Dale Gordon

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Dale Andrew Gordon (born 9 January 1967 in Caister, Great Yarmouth) is a former professional footballer who played for Norwich City, Rangers, West Ham United, Peterborough United, Millwall and AFC Bournemouth. He was a midfielder - predominantly right-sided - who excited supporters by running at defenders and setting up numerous goals for his team mates.

Gordon grew up as an Ipswich Town supporter and has said that he cried when watching the 1978 FA Cup final on television in which Ipswich beat Arsenal 1-0. However, he signed for Town's rivals Norwich City and made his league debut for them on 25 August 1984 in a 3-3 draw against Liverpool. His first goal for Norwich came on 10 November 1984 in a 3-0 win against Luton Town. Gordon made 27 appearances during that 1984-85 season. He found first-team opportunities limited during the following 1985-86 season but did score the goal that secured the division 2 championship for Norwich in a 1-1 draw against Stoke City on 19 April 1986.

1986-87 was Gordon's breakthrough season. He established himself as a first-team regular and played 41 league games as a vital part of the team that recorded what was then their best ever league finish of fifth position. Gordon was capped by England under 21s towards the end of the campaign, but hampered his chances of future selection when he and his Norwich City team mate Robert Rosario broke curfew while away with the under 21s and went to a nightclub.

The 1988-89 season ended with Gordon being voted Norwich City player of the year as the team finished fourth in the league and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. In total, Gordon played 261 games for Norwich (the majority of which were as a right-sided midfielder) between his 1984 debut and his final appearance on 2 November 1991. After the match against Nottingham Forest on 2 November 1991, he signed for Scottish club Rangers FC for a fee of £1,200,000.

Gordon scored twice on his debut for Rangers against St Johnstone and went on to win two Scottish Championships, the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup. He joined West Ham United for £750,000 on 8 July 1993, but his career at Upton Park was disrupted by injuries. He did, however, score West Ham's first ever goal in the Premiership. In 1996, Gordon expressed a desire to return to Norwich City, but his injuries got the better of him and he retired as a professional player in February 1997.

Since his retirement, Gordon has spent a great deal of time running his own football schools for young players. He was also manager of Great Yarmouth Town F.C. for a short time and played for Kings Lynn. He briefly ran a football academy in Lowestoft on behalf of Ipswich Town which is now discontinued.