John Yates (footballer)

John Yates (1861 – 1 June 1917) was an English footballer who won the FA Cup with Blackburn Olympic in 1883 and made one appearance for England in 1878 playing on the left wing.

Career

Yates was born in Blackburn but started his football career with Accrington in 1879. After a year, he joined Blackburn Olympic and was part of the team of tradesmen and weavers who achieved a small level of success in the 1880s, backed by local iron foundry owner Sid Yates and coached by former England player Jack Hunter. Their greatest success came when they overcame the dominance of local rivals, Blackburn Rovers, and the amateur teams of southern England to win the FA Cup in 1883.

Yates returned to Accrington in February 1886, and spent a further two years with the club before joining Burnley in 1888, in time for the inaugural season of the Football League. He made 21 league appearances, scoring five goals as Burnley finished in ninth place, having to seek re-election at the end of the season.

He had previously represented Lancashire on many occasions, and received his solitary England cap for the match against Ireland played at Anfield, Liverpool on 2 March 1889, thus becoming Burnley's first England international. 6-1, with Yates scoring a hat trick. Despite this, he was not selected for the match against Scotland six weeks later. He is one of five players to have scored a hat-trick on his...
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