Dwight Eversley Yorke CM (born 3 November 1971) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian professional football coach and former player and former head coach of Trinidad and Tobago. Throughout his club career, he played for Aston Villa, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, Sydney FC and Sunderland, mainly as a forward, between 1989 and 2009. Yorke formed a prolific strike partnership with Andy Cole at Manchester United, where he won numerous honours including several Premier League titles and the Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in 1999. Yorke scored 123 goals in the Premier League, a record for a non-European which was not broken until Sergio Agüero in 2017.
At international level, Yorke represented Trinidad and Tobago on 74 occasions between 1989 and 2009, scoring 19 goals. He helped his nation reach the semi-finals of the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and later qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in its history, representing his country in the 2006 tournament. After retiring from playing in 2009, Yorke became assistant manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national team, a position he held until the completion of the qualifying matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. As a manager, he won the Australia Cup with Macarthur FC in 2022, and qualified with Trinidad and Tobago for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Yorke was first discovered by Graham Taylor, at the time the Aston Villa manager, on a tour of the West Indies in 1989. Yorke, aged 17, appeared in a team that played a friendly against Aston Villa. Taylor was impressed and offered Yorke a trial at Villa. Yorke was subsequently given a permanent contract and played for the Villa Reserve and Youth sides for the majority of the 1988–90 season, making his First Division debut for Aston Villa against Crystal Palace on 24 March 1990: Crystal Palace won the game 1–0. During his time with Aston Villa, from 1989 to 1998, Yorke played initially as a right winger until the 1995–96 season, he then switched to centre forward and established himself as one of the Premier League's top strikers.
Yorke was an integral member of the Villa team that reached the League Cup Final in 1996. Villa won 3–0 against Leeds United with Yorke getting on the scoresheet. On 30 September 1996 he scored a hat-trick against Newcastle United in a 4–3 defeat. Yorke appeared for Aston Villa on 284 occasions, scoring 97 times.
The circumstances of his departure from Aston Villa were controversial. John Gregory, Aston Villa's manager at that time, made it known that the club did not want to sell Yorke to Manchester United unless they were prepared to exchange striker Andy Cole. Yorke played for Villa on the opening day of the season at Everton on 15 August 1998; however, it appeared that he made little effort during the match, as he was unhappy at not being allowed to leave the club. Villa were left with no option but to sell the player, and he transferred to Manchester United for £12.6 million on 20 August 1998.
In his first season, Yorke was a key player in guiding the club to a unique treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League, forming a legendary partnership with Andy Cole. Yorke finished the season as the top league goalscorer with 18 goals and contributed goals against Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Juventus in the Champions League; he won the Premier League Player of the Season. Yorke was also a regular member of United's 1999–2000 title winning team, contributing 23 goals in all competitions.
Despite a less successful third season, Yorke scored his 100th Premier League goal in a 3-0 victory over Derby County on 24 November 2000 and also netted a hat-trick in the top of the table clash with Arsenal. In January 2002 a move to Middlesbrough fell through. He played his last game for United that month, and was not issued a squad number for the 2002–03 season. Altogether, he scored 65 goals for Manchester United in 152 appearances.
In July 2002, Yorke moved to Blackburn Rovers for an initial £2 million, potentially rising to £2.6 million; United had wanted a fee of £6 million. He was signed to cover the long absence of Matt Jansen from a traffic accident, and was reunited with his former United strike partner Andy Cole.
Yorke scored 13 goals in all competitions in his first season at Ewood Park, including the winner on 26 October 2002 as Rovers won 2–1 at reigning champions Arsenal. The following 4 January on his return to Villa Park, he scored twice in a 4–1 win in the FA Cup third round. On 11 May, in the last game of the season, he opened a 4–0 win at Tottenham Hotspur as Blackburn beat Everton to sixth place and UEFA Cup qualification.
On 31 August 2004, transfer deadline day, Yorke moved to Birmingham City on a one-year deal with the option of a second. Instead of a loan to Celtic, he chose to join Birmingham for a "substantial but undisclosed fee". It was later reported as £250,000.
Yorke scored on his home debut for Birmingham in a 1–1 draw against Charlton Athletic, with the equaliser seven minutes after replacing Clinton Morrison. He scored again against Graeme Souness's Newcastle on 3 October. However, Yorke fell out of favour at St Andrew's and was released by mutual consent in April 2005.
Yorke immediately signed for Sydney FC, with a salary of $1 million a season. He scored the first goal for Sydney FC in its first A-League regular season match, a diving header against the Melbourne Victory. Yorke came to Sydney FC with the biggest pedigree of all players in the A-League, having won the treble with Manchester United. Yorke scored seven goals in the A-League, with three of them being from penalty kicks. Sydney coach Pierre Littbarski moved Yorke into a midfield role and gave him the team captaincy.
He played a major role in leading Sydney to victory in the inaugural A-League Grand Final on 5 March against regional rivals Central Coast Mariners. He set up the only goal, scored by Steve Corica, in front of a sell out crowd of over 41,000 at the Sydney Football Stadium, and was awarded the Joe Marston Medal as best player in the grand final. Yorke was the marquee player for Sydney – meaning that his salary fell outside the salary cap. He was also a star name for the A-League as a whole. Aside from his footballing talents, the drawing power and credibility he brought both locally and internationally proved to be beneficial for the competition in its inaugural season, leading the Football Federation Australia to use his image and name for the promotion of the A-League's second season.
Due to the schedule of football in Australia, Yorke returned to Manchester United for training from March to June 2006, to retain fitness for the World Cup.
Yorke returned to Sydney to take part in a friendly against Everton in 2010. The game was considered his 'farewell game' as he never had the chance to say a proper farewell to the fans at Sydney. Everton won the match 1–0, and Yorke was substituted midway through the second half.
On 31 August 2006, Yorke's transfer to Sunderland was announced. The transfer for a fee of £200,000 (A$ $500,000) re-united Yorke with ex-teammate Roy Keane, manager of Sunderland. Yorke made his debut in the home match against Leicester City and received a rapturous standing ovation from home fans when he came on as a substitute in the first half. Yorke was used as a defensive midfielder rather than his usual striker role. He scored his first goal for Sunderland in the 2–1 loss against Stoke.
On 2 January 2008, during Sunderland's 1–0 defeat to Blackburn, Yorke was given a red card by referee Rob Styles. Yorke stated several times he would like to return to the A-League, preferably Sydney. However, following Sydney's signings at the time, it seemed unlikely that Sydney would have been able to fit him under the salary cap. It was reported that Yorke would play for rivals Central Coast Mariners, the team bankrolled by the man who brought him to Sydney, Peter Turnbull.