season is an annual association football award presented to players in England, which recognises the most outstanding player in the Premier League each season. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the ...
: 1998–99 *
Premier League Golden Boot The Premier League Golden Boot is an annual association football award presented to the leading goalscorer in the Premier League. For sponsorship purposes, it was called the Carling Golden Boot from 1994 to 2001, the Barclaycard Golden Boot from ...
: 1998–99 *
Joe Marston Medal The Joe Marston Medal is an A-League award given to the player of the match in the A-League Grand Final each year. Introduced in 1990, previously the award was also given to the best player in the National Soccer League grand final. The medal i ...
: 2005–06 * Sydney FC Hall of Fame: 2015 *
Chaconia Medal The Chaconia Medal is the second highest state decoration of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Established in 1969, the medal honours long and meritorious service to promote national welfare or community spirit. It is awarded in three classes: ...
Gold Class: 2006


Manager

Macarthur FC * Australia Cup:
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...


References


External links

* * *
Dwight Yorke
at Sydney FC

at Soca Warriors Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Yorke, Dwight 1971 births Living people People from Tobago Trinidad and Tobago footballers Association football utility players Association football midfielders Association football forwards Aston Villa F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Sydney FC players Sunderland A.F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players Premier League players A-League Men players Marquee players (A-League Men) First Division/Premier League top scorers UEFA Champions League winning players UEFA Champions League top scorers Trinidad and Tobago international footballers 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Trinidad and Tobago expatriate footballers Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in England Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate soccer players in Australia Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United Kingdom Recipients of the Chaconia Medal FA Cup Final players