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, rugb ...

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 a ...

. 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, Swindon Town, Colchester United,

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

and Leicester City. 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 ...

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, and ...

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 Ja ...

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. ...

Career

Tottenham Hotspur

Yeates started his career at

, but first played professional football in loan spells with Brighton & Hove Albion and Swindon Town 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 signe ...

, Yeates only played four games before being returned to

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

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, New ...

. He made his Spurs debut against

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

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 Fo ...

season, setting up a goal for

Robbie Keane Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. Keane served as captain of the Republic of Ireland from March 2006 until his international retirement in August 2016. Keane ...

. He made three first team appearances for Spurs. During the 2005–06 season, Yeates played on long-term loan at Colchester United, scoring five league goals, as they achieved promotion from League One. 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, Leicester City. 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. 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 is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a care ...

Nigel Worthington, 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 Colchester United. 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 20 ...

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 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 Co ...

, 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 football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall family of file and graver manufacturers. ...

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 footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a nineteen-year professional career in the English ...

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 Br ...

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 compet ...

clash against

on 27 January, in which he lost his place to Sean Murray. However, he continued to make substitute appearances and retained his place in the squad the following season under then-new manager, Gianfranco Zola. 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, 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 Park s ...

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

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 be ...

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 northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

on an initial 18-month deal from

with the option for a further year.

Notts County

On 30 January 2017, Yeates signed for Notts County.

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 on a two-year deal.

AFC Fylde

Yeates left Eastleigh to joined AFC Fylde on 12 June 2019.

Bamber Bridge

Yeates joined Bamber Bridge F.C. 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 pla ...

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. Kilk ...

Honours

Club

; Colchester United *

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