Matthew David Bates (born 10 December 1986) is an English football coach and 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 lea ...

, as well as holding a UEFA B coaching licence. Born in

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

, he began his youth career with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

before moving to local side

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. After winning the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

, Bates had a successful loan spell with

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

. He became regularly involved in Middlesbrough's first team in 2005–06, and was a member of the Boro squad that finished as runners-up in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. Bates had further loan spells with Ipswich Town and

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

before being named as Middlesbrough's new captain in 2010. He left the club in 2012 and joined

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

on a short-term deal. Bates was released at the end of the 2012–13 season and joined

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 ...

. After one season with Bradford, he signed for League Two

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

. Bates spent three seasons with Hartlepool before moving into coaching. He was caretaker manager for Hartlepool in both the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons. On the latter occasion, Bates impressed enough to earn the permanent role as head coach. After keeping Hartlepool in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

, he was sacked in November 2018. Between 2022 and 2024, Bates was the assistant manager at Whitby Town.

Club career

Middlesbrough

Born in

, County Durham, Bates began playing at

's centre of excellence in Birtley since the age of nine. Several years later, the centre was closed down and he was taken in by his hometown club

. After tasting

success in 2003–04, he was promoted to the first team and made his debut on 6 December 2004, coming on as an injury time replacement for

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to the Dutch city of Zaandam where he first played football, initially a ...

in a 3–2 win over

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. After a successful loan spell at

, he made a breakthrough, making 28 appearances and played alongside former manager

Gareth Southgate Sir Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional Association football, football manager and player, who played as a Defender (association football), defender and midfielder. A Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace Crystal ...

in central defence. He was an unused substitute for Middlesbrough in the

2006 UEFA Cup final The 2006 UEFA Cup Final was a association football, football match that took place at Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, Netherlands on 10 May 2006 as the culmination of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup. The match was contested by Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrou ...

defeat to

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

. Bates had been tipped by some to be Southgate's successor but an injury while on loan at

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

in November 2006 prematurely ended his 2006–07 season. He was seriously injured in his second game, tearing his

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint, wrist joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in ...

and partially tearing his

medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), also called the superficial medial collateral ligament (sMCL) or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint and occurs in ...

, and returned to Boro. After recovering in January 2008, Bates moved on loan to

for two months. He later returned to Middlesbrough after suffering from another knee injury which has resulted in him needing an operation for the third time in just 18 months. He scored his first league goal for Middlesbrough in a crucial 3–1 win over relegation rivals Hull on 11 April 2009. Following Middlesbrough's relegation from the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

in the 2008–09 season, rumours arose regarding his future with them. However, despite a number of Premier League clubs being interested, he opted to stay at Middlesbrough, signing a new three-year deal at the Riverside outfit. On 25 July, Bates suffered the fourth serious knee injury of his career and could be sidelined for the rest of the year. He went for surgery in September and is confirmed to be out for the entire season. The 2010–11 season saw Bates as a regular in the Boro line-up. He got his first goal of the season against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in a 2–2 draw. Under new Boro manager

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a d ...

Bates was named new captain. He scored the only goal in a 1–1 draw with

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. His third and final goal of the season came when he returned to the side after injury, playing in midfield, against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

. He was rewarded with a great start to the 2011–12 season by winning Player of the Month. On 27 March 2012, Bates suffered a fifth serious knee injury which ruled him out for a period of 6 months.

Bristol City

In November 2012, Bates signed for Championship side

on a short-term deal until January 2013. He made his debut on 17 November in a 1–1 draw away to Blackpool, conceding a penalty in the 90th minute for handball, which Tom Ince converted. On 8 May 2013, Bates was released by City.

Bradford City

On 13 October 2013, Bates signed a 3-month deal with

. On 15 January 2014, Bates signed a new deal with Bradford City until the end of the season.

Hartlepool United

Bates joined

in June 2014. Bates' playing stint with Hartlepool was ravaged by injuries with the defender making 77 league appearances in four years with the club.

International career

Bates was capped by England at youth level.

Coaching career

On 24 April 2017, following the dismissal of Dave Jones, Bates was appointed caretaker manager of Hartlepool United for the final two matches of the 2016–17 season. Hartlepool won 2–1 in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

but this result was not enough, as a late Newport County goal saw Hartlepool relegated from the Football League for the first time in their history. When Craig Harrison was appointed as Hartlepool's first-team manager in May 2017, Bates moved into a coaching role with the club's U21s side. On 21 February 2018, Bates took charge of Hartlepool again following the dismissal of Craig Harrison. Bates lost his first two games in charge as caretaker manager but managed to turn around the club's poor form and a crucial three-game win streak against Barrow,

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

and Maidstone United led to him winning the Manager of the Month award for March 2018. After keeping Hartlepool in the division, Bates was appointed as permanent first-team manager in May 2018. After six successive league defeats, Bates was sacked as Hartlepool manager in November 2018 with the club in 13th position. In September 2022, it was announced that Bates had joined

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

side Whitby Town as their assistant manager. Bates left Whitby in May 2024 to take up a scouting role at another club.

Personal life

Matthew has a son with Chanelle Hayes.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a player

Middlesbrough *

: 2003–04 *

runner-up: 2005–06

As a manager

Individual *

Manager of the Month: March 2018

References

External links

Matthew Bates profile
at the Hartlepool United F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Matthew 1986 births Living people Footballers from Stockton-on-Tees English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Middlesbrough F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players English football managers Hartlepool United F.C. managers English Football League managers National League (English football) managers Hartlepool United F.C. non-playing staff 21st-century English sportsmen