Adam Yates

Adam Paul Yates (born 28 May 1983) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right-back.

He made 520 league and cup appearances in a 16-year career as a professional and also won three caps as a semi-pro international with England.

Having spent ten years at the Crewe Alexandra Academy, he turned professional with the club in 2002.

Yates graduated through the ranks of the Crewe Alexandra youth system to become a professional in 2002, and spent five months on loan with Conference club Halifax Town from November to April of the 2003–04 season.

He made his senior debut on 14 November, in a 2–2 draw at Burton Albion.

Forced to compete with Darren Hockenhull for the right-back position at The Shay, Yates said that "It was a lot more competitive than the reserve team games I had been playing at Crewe".

He was sent off for his part in a Boxing Day "mass brawl" during a 1–0 home victory over Scarborough; teammate James Dudgeon and opposition players Matt Redmile and Wayne Gill were also dismissed.

He played a total of 13 games for Halifax.

He spent five months of the 2003–04 season on loan at Conference club Halifax Town, though was released by his parent club at the end of the season, never having made a first-team appearance for Crewe.

After being released by "Railwaymen" manager Dario Gradi in May 2004, never having made the first team at Gresty Road, he signed for Leek Town.

In February 2005 he had a trial with Port Vale, the team he had supported as a boy, but did not impress manager Martin Foyle and was not signed to a contract.

Instead he returned to Harrison Park and became an almost permanent presence in the "Blues" defence during 2005–06 season, putting in a total of fifty appearances, also scoring once in the Northern Premier League.

He then spent two seasons at Northern Premier League side Leek Town, before he was signed by Morecambe in August 2006.

After impressing Sammy McIlroy in a pre-season friendly in 2006, he was signed by Morecambe in August 2006.

He scored his first goal for Morecambe in their 2–1 victory at Southport on 26 December 2006.

His return to the English Football League came at the end of the 2006–07 season as the "Shrimps" achieved promotion from the Conference National as play-off winners by beating Exeter City 2–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium.

He helped the club win promotion into the English Football League as the Conference National's play-off winners in 2007.

He played 54 games in 2007–08, though started the 2008–09 season on loan at Conference Premier club Burton Albion.

He made 54 appearances in the 2007–08 campaign, as Morecambe consolidated their Football League status.

He was loaned out to Burton Albion in August 2008.

Immediately on his return to Christie Park in October he returned to the first team.

After having featuring heavily in the 2008–09 season he was offered a new contract by Morecambe, though he rejected the offer after deciding his future lay elsewhere.

Targeted by manager Dean Glover, Port Vale continued the hunt for his signature even after Glover's departure.

Yates decided to wait until a manager was appointed before signing for the club, and after Micky Adams was made manager Yates signed a two-year deal with the Vale.

He signed with Port Vale in June 2009, and went on to make the right-back slot his own in the 2009–10, 2010–11 and 2011–12 campaigns.

He was forced to wait until 22 August before he made his competitive debut for the club, as Sam Stockley had impressed in the right-back position in the pre-season and opening few games of the 2009–10 season.

He was transfer listed in late September, along with the entire Port Vale squad, after manager Micky Adams saw his team slip to a third consecutive defeat.

Following Stockley's retirement in November, Yates was expected to fill the void, though he faced competition for the right wing-back spot from Anthony Griffith.

In his first game in almost a month he scored his first goal at Vale Park, scoring the opener of a 1–1 draw with Stevenage Borough in the FA Cup First Round.

By February 2010 he was managing to maintain a first-team place, helped by the team's change of formation from 3–4–3 to 4–4–2.

He continued to make the right-back spot his own in the 2010–11 season, and in February 2011 he became the first player to enter new contract negotiations with new manager Jim Gannon.

Despite Gannon's swift departure, contract talks continued on a new two-year deal.

After playing in all 54 of the club's games that season, he put pen to paper on the deal in May 2011.

Micky Adams returned as manager for the 2011–12 campaign, and he continued to name Yates as his first-choice right-back.

However, Adams signed centre-back Liam Chilvers and veteran full-back Rob Kozluk in September, and so Yates lost his first-team place to Kozluk, and put in 'extra work' in training to try and force his way back onto the teamsheet.

His efforts paid off, as he quickly won his first-team place back, and Kozluk was released in December.

He scored his first league goal for the club by providing the equaliser in the 2–1 Boxing Day victory at Hereford United.

He helped the club to secure promotion out of League Two in 2012–13.

He lost his first-team place in August 2015 and was loaned to Northampton Town, and then to Macclesfield Town in August 2017 in order to help him overcome a serious injury which caused him to miss the entire 2016–17 season.

However, he was forced to retire in March 2018 after picking up a serious head injury earlier in the season.