Dean Yates (born 26 October 1967, in Leicester) is an English retired football defender. He lives in Burton Joyce. He enjoyed considerable success as a player, making his Notts County debut in their 1984–85 Second Division campaign which ended in relegation. He was a regular first team player from 1985–86 onwards, helping them win promotion back to the Second Division in 1990 and to the First Division a year later (both through the playoffs). However, a serious knee injury in February 1992 ruled him out for the next two years and meant that County were without him when they needed him most — during the final quarter of the 1991–92 season when they battled against relegation from the First Division. The relegation battle was lost, and he managed just one appearance in the 1993–94 season as