Scott John Oakes (born 5 August 1972) is a 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 ...

, best known from his time at

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 ...

in the early 1990s.

Football career

Oakes began his career at

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 ...

but was transferred to Luton in 1991 as part of the deal that took Steve Thompson the opposite way. At Luton, Oakes soon became a regular in the side, and a fan favourite, usually playing on the left wing. During his time at

Kenilworth Road Kenilworth Road, known affectionately as The Kenny, is a association football, football stadium in the area of Bury Park, Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It has been the home ground of Luton Town F.C., Luton Town Football Club since 1905. The sta ...

, he became regarded as one of the most promising players in English football, and was often rumoured as a target for bigger clubs. He was capped once for England Under-21. In 1996, Oakes was signed by

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

for a £425,000 transfer fee. However, the move to the Owls would turn out disastrous. Following a spate of unfortunate injuries, Oakes spent most of his time on the sidelines in the 1996–97 season, and the following seasons he usually was not even on the bench due to a knee injury that cruelly dogged what had been a promising career at the age of just 25. In his four years at Hillsborough, Oakes started only seven games, scoring once against Sunderland, and in 1999–2000, his final season with the Owls, he did not feature for the first team at all. In 2000, Oakes was released by Sheffield Wednesday and joined

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 ...

, and then moved to

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

a mere three months later. He finished his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

career with a spell at

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

before signing for non-league St Albans City in 2002. In 2003, he signed for Shelbourne but only lasted three games due to the poor health of one of his children.

Personal life

His younger brother

Stefan Oakes Stefan Trevor Oakes (born 6 September 1978) is an English former professional footballer, who notably represented Leicester City in the Premier League during a career which began in 1998 and ended in 2013. Career Leicester City Oakes was born i ...

is also a professional footballer. His father is the musician

Trevor Oakes Trevor Oakes (born 9 September 1946) is an English retired Glam rock guitarist and songwriter. Oakes is best known for being the guitarist and saxophonist for Showaddywaddy, a band he was in from 1973 until 2009. He was one of the main songwri ...

, who performed with

Showaddywaddy Showaddywaddy are a rock and roll group from Leicester, England. They specialise in revivals of hit songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, while also issuing original material. They have spent 209 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and have had 10 ...

. He now works teaching football to children in schools in Leicestershire and Bedfordshire.

References

*Fitzpatrick, Seán ''Shelbourne Cult Heroes'' (2009, Colour Books)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oakes, Scott 1972 births Living people Footballers from Leicester English men's footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football wingers Leicester City F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Barton Rovers F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players League of Ireland players Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland