Rhys Derek Oates (born 4 December 1994) is an English 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 ...

who plays 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) ** Smal ...

for club

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

Career

Barnsley

Oates began his career at

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

after joining them at the age of six and in May 2013, during his second year, signed his first professional contract for one year, this after he was nominated for the ''"Academy Scholar of the Year"''. After spending pre-season in Spain with the Barnsley team Oates was loaned out to

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

side

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

on a one-month deal to stand a better chance of getting first team football. Oates made his Gainsborough Trinity debut against Telford United the next day then scored a brace in a 2–2 draw against

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English Association football, football club based in Worcester, England, Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Southern Football League Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football. ...

. After making five appearances and scoring twice Oates returned to his parent club despite attempts to extend his loan at Gainsborough Trinity. On 31 January 2014 Oates joined another

side

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

in the 2013–14 season. By the end of February he had his loan at Stockport County extended for another month, and scored his first Stockport County goal in a 2–2 draw against Barrow on 5 March 2014, earning himself ''"Man of the Match"''. Oates made his return to his parent club after scoring once in twelve appearances and signed a new one-year contract with Barnsley in May 2014. After coming on as a substitute for

Sam Winnall Sam Thomas Winnall (born 19 January 1991) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Career Wolverhampton Wanderers Winnall joined the youth ranks of Wolverhampton Wanderers as a teenager, before signing professional ...

in the 89th minute against

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

during his Barnsley debut, Oates signed for Conference Premier team

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

on a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

on 19 September 2014. His Grimsby debut came in a

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

match against

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

where he came on as a 63rd-minute substitute for Jack Mackreth and fired in from 20 yards on 85 minutes. He made six appearances and scored once for

but returned to his parent club despite Grimsby Town keen to extend for another month. Oates then signed on loan until 20 December 2014 for Conference Premier team

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

and made his debut the same day, coming on as a substitute for Craig Hobson in the 65th minute in a 3–1 loss against

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

, but then scored two goals in two consecutive games, firstly against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

then

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

. After scoring twice in seven appearances in all competitions Oates' loan spell with Chester finished and he returned to his parent club. After returning to Barnsley Oates played his first match on 26 December 2014 coming on as a substitute for Kane Hemmings in the 67th minute of a 1–0 loss against

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 ...

, he then provided two assists in separate matches, firstly in a 5–1 loss on 14 February 2015 against

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

and then against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

in a 5–0 win in the last game of the season. After this, Oates was among seven players released by the club.

Hartlepool United

After being released by Barnsley, Oates joined League Two side

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 ...

on 28 May 2015. His first appearance for Hartlepool came as a late substitute in a 2–0 win against

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

on the opening day of the 2015–16 season. Oates' first goal came in a 1–1 draw with

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

. On his final appearance for Hartlepool, Oates scored a goal in a 2–1 win at

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

. Oates was released on 17 May 2018 after making 109 appearances for the club.

Morecambe

In June 2018 it was announced that he would sign for

on a two-year contract on 1 July 2018, alongside

Zak Mills Zachary Louvaine Mills (born 28 May 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Boston United. Mills began his career at Histon, establishing himself in the first team as they were relegated out of the Confe ...

. Oates was released at the end of the 2019–20 season.

Hartlepool United

Oates signed for Hartlepool for a second time on 1 August 2020 following his release from

. Oates made his debut in his second spell at Hartlepool as a substitute in a 2–1 win against

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

. His first goal of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season came in his twelfth appearance of the season in a 4–0 win over

. Following an injury to

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Ben Killip against

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 36,322, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

(and with no goalkeepers on the bench), Oates played in goal for the remainder of the match from the 39th minute. Hartlepool drew the match 2–2 with Oates conceding no goals. Oates reached double figures for the

season with two goals in a 7–2 victory against

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...

. Following the arrival of

Luke Armstrong Luke Thomas Armstrong (born 2 July 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Carlisle United. Armstrong came through the ranks at Middlesbrough and Birmingham City. After a short spell in Scotland with Cowdenb ...

in December 2020, the pair would form a strong partnership that brought over 30 goals. This good form saw him score his highest goal tally for a season of 17 goals. This included a brace in the play-off eliminator win against

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 ...

. He was then voted as the Players' and Fans' Player of the Year. Oates then scored the only goal in the play-off semi-final as Hartlepool beat

to book a place in the final. Oates got the assist in the 2021 National League play-off final as Hartlepool defeated

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

on penalties after an initial 1–1 draw to gain promotion back to the Football League.

Mansfield Town

On 8 July 2021, Oates joined

on a two-year contract after the expiration of his contract with Hartlepool. On his exit from Hartlepool, manager

Dave Challinor David Paul Challinor (born 2 October 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of EFL League One club Stockport County. As a player he was as a centre-back and played in the Football League for Tran ...

criticised Oates for the manner of his departure in an official statement by the club claiming that he didn't communicate to any of Hartlepool's staff of his final decision. He scored a fifth-minute winner in an

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 ...

away tie against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. The ...

. Oates started for Mansfield in the

2022 EFL League Two play-off final The 2022 EFL League Two play-off final was an association football match which was played on 28 May 2022 at Wembley Stadium, London, to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion from EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English footb ...

, a 3–0 defeat to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

, however he finished the season with 12 goals. On 29 October 2022, Oates signed a contract extension until the summer of 2024. In January 2024, manager

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was capped by ...

confirmed that Oates would be out for a period of nine months due to a knee injury. On 6 June 2024, Oates was announced to have signed a new one-year contract with the club. On 7 May 2025 the club announced it had triggered an extension to the player's contract.

Career statistics

Honours

Hartlepool United *

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 ...

play-offs:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Mansfield Town *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

third-place promotion: 2023–24 Individual *

Players' Player of the Year: 2020–21 *

Fans' Player of the Year: 2020–21

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oates, Rhys 1994 births Living people Footballers from Pontefract English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Barnsley F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Chester F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen