Matthew Bates

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Personal information
Matthew Bates
Full name	Matthew Bates
Date of birth	10 December 1986 (1986-12-10) (age 21)
Place of birth	Stockton, England
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Middlesbrough
Number	30
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2004– 2005 2006 2008	Middlesbrough → Darlington (loan) → Ipswich Town (loan) → Norwich City (loan)	19 (0) 04 (0) 02 (0) 03 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4/2/2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Matthew Bates (born 10 December 1986) is an English professional football player who currently plays as a defender for Norwich City F.C., on loan from Middlesbrough.

He is a product of the Middlesbrough youth system and first appeared for the club in 2004. He has since had a loan spell with Darlington, and now appears to be a more frequent fixture in the Middlesbrough first team.

Matthew hit the headlines in September 2006 when private photographs of him were posted on the internet, one of which showed him wearing a pair of skimpy briefs, another squatting in front of a mirror with a semi-erect penis. He had taken the pictures himself over a period of months for the benefit of his then girlfriend, and they were thought to have later been released onto the web by her in retaliation for Matthew cheating on her.^[1][1], receiving much attention due to the fact that he was regarded as quite well endowed.

He was sent out on loan to Ipswich Town, but was seriously injured in his second game, tearing his cruciate ligament and partially tearing his medial ligament. He has now returned to Middlesbrough.[2]

After finally recovering from injury, in January 2008 Matthew was sent on loan to Norwich City for two months. He later returned to Middlesborough after suffering from another knee injury which has resulted in him needing a third operation in just 18 months.[3]