Crewe Alexandra

Yates graduated through the ranks of the Crewe Alexandra youth system to become a professional in 2002, and spent five months on loan with Conference club Halifax Town from November to April of the 2003–04 season.^[3][4] He made his senior debut on 14 November, in a 2–2 draw at Burton Albion.^[5] Forced to compete with Darren Hockenhull for the right-back position at The Shay, Yates said that "It was a lot more competitive than the reserve team games I had been playing at Crewe".^[6] He was sent off for his part in a Boxing Day "mass brawl" during a 1–0 home victory over Scarborough; teammate James Dudgeon and opposition players Matt Redmile and Wayne Gill were also dismissed.^[7] He played a total of 13 games for Halifax. After being released by "Railwaymen" manager Dario Gradi in May 2004, never having made the first-team at Gresty Road, he signed for Leek Town.^[8]

Leek Town

In February 2005 he had a trial with Port Vale, the team he had supported as a boy, but did not impress manager Martin Foyle and was not signed to a contract.^[9] Instead he returned to Harrison Park and became an almost permanent presence in the "Blues" defence during 2005–06 season, putting in a total of fifty appearances, also scoring once in the Northern Premier League.^[10]

Morecambe

After impressing Sammy McIlroy in a pre-season friendly in 2006, he was signed by Morecambe in August 2006.^[11] He scored his first goal for Morecambe in their 2–1 victory at Southport on 26 December 2006.^[12] His return to the English Football League came at the end of the 2006–07 season as the "Shrimps" achieved promotion from the Conference National as play-off winners by beating Exeter City 2–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium.^[13] He made 54 appearances in the 2007–08 campaign, as Morecambe consolidated their Football League status. He was loaned out to Burton Albion in August 2008.^[14] Immediately on his return to Christie Park in October he returned to the first-team. After having featuring heavily in the 2008–09 season he was offered a new contract by Morecambe, though he rejected the offer after deciding his future lay elsewhere.^[15]

Port Vale

Targeted by manager Dean Glover, Port Vale continued the hunt for his signature even after Glover's departure.^[16] Yates decided to wait until a manager was appointed before signing for the club,^[17] and after Micky Adams was made manager Yates signed a two-year deal with the Vale.^[18] He was forced to wait until 22 August before he made his competitive debut for the club,^[19] as Sam Stockley had impressed in the right-back position in the pre-season and opening few games of the 2009–10 season. He was transfer listed in late September, along with the entire Port Vale squad, after manager Micky Adams saw his team slip to a third consecutive defeat.^[20] Following Stockley's retirement in November, Yates was expected to fill the void,^[21] though he faced competition for the right-wing-back spot from Anthony Griffith.^[22] In his first game in almost a month he scored his first goal at Vale Park, scoring the opener of a 1–1 draw with Stevenage Borough in the FA Cup First Round.^[23][24] By February 2010 he was managing to maintain a first-team place,^[25] helped by the team's change of formation from 3–4–3 to 4–4–2.^[26]

He continued to make the right-back spot his own in the 2010–11 season, and in February 2011 he became the first player to enter new contract negotiations with new manager Jim Gannon.^[27][28] Despite Gannon's swift departure, contract talks continued on a new two-year deal.^[29] After playing in all 54 of the club's games that season, he put pen to paper on the deal in May 2011.^[30] Micky Adams returned as manager for the 2011–12 campaign, and he continued to name Yates as his first-choice right-back. However, Adams signed centre-back Liam Chilvers and veteran full-back Rob Kozluk in September,^[31] and so Yates lost his first-team place to Kozluk, and put in 'extra work' in training to try and force his way back onto the teamsheet.^[32] His efforts paid off, as he quickly won his first-team place back,^[33] and Kozluk was released in December.^[34] He scored his first league goal for the club by providing the equaliser in the 2–1 Boxing Day victory at Hereford United.^[35] In February, he picked up knee ligament damage and was unable to play for several weeks.^[36] He hit his third goal for the "Valiants" on 9 April, in a 1–0 win over Macclesfield Town.^[37]

He lost his first-team place to Richard Duffy at the start of the 2012–13 season. He was returned to the starting line-up at the end of October, after Duffy was sidelined with a twisted ankle.^[38] Duffy returned to the first-team after making his recovery, though Yates was preferred in the end of season run-in and was hopeful of winning a new contract in the summer.^[39] He was named in the League Two Team of the Week for his performance in a 3–2 win at Dagenham & Redbridge on 29 December.^[40] Vale secured promotion with a third-place finish at the end of the season, with Yates making 32 appearances. He agreed to sign a new two-year contract in the summer.^[41] Yates remained a key first-team player during the 2013–14 season, and played 41 games as the club posted a ninth-place finish in League One. Swiss youth international Frédéric Veseli was brought in on loan to replace him at right-back, but Yates won back his first-team place in November after a series of consistent performances.^[42] He ended the season with 28 appearances to his name as Veseli eventually won back his first-team place.^[43] Yates signed a new one-year contract in June 2015.^[44]

Having held the club's number 2 shirt for five seasons he was demoted to number 16 for the 2015–16 season as new right-back Ben Purkiss was handed the number 2 shirt.^[45] On 24 August, Yates joined League Two side Northampton Town on a one-month loan in order to provide "Cobblers" manager Chris Wilder with cover for the suspended Josh Lelan and injured Brendan Moloney.^[46] He played three games for the club, including a League Cup defeat to Newcastle United at St James' Park, before his loan spell was ended early by a thigh injury.^[47] He then returned to the Vale first-team on 14 November as cover for an injured Purkiss, and his performances meant he retained his place once Purkiss returned to fitness.^[48] He signed a new one-year contract in June 2016.^[49] However, the following month he was told by surgeons that he had been playing for months with an ankle cruciate ligament injury and was ruled out of action for the whole of the 2016–17 season to allow the injury to properly heal.^[50] He was named as Community Foundation Trust Player of the Year in May 2017, and signed a new one-year contract with the club three months later.^[51][52]

On 5 August 2017, Yates joined National League side Macclesfield Town on a one-month loan in order to help his return to match fitness.^[53] He made his debut for John Askey's "Silkmen" later that day in a 1–0 victory at Wrexham.^[54] He made seven appearances during his stay at Moss Rose. After returning to Port Vale, he collided with goalkeeper Sam Hornby during a reserve team match with former club Morecambe in November and came out with a fractured nose, cheekbones and eye sockets as well as a broken upper jaw and wrist; manager Neil Aspin said "I have never seen, on a football pitch, someone get the extent of the injuries he has got".^[55] He was given an extension to his contract the following month, with chairman Norman Smurthwaite saying "I felt it was our duty to support a player who had given so much service to the club".^[56] Yates announced his retirement as a player in March 2018, though stayed on at the club to work at the Port Vale Foundation Trust.^[57] At the end of the 2017–18 season he was named as Community Player of the Year and Clubman of the Year.^[58] After a public vote held in December 2019, he was named by The Sentinel as Port Vale's best right-back of the 2010s with 62% of the vote, ahead of James Gibbons (27%) and Ben Purkiss (11%).^[59]