Ryan James Yates (born 21 November 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains Premier League club Nottingham Forest. Yates joined Nottingham Forest's youth academy in 2005, and has been signed professionally to the club since 2016.

Ryan Yates
Yates with Nottingham Forest in 2016
Personal information
Full name Ryan James Yates[1]
Date of birth (1997-11-21) 21 November 1997 (age 26)
Place of birth Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.90 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Nottingham Forest
Number 22
Youth career
2005–2016 Nottingham Forest
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016– Nottingham Forest 191 (16)
2016–2017Barrow (loan) 16 (1)
2017Shrewsbury Town (loan) 12 (0)
2017–2018Notts County (loan) 25 (3)
2018Scunthorpe United (loan) 16 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 November 2024

Club career

edit

Yates was named as part of the Nottingham Forest first-team squad at the start of the 2016–17 season, before heading north to National League side Barrow for an initial period of one-month on 26 August 2016.[3][4] On 21 September Barrow opted to extend the loan deal, and again on 2 November until 9 January 2017.[5] After this final extension to the deal, Barrow manager Paul Cox said of Yates: "He's a diamond in terms of wanting to learn, wanting to get better, wanting to get stronger. That's what makes Ryan so potent in this squad. He rubs off on other people with his hunger and desire."[6]

Yates was recalled by Forest on 13 January, having made nineteen appearances and scoring twice in all competitions for Barrow.[7]

On 31 January, shortly after his recall from Barrow, Yates was loaned out to League One's Shrewsbury Town for the remainder of the season.[8] He made his professional league debut on 14 February as a 64th-minute substitute of a 2–1 loss to Peterborough United.[9] On 27 February, whilst on loan with Shrewsbury Town, Yates extended his contract at Forest until 2019.[10] Yates was shown the first red card of his professional career on 1 April for two sliding tackles in a game at Bristol Rovers, despite having been pushed to the floor by the opponent's players after the second challenge, in a decision described by his loan club as "harsh".[11]

On 4 August 2017 Yates joined Notts County on loan for the 2017–18 season, joining fellow Forest midfielder Jorge Grant at the club.[12] His debut for the club came on 8 August away at Scunthorpe United in the first round of the EFL Cup. Yates started the match and scored in the last minute of the second period of extra time to equalise the score to 3–3. Although Notts lost the subsequent penalty shootout, Yates received praise from his manager Kevin Nolan, who described the teenager as a "leader" with "bags and bags of potential".[13]

On 11 January 2018, Yates signed a deal keeping him at Nottingham Forest until 2020, and was recalled from his loan at Notts County to join League One club Scunthorpe United for the remainder of the 2017–18 season.[14] He scored on his Iron debut against Peterborough United,[15] in what the Scunthorpe Telegraph described as a "man of the match performance".[16] Sky Sports awarded Yates the man of the match trophy for the 1–1 draw with Oxford United on 30 March.[17]

On 5 July 2018, Yates signed a new three-year deal with Nottingham Forest, keeping him at the club until 2021.[18] In December 2019 he extended his contract until 2023.[19]

Yates received praise for his performances during the 2021–22 season, with a particular increase in his goal output. He was heavily involved in the Nottingham Forest team which gained promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years, making 43 EFL Championship appearances, 3 play-off appearances, and scoring 8 league goals. He featured in the EFL Championship Team of the Season.[20] Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper has described Yates as a "culture-setter" within the Nottingham Forest team.

Career statistics

edit
As of match played 2 November 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Nottingham Forest 2016–17[21] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2017–18[22] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2018–19[23] Championship 16 1 0 0 1 0 17 1
2019–20[24] Championship 27 3 1 0 0 0 28 3
2020–21[25] Championship 34 2 1 0 1 0 36 2
2021–22[26] Championship 43 8 4 1 1 0 3[a] 0 51 9
2022–23[27] Premier League 26 0 1 1 4 1 31 2
2023–24[28] Premier League 35 1 4 0 1 0 39 1
2024–25[29] Premier League 10 1 0 0 0 0 10 1
Total 191 16 11 2 8 1 3 0 213 19
Barrow (loan) 2016–17[21] National League 16 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 19 2
Shrewsbury Town (loan) 2016–17[21] League One 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0
Notts County (loan) 2017–18[22] League Two 25 3 3 2 1 1 0 0 29 6
Scunthorpe United (loan) 2017–18[22] League One 16 2 0 0 0 0 2[b] 0 18 2
Career total 260 21 17 5 9 2 5 0 291 28
  1. ^ Appearances in Championship play-offs
  2. ^ Appearances in League One play-offs

Honours

edit

Nottingham Forest

Individual

References

edit
  1. ^ "CLUB LIST OF REGISTERED PLAYERS AS AT 19th MAY 2018" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Ryan Yates". Nottingham Forest F.C. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  3. ^ NFFC (5 August 2016). "Nottingham Forest have announced their squad numbers for the 2016–17 season". Nottingham Forest.
  4. ^ "Barrow Borrow Forest Youngster". 26 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Barrow AFC extend loan deal for Nottingham Forest youngster Yates".
  6. ^ "Barrow Borrow Forest Youngster". Non League. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  7. ^ NFFC (13 January 2017). "Nottingham Forest striker Tyler Walker is one of six players to return to the club after loan spells away from The City Ground". Nottingham Forest.
  8. ^ "Transfer deadline day: Shrewsbury Town complete Ryan Yates loan deal from Nottingham Forest". Shropshire Star. 31 January 2017.
  9. ^ "Peterborough United 2–1 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. 14 February 2017.
  10. ^ "Joe Worrall: Nottingham Forest defender signs new three-and-a-half-year contract". BBC Sport. 27 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Match Report". Shrewsbury Town Official Site. 1 April 2017.
  12. ^ "Ryan Yates joins on loan". Notts County Football Club. 4 August 2017.
  13. ^ Unknown author (13 August 2017). "Notts County boss Kevin Nolan says Nottingham Forest loanee Ryan Yates is a 'leader'". Nottingham Post. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  14. ^ NFFC (11 January 2018). "Yates pens new deal". Nottingham Forrest. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  15. ^ Cooper, Barry (14 February 2018). "Graham Alexander hails Ryan Yates as 'superb' after Nottingham Forest youngster scores on his full Scunthorpe debut". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  16. ^ Wilson, Charlie (3 April 2018). "Ryan Yates enjoying his time at Scunthorpe United". scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk. Scunthorpe Telegraph. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  17. ^ Hymus, Kieran (1 April 2018). "Yates: We just had so much energy". Scunthorpe United Football Club. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  18. ^ NFFC (5 July 2018). "Ryan thrilled to commit long-term future to Forest". Nottingham Forest.
  19. ^ "Ryan Yates: Nottingham Forest midfielder signs new deal with Championship club". BBC Sport. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  20. ^ "Football Manager EFL Team of the Season line-ups announced". www.efl.com. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  21. ^ a b c "Games played by Ryan Yates in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  22. ^ a b c "Games played by Ryan Yates in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  23. ^ "Games played by Ryan Yates in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  24. ^ "Games played by Ryan Yates in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  25. ^ "Games played by Ryan Yates in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  26. ^ "Games played by Ryan Yates in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  27. ^ "Games played by Ryan Yates in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  28. ^ "Games played by Ryan Yates in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  29. ^ "Games played by Ryan Yates in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  30. ^ "Forest return to Premier League after 23-year wait". 29 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  31. ^ "Football Manager EFL Team of the Season line-ups announced". www.efl.com. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
edit