'Nothing will ever beat Blackpool' - Forward makes admission on Swansea City and Derby County stints

Jerry Yates admits he was always determined to return to Blackpool - but was just unsure over when it would happen.

The striker enjoyed a successful stint at Bloomfield Road between 2020 and 2023, bagging 46 goals in 139 appearances, alongside winning promotion in his first season.

Yates is now back for a second spell after completing a season-long loan from Luton Town last week, with the first minutes, and the first goal, of his Bloomfield Road return coming against Peterborough United on Saturday afternoon.

The striker states he always considered there to be unfinished business for his time in Tangerine.

“I didn’t know when it would happen, but I always said to myself that I would love to come back and do another stint,” he said.

“I loved it here that much. I’m a home boy, I love being back home, being with family and friends where I can be myself. I always said, this is the only place I’d move to if I was ever to leave Doncaster - that’s how much it means to me.”

Following Blackpool’s relegation from the Championship three-years ago, Yates made a permanent move to Swansea City.

After finding the back of the net nine times in 46 outings for the South Wales outfit, he was loaned out to Derby County for the 2024/25 campaign - where he scored a further 10 times in the second tier.

Last summer, the 29-year-old dropped back down to League One, joining Luton, but things haven’t worked out at Kenilworth Road.

Despite scoring seven times in 29 appearances for the Hatters in the first half of last season, he was sent out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday back in January, before being made available once again at the start of this window.

“It’s unsettling,” he admitted.

“At Swansea, it just didn’t work out. To be honest, I probably just enjoyed myself a little bit too much. It’s far away, I may as well have been abroad at times, but the lads there were bang on. It was just one of those things that just didn’t work out.

“I enjoyed my time at Derby and Sheffield Wednesday.

“It might just be a northern club thing, I might just be more suited up north.

“I enjoyed my time with the other club, but nothing will ever beat Blackpool.”