Steve Yates (footballer, born 1970)

Steve Yates

Personal information
Full name	Stephen Yates
Date of birth	(1970-01-29) 29 January 1970
Place of birth	Bristol, England
Height
Position(s)	Defender (Retired)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–1993	Bristol Rovers	197	(0)
1993–1999	Queens Park Rangers	135	(2)
1999–2002	Tranmere Rovers	113	(7)
2002–2003	Sheffield United	12	(0)
2003–2005	Huddersfield Town	52	(1)
2006	Scarborough	1	(0)
2006	Halifax Town	3	(0)
2006	Morecambe	8	(0)
2006	Caernarfon Town	2	(0)
Total		523	(10)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 June 2007

Stephen "Steve" Yates (born 29 January 1970 in Bristol) is a retired English professional footballer, who played as a defender. In 2013, he returned to his first club, Bristol Rovers, as the club's new kit manager. a year later he combined this role with coaching.

Career

Bristol Rovers

Yates began his footballing career as a YTS trainee at Bristol Rovers in 1986. In seven years with his home town club he played 197 games without scoring any goals.

QPR

When manager Gerry Francis moved to Queens Park Rangers from Bristol Rovers in 1991, a number of Rovers players later followed him to the London club. Yates was one of these, when he joined in August 1993. He made his debut that month against Liverpool. Yates played 134 league games for Queens Park Rangers and scored 2 goals before transferring to Tranmere Rovers in 1999.

Tranmere Rovers

Yates was a cult hero at Tranmere, where he became a certified 'goal machine' and he is best remembered for scoring two goals in a Merseyside derby against Everton at Goodison Park when Tranmere dumped out the Premier League outfit 3-0 in the 2000-01 FA Cup. Yates stayed there up until 2002 when he transferred to Sheffield United. Whilst at Tranmere he played in the 2000 Football League Cup Final, coming on as a substitute in the final against Leicester City.

Huddersfield Town

Yates joined Huddersfield in 2003 on a free after a successful trial period. He was also Peter Jackson's first signing as Huddersfield's manager for the second time. He scored his only goal for Huddersfield against Leyton Orient where he could have bagged another two. During a fixture with Carlisle United Yates had a bust-up in the tunnel, at the Galpharm Stadium, with opposing player Richie Foran which resulted in a red card for both parties involved and Yates losing his front tooth. Yates decided to retire in mid-2005.

Scarborough & Halifax

Yates came out of retirement in January 2006 to play just 1 game for Scarborough. He then transferred to Halifax Town where he played 3 games and left at the end of the 2005-2006 season.

Morecambe

In May 2006, Morecambe snapped Yates up on a free transfer and played 8 games for the Shrimps. Soccerbase incorrectly state that Yates played 44 games and scored 2 goals during the 2006-2007 season but research has shown that Yates signed for Caernarfon Town in September 2006 by his ex-playing colleague Kenny Irons.

Caernarfon Town

Yates played only two games for Caernarfon Town. The rest of his spell at the club he was sidelined with injury.

Bristol Rovers

Yates returned to Bristol Rovers in July 2013 as kit man and a year later combined that role with coaching. In his first season as defensive coach, Rovers gained promotion from the Conference.