Jock Dodds

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Jock Dodds
Personal information
Full name	Ephraim Dodds
Date of birth	September 7, 1915
Place of birth	Grangemouth, Scotland
Date of death	February 23, 2007 (aged 91)
Place of death	Lytham St Annes, England
Playing position	Centre forward
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1932-1934 1934-1939 1939-1946 1946-1948 1948-1950	Huddersfield Town Sheffield United Blackpool Everton Lincoln City	000 00(0) 178 (113) 015 0(13)[1] 055 0(36) 060 0(39)
National team
	Scotland	008 00(9)[2]
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Ephraim "Jock" Dodds (born September 7, 1915 in Grangemouth; died February 23, 2007^[3]) was a Scottish professional football player.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Career stats 2.1 Sheffield United 2.2 Everton 3 Notes 4 References

[edit] Playing career

Dodds' family moved to Durham in 1927, and four years later, at the age of 16, he began his career at Huddersfield Town as a centre forward.

In 1934, after just two years with the Terriers, he signed for Sheffield United on a free transfer. Dodds later became the Blades' leading scorer for four successive seasons, netting a total of 130 goals in just 203 appearances.

His debut came on September 15, 1934, against Burnley but despite playing and scoring regularly in the following months, the club was unconvinced that he was yet of first-team quality. The club made an enquiry into the return of ex-player Jimmy Dunne who was out of favour at Arsenal but this came to nothing due to a cartilage injury and Dodds scored four goals in the next game, a 6-1 victory against Southampton on February 16, 1935.

He also hit the crossbar with a header in the 1936 FA Cup Final, when Arsenal beat United 1-0. It was said by Ernest Jackson that he would have scored nine times out of ten from such a position and Dodds himself claimed that he had been pushed in the back by Wilf Copping^[4].

Big, strong and quick, Dodds worked hard at his game and was duly rewarded. His 100th league goal came in his 154th appearance, against Tottenham Hotspur on September 12, 1938, and his last appearance came against city rivals Sheffield Wednesday on March 4, 1939. He moved to Blackpool in March 1939 for £10,500, citing family reasons as the source of his transfer request.

Dodds made his Seasiders debut on March 11, 1939, in a defeat at Charlton Athletic, scoring Blackpool's only goal. He went on to score four in a home win over Middlesbrough and quickly became a favourite. The Second World War intervened, which meant that most of Dodds' goals came in regional competitions. He also made all eight of his international appearances for Scotland during the wartime period. On April 18, 1942, he netted a hat-trick in a 5-4 win over England at Hampden Park in front of a crowd of 91,000.^[5]

In seven years at Bloomfield Road, Dodds scored well over 200 goals, including 66 in 1941/2 alone.

In November 1946, Everton, with no Dean or Lawton, came in for his services. He scored 36 goals in 55 league appearances for the Toffees.

Dodds ended his career at Lincoln City, whom he joined in October 1948.

[edit] Career stats

[edit] Sheffield United

Season	Division	League Apps	League Goals	FA Cup Apps	FA Cup Goals	Other Apps	Other Goals	Total Apps	Total Goals
1934–35	Division Two	28	19	0	0	2	0	30	19
1935–36	Division Two	42	33	8	4	2	3	52	40
1936–37	Division Two	39	23	3	4	2	1	44	28
1937–38	Division Two	40	21	3	1	1	1	44	23
1938–39	Division Two	29	17	3	1	1	2	33	20
	Total	178	113	17	10	8	7	203	130

[edit] Everton

Season	Division	League Apps	League Goals	FA Cup Apps	FA Cup Goals	Total Apps	Total Goals
1946–47	Division One	21	17	2	0	23	17
1947–48	Division One	27	13	1	1	28	14
1948–49	Division One	7	6		0	7	6
	Total	55	36	3	1	58	37

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Only includes pre-War stats
2. ^ Played during World War II; not regarded as official caps
3. ^ Obituary at Everton FC.com
4. ^ Clarebrough, Denis (1989). Sheffield United:The First 100 Years. Sheffield United Football Club. ISBN 0-9508588-1-1.
5. ^ England Wartime/Victory Internationals - RSSSF.com

[edit] References

• Calley, Roy (1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887-1992. Breedon Books Sport. ISBN 1-873626-07-X.