He spent a total of three seasons at St Andrew's, making 66 first team appearances, including one in the side that won the 1991 Football League Trophy.
Spells at Lincoln City and Doncaster Rovers followed, before Yates dropped out of the Football League to sign for Conference side Kidderminster Harriers in 1994, going on to become club captain.
In 1997 Yates seemed set for a return to League football as Kidderminster led the Conference by a significant margin going into the final months of the season.
Yates remained with the Gloucestershire outfit until February 2004, enjoying reasonable success, the highlight being a victory in the 2002 Third Division play-off final.
At the end of the 2004–05 season Yates called time on his playing career, becoming first team coach at Burnley alongside the manager who had signed him as a player at Cheltenham, Steve Cotterill.
[2] In his first season in charge he steered the club to safety from relegation, and in the second secured a top-half finish as well as an FA Trophy Final place at the new Wembley Stadium.