Rhys Oates

Rhys Oates spent five years working his way through non-League football before the move that defined his career. Released by Barnsley in 2015 after loan spells lower down the pyramid, he joined Hartlepool United on a free transfer and made 111 appearances and scored 15 goals across three seasons, including a run to the 2016–17 National League play-offs.

A spell at Morecambe followed, but it was his return to Hartlepool in August 2020 that produced the best form of his career. Oates scored 17 goals in 41 appearances that season, struck twice in the play-off eliminator, netted the winner in the semi-final against Stockport County, and set up the goal that beat Torquay United in the final to send Hartlepool back into the Football League. Team-mates and supporters both named him their player of the year.

He joined Mansfield Town on a free transfer in July 2021 and quickly became the club's leading scorer, finishing top of the goal charts in 2021–22 with 12 goals. Among them was the winner against Premier League opposition Sunderland in the FA Cup first round that November.