Matthew Bates is a professional football player who was born on December 10, 1986 in Stockton, England. He grew up in Eaglescliffe and attended the Links Primary School in Eaglescliffe. His father, Brian, is an ardent fan of the Middlesbrough club and used to take him to the club’s matches at Ayresome Park during the mid-1990s. His mother, Lesley, has been a constant source of encouragement and she used to travel to places to see his son, Matthew Bates play football.
His commendable performances for his school team and the Marton FC fetched him the opportunity to play for Stockton Schools Under-11s. It was Keith Noble, a former Middlesbrough Scout, who had spotted the young potential and trained Matthew Bates at the club’s youth system. He made his debut for the club against Manchester City in the Premiership at the Riverside on December 6, 2004. When some of the experienced players of the club were injured, Matthew Bates got the opportunity to play for the first team. His performances were brilliant at two games, one that he played against Manchester United and won 4-1 at home; and the other match against the same opponents, which was a 0-0 draw in the 2005-06 season. To Matthew Bates these two matches were memorable ones as he had done remarkably well. As of the year 2008, this talented defender has improved his football skills with every match he played and made 19 appearances for the side. With Matthew Bates in the team, the Middlesbrough club became the runner-up of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Cup in the 2005-06 season.
As it is customary in the Middlesbrough club, he was loaned to the lower division side, Darlington club in 2005 for which he played 4 matches. Matthew Bates was again loaned to the Ipswich Town club in 2006; he sustained a cruciate ligament injury while playing with the club and was forced to end his loan stint at the club. He recovered completely and was moved to the Norwich City club for a two-month loan period in January 2008. Matthew Bates made 3 appearances for the Norwich City club, but a knee injury cut short his loan period and he had to return to the Middlesbrough club.
Matthew Bates aspires to become the captain of the Middlesbrough team and also play for the England national football team in future. Apart from playing football, he used to play golf and had earned a five handicap at the age of 15.
