His father, Tony, was also a professional footballer who played as a striker for such clubs as Notts County, Aston Villa, Coventry City and Chelsea.

Hateley trained with Nottingham Forest whilst still at school; however, he was rejected by then-manager Brian Clough, who did not believe he was sufficiently talented.

[5][6][7][8] Arsène Wenger then brought him to AS Monaco, his first signing for the club,[1] in 1987 and he was part of the team which won the French Division 1 title in the 1987–88 season.

[1] After three years at Monaco, a 28-year-old Hateley returned to Britain in a £1 million move to Rangers on 19 July 1990, taking an 80% reduction compared to his pay at Milan.

[10] Hateley became a key part of the Rangers side, and was voted player of the year by the Scottish Football Writers in the 1993–94 season.

Rangers were league champions in every season that Hateley played for them (scoring 85 Scottish Premier Division goals in the process), as they went on a run of nine successive titles, which lasted from 1989 until 1997.

[18] He played four times in his second spell at Rangers, scoring once, and transferred to Hull City in July 1997, where he fulfilled the role of player-manager.

"[1] On 2 June 1984, Hateley was capped for England at senior level for the first time in a 2–0 friendly defeat to the Soviet Union.

He played a significant role in England's successful qualifying campaign for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, scoring important goals against Finland and Northern Ireland.

However England started slowly in the tournament itself and after two disappointing results (a defeat against Portugal and a draw against Morocco), Hateley was among players dropped, being replaced by Peter Beardsley.

[23] A traditional target man, Hateley was a physical centre-forward who was known in particular for his strength in the air and ability to score goals with his head.