| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Jason Yates | ||
| Date of birth | (1970-01-24)24 January 1970 (age 55) | ||
| Place of birth | Birmingham, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1986–1988 | Birmingham City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1991 | Birmingham City | 54 | (6) |
| 1990–1991 | →Colchester United (loan) | 25 | (6) |
| 1991–1993 | Burnley | 18 | (1) |
| 1993 | →Lincoln City (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 1993–1994 | Doncaster Rovers | 34 | (4) |
| 1994–1999 | Kidderminster Harriers | 237 | (40) |
| 1999–2004 | Cheltenham Town | 227 | (21) |
| 2004 | Kidderminster Harriers | 12 | (2) |
| Total | 593 | (74) | |
| International career | |||
| 1999 | England semi-professional | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2006–2009 | Kidderminster Harriers | ||
| 2009–2014 | Cheltenham Town | ||
| 2015–2016 | Crawley Town | ||
| 2017–2018 | Solihull Moors | ||
| 2018 | Macclesfield Town | ||
| 2019 | Kidderminster Harriers | ||
| 2020–2021 | Stourbridge | ||
| 2021 | Solihull Moors | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Mark Jason Yates (born 24 January 1970) is an English former professionalfootballer and manager, most recently forStourbridge. As a player, he played primarily in a centralmidfield role.
Born inBirmingham, Yates began his football career as a trainee at hometown clubBirmingham City, before going on to sign professional terms with the club in 1988. He spent a total of three seasons atSt Andrew's, making 66 first team appearances, including one in the side that won the 1991Football League Trophy.
In 1991 Yates was sold toBurnley for £40,000 but struggled to hold down a regular position. Spells atLincoln City andDoncaster Rovers followed, before Yates dropped out ofthe Football League to sign forConference sideKidderminster Harriers in 1994, going on to become clubcaptain. In his first season at the club Kidderminster reached the final of theFA Trophy, losing 2–1 toWoking. In 1997 Yates seemed set for a return to League football as Kidderminster led the Conference by a significant margin going into the final months of the season. However, the Harriers let the lead slip, allowingMacclesfield Town to overtake them and claim the championship.
In January 1999 Yates left Kidderminster to join local rivalsCheltenham Town for a fee of £25,000, helping the Robins to secure the league title and a place in the Football League. Yates remained with theGloucestershire outfit until February 2004, enjoying reasonable success, the highlight being a victory in the 2002Third Divisionplay-off final. After falling out of favour atWhaddon Road, in 2004 Yates returned to Kidderminster, by this time a Football League club themselves, playing his part in the club's successful fight against relegation.
At the end of the 2004–05 season Yates called time on his playing career, becoming first team coach at Burnley alongside the manager who had signed him as a player at Cheltenham,Steve Cotterill.
Yates took up his first managerial position with former club Kidderminster, now back in the Conference, a position which he took up on 6 January 2006.[2] In his first season in charge he steered the club to safety from relegation, and in the second secured a top-half finish as well as an FA Trophy Final place at the newWembley Stadium. He was twice voted Manager of the Month in this second season, for the months of December 2006 and January 2007.
Yates was appointed manager ofLeague Two team Cheltenham Town on 22 December 2009, withNeil Howarth joining him as first team coach. He led them to the 2012 League Two play-off final which they lost 2–0 toCrewe Alexandra.[3] Yates guided Cheltenham to the League Two playoffs again in 2013 only to lose toNorthampton Town 2–0 on aggregate. On 25 November 2014, Yates was sacked byCheltenham Town after almost five years in charge.[4] Cheltenham subsequently appointedPaul Buckle as manager.[5]
Yates was appointed manager ofCrawley Town on 19 May 2015, following the club's relegation toLeague Two.[6] After a poor showing during the 2015–16 season, Yates was sacked by the club on 25 April 2016.[7]
In November 2017, Yates took over atSolihull Moors.[8] At the time of his arrival, Solihull were bottom of theNational League; they managed to survive after a run of 12 wins in 29 matches.
In June 2018, Yates was appointed manager ofEFL League Two sideMacclesfield Town on a three-year deal.[9] After a winless start to the season, Macclesfield sacked Yates on 8 October 2018.
In January 2019 Yates returned to his former clubKidderminster Harriers on a contract running until the end of the season.[10] He left the club on 21 April 2019 two games before the end of the season with the club five points back from the play-off places.[11]
In late February 2020, Yates was announced as the new manager ofStourbridge. The team lost his first game away to Rushall Olympic, however theCOVID-19 pandemic caused the league season to be abandoned. On 14 October 2021, Stourbridge parted company with Yates with the club sitting 18th in the table, one point clear of the relegation zone.[12]
With Stourbridge's 2020–21 season also curtailed, Yates returned to Solihull Moors as manager on a short-term deal until the end of the season on 11 March 2021.[13]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Kidderminster Harriers | 6 January 2006 | 22 December 2009 | 216 | 92 | 52 | 72 | 042.6 | [2][14][15] |
| Cheltenham Town | 22 December 2009 | 25 November 2014 | 257 | 93 | 69 | 95 | 036.2 | [4][15] |
| Crawley Town | 19 May 2015 | 25 April 2016 | 47 | 13 | 8 | 26 | 027.7 | [15] |
| Solihull Moors | 15 November 2017 | 19 June 2018 | 29 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 041.4 | |
| Macclesfield Town | 19 June 2018 | 8 October 2018 | 16 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 000.0 | |
| Kidderminster Harriers | 28 January 2019 | 21 April 2019 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 050.0 | |
| Stourbridge | 28 February 2020 | 14 October 2021 | 25 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 016.0 | |
| Solihull Moors | 11 March 2021 | 29 May 2021 | 19 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 057.9 | |
| Total | 621 | 231 | 160 | 230 | 037.2 | — | ||
Birmingham City
Kidderminster Harriers
Cheltenham Town
Individual
