Guy Bates (born 31 October 1985 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is an English footballer who plays for Drogheda United in the League of Ireland.

[edit] Career

Bates joined his hometown club Newcastle United at the age of 8 in 1993, and moved through the youth system, setting several junior goalscoring records during that time.^[1] With a view to progressing all the way to the firsts team, Bates played in the Newcastle Youth team up until 2004, with his goal taking the team to the final 16 in the 2003–04 FA Youth Cup.^[2] The following season, Bates found a regular spot in the Reserves team, making 15 appearances and scoring 6 goals in the 2004–05 season.^[3] Promotion into the firsts team proved significantly more difficult for Bates, however, as he was fighting for a place behind established strikers such as Alan Shearer, Shola Ameobi and Patrick Kluivert.^[4] The lack of opportunities for Bates led him to seek a release from Newcastle and head to Australia in January 2005, where he trialled for the Newcastle United Jets. Two months later, in March, Bates signed a two-year deal with the newly established club, and spoke publicly about the possibility of a long-term stay in Australia.^[5]

Bates played and scored regularly in the Jets' pre-season campaign, but did not make his A-League debut until round 4 of the competition, playing 64 minutes in a 4-0 victory over New Zealand Knights.^[6] The match was one of just three appearances Bates made in the 2005–06 season,^[7] and in November 2005, Bates was released by the club by mutual agreement, citing a lack of match time for wanting to leave.^[8] Bates returned home to England in the hope of joining another club during the European January transfer window. Bates trialled at both English League Two club Darlington and Belgian club K.V. Mechelen, receiving an offer from the latter after scoring a hat-trick in a trial game.^[9] He turned it down however, to play in his home country with Darlington, for whom he had already scored for in a trial match against Hartlepool United.^[9] Bates officially joined Darlington on 3 February 2006, signing a short-term deal until June 2006.^[10] Bates made his Darlington league debut the day after signing, coming on as a substitute in the team's 0-0 draw with Boston United. Despite being unable to find the back of the net in that match, it took Bates just 10 minutes into his next appearance to score his first Darlington goal, in a 2-0 reserves win against Hull City.^[9] Over the remainder of the season, Bates could not find a regular starting spot in the Darlington line-up, and played just nine games for one goal as the team finished 8th in the league.^[11] Bates was released by the club in May 2006,^[12]. He then played for KV Oostende in the Belgian Second Division.

Bates signed for FAI Premier Division leaders Drogheda United 31 July 2007. Scored the winner against Cork City which won the title for Drogheda for the first time ever in October 2007. Bates played for R.A.A. Louviéroise in the third division of Belgium before rejoining Drogheda on 8 July 2009.[1]

Bates' name can be seen on the Newcastle United reserve team sheet in the movie Goal! He can be briefly seen during a match scene.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• "Guy Bates Darlington FC player profile". http://www.football.co.uk/darlington/players/guy_bates_116558.shtml. Retrieved 1 July 2006.