Graham Oates (born 14 March 1949) 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 lea ...

who played as defender or midfielder. He played for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

in England, and

Detroit Express The Detroit Express were a soccer team based in suburban Detroit that played in the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Its home field was the Pontiac Silverdome. The Express were co-owned by Roger Faulkner, Son ...

and the

California Surf The California Surf was an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1981. The team was based in Anaheim, California and played their home games at Anaheim Convention Center and the Long Beach ...

in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

(NASL). While at Newcastle United, Oates scored an own goal in a match against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

directly from the kick-off, lobbing goalkeeper

Willie McFaul William Stewart McFaul (born 1 October 1943), known as Willie or Iam McFaul, is a Northern Irish former football player and now coach. He spent most of his career with Newcastle United. Playing career McFaul was born in Coleraine. He joined ...

in the process. McFaul is said to have been well out of position in the execution of the preplanned play. While a member of the Detroit Express, Oates coached the Bloomfield Hills Andover High School boys soccer team through the 1978 and 1979 seasons. In his first stint as a head coach, Oates led the 1978 squad to the Michigan High School State Soccer Championship.

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NASL career stats
1949 births Living people English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Bradford City A.F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Detroit Express players California Surf players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Footballers from Bradford Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football midfielders English expatriate sportspeople in the United States {{England-footy-midfielder-1940s-stub