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Alan Tate (born 2 September 1982 in Easington, England) is a professional footballer, currently playing for Swansea City in League One.

Tate began his career as a trainee at Manchester United, earning himself a professional contract. Although he went on the captain United's reserve team including such players as Quinton Fortune, Luke Chadwick and Chris Eagles, he failed to break into the first team. Tate enjoyed a loan spell at Royal Antwerp before spending two loan periods at Swansea City, playing a major role in the club's battle against relegation from the Football League in the 2002/03 season. He joined the club on a permanent basis on 6 February 2004.

Initially a centre back, Tate made a successful transition to the right-back slot. He further showed his versatility by playing several games in the centre of midfield during an injury crisis at the club during the 2005/06 season, which saw him named as the club's Player of the Year.

Tate was in the Swansea City team which won the Football League Trophy final against Carlisle United on 2 April 2006. After the final whistle, he and fellow player Lee Trundle were photographed holding Welsh flag bearing the words "Fuck Off Cardiff" which was apparently thrown onto the pitch. The pair claimed not to know that it bore insulting words. On 24 June 2006, both players were fined a week's wages and warned as to their future conduct by the Football Association of Wales, having already received police cautions for public order offences^[2].

Swansea City reached the League One play-off final against Barnsley on 27 May 2006. After a 2-2 draw, the game went to a penalty shootout. With Swansea trailing 4-3, Tate missed the decisive fifth penalty, sealing Barnsley's promotion. You do bad things, bad things happen to you!

1. ^ Soccerbase: Alan Tate. Soccerbase. Retrieved on December 12, 2007.
2. ^ Swans pair handed one-match bans. BBC News. Retrieved on July 1, 2006.