Mark Stephen Anthony Yeates (born 11 January 1985) is an Irish professional football coach and former

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who played as a winger. Yeates began his career with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

but failed to make the transition to the first team, spending time on loan at

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

, Hull City and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. On leaving Spurs he returned on a permanent deal to Colchester before spells with

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 ...

, Sheffield United,

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

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 ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. He has three under-21

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for the

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Playing career

Early career

Yeates played schoolboy football with Greenhills Boys and Cherry Orchard in Dublin. He started his senior career at

, but first played professional football in loan spells with

and

during the 2003–04 season. Loaned to Swindon as part of the transfer to Spurs of Swindon player Leigh Mills, Yeates only played four games before being returned to

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

after a disagreement with then manager Andy King. He made his Spurs debut against

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

on the final day of the 2003–04

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 ...

season, setting up a goal for Robbie Keane. He made three first team appearances for Spurs. During the 2005–06 season, Yeates played on long-term loan at

, scoring five league goals, as they achieved promotion from League One. He also nearly scored but hit the post in that seasons FA cup run against Chelsea. Prior to 2006–07 Yeates signed a two-year contract extension with Spurs. He joined

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team Hull City 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,

. He scored on his Leicester début at the

Walkers Stadium King Power Stadium is a football stadium in the city of Leicester, East Midlands, England, and the home of Leicester City. The stadium opened in 2002 as the Walkers Stadium and has a capacity of 32,259. The club attracted worldwide attentio ...

in a 1–1 draw with

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

. 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 caret ...

Nigel Worthington Nigel Worthington (born 4 November 1961) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of York City. He played a defender and a midfielder, playing his club football for Ballymena United, Notts County ...

, 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

. 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 as the JobServe Community Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Myland, England. It is the home of Colchester United Football Club. It has a capacity of 10,105 and opened in August 2008 ...

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 Sheffield United. 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 who is currently Technical Director of Dundee. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Sc ...

, Yeates signed for Boro's Championship rivals Sheffield United. 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 association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

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 association football, footballer and football Manager (association football), manager. As a player, he was a Full-back (football), full back, and made a total of 43 ...

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 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

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 Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

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 Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football executive, Manager (association football), manager, and former Association football, footballer who played predominantly as a Forward (association football), forward. He is currently v ...

. 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 Philip John Parkinson (born 1 December 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of club Wrexham. Parkinson acquired a Social Science degree early into his career as a man ...

, 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. 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 ...

. and scored his first goal for the club during his second appearance, in a 4–0 win against Carlisle United. On 26 November, Yeates came off the bench to score his second goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against

Oldham Athletic

On 25 August 2015, Yeates joined

on a short-term deal. Yeates scored one goal in 20 games for the club.

Blackpool

On 7 January 2016, Yeates joined

on an initial 18-month deal from

with the option for a further year.

Notts County

On 30 January 2017, Yeates signed for

Eastleigh

On 28 June 2017, Yeates joined

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side

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

on a two-year deal.

AFC Fylde

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

Bamber Bridge

Yeates joined

Bamber Bridge Bamber Bridge is a large 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". People who live in Bamber Bri ...

from AFC Fylde in September 2020.

Coaching career

Yeates joined the academy coaching staff at Fleetwood Town, working with the under-13s. He was appointed to a full-time role within the academy in September 2021. He became the under-18s assistant coach in July 2022, before becoming head coach of the under-18s in January 2023, guiding the team to the fifth round of the 2022–23 FA Youth Cup.

Personal life

His late father Stephen played for Shelbourne, Shamock Rovers (two goals in 11 appearances in 1989–90), Athlone Town and Kilkenny City.

Career statistics

Honours

Colchester United *

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

runner-up: 2005–06

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yeates, Mark 1985 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers Men's 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 21st-century Irish sportsmen