GARTH Scates has found himself in the strange position of being one of the longest serving members at the club, as he starts his fifth season at Warden Street.

Born in Dundonald, County Down, on 27th August, 1979 - Scates began his career as a youngster at Glentoran in the mid-nineties before getting his big break in 1996 at the age of sixteen, joining Lancashire outfit, Blackburn Rovers, who had won the English Premier League in the previous season.

Rovers reached the final of the FA Youth Cup with a number of Northern Irish players in their ranks, namely Gary Hamilton (Glentoran), Johnny Topley (Portadown) and Stephen Hawe (Coagh United) playing alongside the 19-year-old Scates. The young Rovers side lost the tie on aggregate to a Francis Jeffers inspired Everton side.

After having represented Northern Ireland at both Under-16 and Under-18 level, Garth recieved a call-up to Roy Millar's Under-21 side in March 2000 for a friendly game in Malta. Scates started in the 2-1 win, gaining the first of his four caps at that level - he competed against Iceland and the Czech Republic twice in the following season.

Scates, however, failed to make a breakthrough into the first team at Ewood Park and was released by Greame Souness in May 2000, as Rovers finished mid-table in the First Division after relegation the previous season. Despite being on trial with Cardiff City in January 2000, he made the decision to return to Northern Ireland to play his football after four years in England.

In August 2000, Linfield manager David Jeffrey persuaded Scates to join the League champions on a three-year contract; It proved to be the right decision as the Blues romped home to a second successive title in 2000/2001. The young midfielder made his Linfield debut as a substitute at Mourneview Park against Glenavon on the opening day of the season. His first senior medal came in January 2001 as Linfield lifted the County Antrim Shield, after defeating Glentoran - but it was the League title in April that mattered. Garth made 40 appearances in his first season at the Blues, scoring three goals - his first Linfield goal was against Ballymena United at the start of the season.

July 2001 seen the 21-year-old make his debut in Europe - as he played both legs of Linfield's Champions League qualifying defeat to Georgian side, Torpedo Kutaisi. Just as Garth was beginning to establish himself in the Linfield side, niggling injuries slowed down his progress in his second season at Windsor Park - as he did manage a very respectable 36 appearances in the 2001/02 season, however a third of them came from the bench. He also scored three goals, as Jeffrey's side finished a disappointing third in the Irish League. Scates picked up another medal, as the Blues beat Glentoran this time to win the League Cup. A massive blow came in May though as Garth missed the Irish Cup final through injury and could only watch from the stands as Linfield beat Portadown to lift the showpiece trophy.

2002-03

After Linfield's sub-standard fourth place finish in the Irish League, Windsor boss David Jeffrey was forced to ring the changes in May 2003. Sadly after an injury plagued past few seasons – Scates along with Jamie Marks, Justin McBride and Russell Kelly were all allowed to leave the Blues, as they began a rebuilding process. Ballymena manager Kenny Shiels moved quickly to sign Premier League quality players to boost his newly promoted side, and in June he persuaded Scates - along with former team-mates McBride and Marks to join his Braidside revolution.

'Scatesy' had a blistering start to his United career scoring a fantastic long range strike against Bolton Wanderers in July 2003 and followed it up with another goal days later against Oldham Athletic, both in pre-season friendlies. However his injury jinx struck again, and he was laid off until late October when he made his competitive debut for the Sky Blues coming on as a substitute in a County Antrim Shield win against Dunmurry YM. He became a regular figure in the Ballymena engine room, and scored his first goal just after the turn of the New Year against Cliftonville. However, his season was ended prematurely in March; as he fractured his wrist at Mourneview Park. He ended the season with 18 appearances and scored three goals as the Sky Blues finished sixth in the league and qualified by Europe.

2004-2005

2005-2006

The 26-year-old midfielder signed a new one-year-contact ahead of the 2006-07 season, as Wright’s side looked to push on from the previous season. Despite the disappointment that was to follow – Garth had another good season making 38 appearances and scoring a personal best of six goals for the season – the pick of the bunch being a sublime long range effort on the final day against Newry City.

With his injury problems put to rest for now, ‘Scatesy’ will be looking to fire the Sky Blues to that elusive silverware this year, in his fifth season as a Ballymena United player.