Jock Dodds

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Jock Dodds
Image:Jock Dodds.jpg
Personal information
Full name Ephraim Dodds
Date of birth September 7, 1915(1915-09-07)
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
1946-1948
1948-1950		 Huddersfield Town
Sheffield United
Blackpool
Shamrock Rovers
Everton
Lincoln City
Career		 000 00(0)
178 (113)
015 0(13)[1]
000 00(0)
055 0(36)
060 0(39)
308 (201)   
National team
Scotland 008 00(9)[2]

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Ephraim "Jock" Dodds (September 7, 1915 - February 23, 2007[3]) was a Scottish professional football player. He played in the 1936 FA Cup Final, and, at the time of his death, he was thought to be the oldest surviving player to have played in a final at Wembley Stadium.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Dodds was born in Grangemouth. His father died when he was two years old. His family moved to Durham in 1927 after his mother remarried. Four years later, at the age of 16, he began his career at First Division Huddersfield Town as a centre forward.

In 1934, after just two years with the Terriers, he took a free transfer to Second Division Sheffield United. 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 former player Jimmy Dunne, who found himself out of favour at Arsenal after he had been sold, but this came to nothing due to a cartilage injury. Dodds secured his position by scoring four goals in the next game, a 6-1 victory against Southampton on February 16, 1935. Dodds' prolific goalscoring helped the club reached the 1936 FA Cup Final. Dodds almost scored in the final, hitting the crossbar with a header. 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] United ultimately lost the final to Arsenal, 1-0, thanks to a goal by Ted Drake

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. His last appearance for the Blades came against city rivals Sheffield Wednesday on March 4, 1939. Dodds moved to First Division Blackpool in March 1939 for £10,500, citing family reasons as the source of his transfer request. Despite his departure, Sheffield were finally promoted out of the Second Division at the end of the 1938-9 season.

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, and the Football League programme was abandoned. Dodds joined the RAF, and was stationed in Blackpool as a PT instructor. He continued to play for Blackpool, with most of his goals in the war years coming in regional competitions. In the North Regional League, he scored 65 goals in 1941-2, and then 47 goals in 1942-3. In 1943, Blackpool beat Sheffield Wednesday over two legs to win the League Cup North, and then defeated League Cup South champions Arsenal 4-2, mainly thanks to right winger Stanley Matthews. He scored 8 goals against Stockport County in 1941, and 7 goals against Tranmere Rovers in 1942, including a hat-trick in just 2½ minutes.

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] Bill Shankly hit Scotland's winning goal. He also played guest matches for Manchester United, Fulham and West Ham.

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

He signed for Shamrock Rovers in August 1946[6] and scored twice on his debut at Milltown on the 8th of September[1]. In total he played five games, two in the Dublin City Cup and three in the League of Ireland Shield scoring four goals before being sold to Everton in November 1946 for £7,750[2].

Everton were in desperate need of a centre forward after Dixie Dean retired and Tommy Lawton moved to Chelsea. He scored 36 goals in 55 league appearances for the Toffees in 1946-8. He was sold to Lincoln City in October 1948 for £6,000, where he ended his playing career.

After retiring as a player, he tried to recruit players to go to Bogotá, to play in a new league outside FIFA control. He was banned by the Football Association in July 1950 for bringing the game into disrepute, but was later cleared. He decided against taking up positions in football management, and concentrated on business interests in Blackpool.

His wife died in 2005. He died in Blackpool two years later.

[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
  6. ^ Irish Times

[edit] References

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