William Dodds (born 5 February 1969) is a Scottish
football coach and former
player. He is part of assistant head coach at his former club
Rangers.
His playing career started with English club
Chelsea and the rest of his career was spent in Scotland with
Partick Thistle,
Dundee,
St Johnstone,
Aberdeen,
Dundee United and
Rangers. Dodds made 26 appearances for
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, scoring seven goals.
He has had coaching spells at
Queen of the South,
Dundee,
Ross County and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. After a spell as their assistant manager, Inverness appointed Dodds as their manager in 2021. He guided them to the
2023 Scottish Cup final, but was sacked later that year.
Club career
Early career
Born in
New Cumnock, Dodds began his career with English club
Chelsea in 1986. He made his senior debut on loan to
Partick Thistle in
1987–88. After making only three appearances for Chelsea, he was transferred to
Dundee in 1989. He scored 68 league goals in 174 appearances for Dundee, winning a
Scottish First Division title in the
1991–92 season and scoring a
hat-trick in the
1990 Scottish Challenge Cup Final.
St Johnstone
Dodds moved to
St Johnstone, for a club record £400,000 transfer fee in January 1994 but moved to
Aberdeen within six months.
Aberdeen
Dodds was Aberdeen's record signing at £800,000.
During his time at
Pittodrie, he scored important goals to prevent relegation in
1994–95[ and was part of the side that won the 1995–96 Scottish League Cup, scoring as ''The Dons'' beat his former club Dundee in the November 1995 final having also netted both goals in the semi-final victory the previous month. Dodds remained at Aberdeen until September 1998, when manager Alex Miller used him – along with £700,000 – in a swap deal to bring Robbie Winters to Pittodrie Stadium from Dundee United.]
Dundee United
Dodds enjoyed something of a rebirth when Aberdeen offered him and cash for Winters. Restored to playing as a striker, Dodds' full debut for United saw a hat-trick against former club St Johnstone. During his time at Tannadice, he scored 25 goals in 45 league appearances.
Rangers
In December 1999, less than fifteen months after joining United, 30-year-old Dodds was signed for Rangers (the club he supported in childhood) by manager Dick Advocaat for £1.3m, following injuries to forwards Michael Mols and Jonatan Johansson. Dodds proved an instant success at Ibrox, scoring goals domestically and in European competition. Dodds was part of the squad that won a League and Scottish Cup double in 2000, and a cup double in 2002.
He has described his time with Rangers as "the pinnacle of my career".[ First-team opportunities dried up later in his stay, leading to his departure in January 2003.
]
Final playing spell
With few first team opportunities under new Rangers manager Alex McLeish, Dodds returned to Dundee United in January 2003 as he was swapped for Steven Thompson. On Dodds' second debut for United, he scored the first equaliser in a 2–2 draw at home to Kilmarnock.
During 2005, Dodds signed a new contract at Dundee United that would see him work with manager Gordon Chisholm as both player and first team coach. Now playing more in midfield or as a sweeper as his pace began to slow, Dodds helped United avoid relegation that year. When Chisholm was sacked as manager in January 2006, Dodds took over as caretaker manager for one match, a 2–1 win against Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
in the Premier League. When Craig Brewster took over as manager the following week, Dodds left the club. He then signed for Second Division club Partick Thistle as a player later that month, but left after making three appearances.
International career
Dodds gained his first Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
cap on 5 October 1996 against Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
while playing for Aberdeen, coming on as a 59th-minute substitute in the 1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...
Qualifier win in Riga
Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
. He was in the starting line-up for the following fixture against Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
in Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
four days later, but a scheduling dispute meant the home team did not adhere to a quickly-rearranged afternoon kick-off time, and the match was abandoned at kick-off with no caps awarded to the Scotland players; the fixture was re-arranged for the following February, but Dodds was not selected.
His form at Dundee United attracted the attentions of Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
coach Craig Brown, who restored Dodds to the Scotland squad after a twelve-month absence. During his time with United, he featured in ten competitive international matches, including the UEFA Euro 2000 play-off matches against England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, scoring four times during the qualifying, with his first two goals for Scotland coming against Estonia at Tynecastle Park, and a long-range winning goal away to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
.
He continued to be selected whilst at Rangers, with his 26th and final cap coming in September 2001 against Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, a match which Scotland lost 2-0 meaning they would not qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He scored three times in the group taking his goals total to seven, all in competitive matches.
Coaching career
Assistant
Gordon Chisholm appointed Dodds as strikers' coach at Queen of the South. ''Queens'' made it to the 2008 Scottish Cup Final, which they lost 3–2 to Rangers. This led to the club's first appearance in a UEFA organised competition, the 2008–09 UEFA Cup.
Chisholm selected Dodds to be his assistant manager when he was appointed manager of Dundee in March 2010. In October 2010, as Dundee entered administration, Chisholm and Dodds were made redundant as the administrator Bryan Jackson set about the task of saving the club from liquidation. Dodds subsequently objected to the company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that took Dundee out of administration in 2011.
On 9 September 2014, Dodds become assistant manager to Jim McIntyre at Ross County. He left the club on 25 September 2017 when both he and McIntyre were sacked. When McIntyre was appointed Dundee manager in October 2018, Dodds was linked with the assistant position there. This move did not proceed as Dundee fans objected to Dodds due to his vote against the CVA, and Jimmy Boyle was appointed assistant instead.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager
Dodds joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle as an assistant to interim manager Neil McCann during the latter part of the 2020–21 season after John Robertson went on compassionate leave. At the end of that season Inverness appointed Dodds as their new head coach, with Robertson becoming their sporting director. In his first full season as manager, Dodds guided Inverness to the Premiership playoff final, but they lost 6–2 on aggregate to St Johnstone despite going on a 11 game winless streak between December and March. In his second season they reached the 2023 Scottish Cup final, which they lost 3–1 to Celtic although their final appearance only happened after fellow Championship side Queens Park fielded an ineligible player. Dodds and his assistant Barry Wilson were sacked on 17 September 2023, with the team bottom of the Championship at the time and have just one point from five league games and being knocked out of the Challenge Cup and the League Cup.
Rangers
On 24 February 2025, Dodds was appointed as an assistant manager at Scottish Premiership side Rangers. He worked under interim head coach and former Rangers teammate Barry Ferguson.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dodds goal.''
Managerial record
Honours
Player
Dundee
* Scottish Challenge Cup: 1990–91
* Scottish First Division: 1991–92
Aberdeen
* Scottish League Cup: 1995–96
Rangers
* Scottish Premier League: 1999–2000
* Scottish Cup: 1999–2000
*Scottish League Cup: 2001–02
Manager
Inverness CT
* Scottish Cup: Runner-up: 2022–23
See also
* List of footballers in Scotland by number of league appearances (500+)
Notes
References
External links
*
*
Club profile at ''Sporting-Heroes.net''
International profile at ''Sporting-Heroes.net''
Profile at Dundee United FC Historical Archive
Profile
at ''AFC Heritage Trust''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodds, Billy
1969 births
Living people
Footballers from East Ayrshire
Scottish men's footballers
Chelsea F.C. players
Partick Thistle F.C. players
Dundee F.C. players
St Johnstone F.C. players
Aberdeen F.C. players
Dundee United F.C. players
Rangers F.C. players
Rangers F.C. non-playing staff
Scotland men's international footballers
Scotland men's B international footballers
English Football League players
Scottish Football League players
Scottish Premier League players
Dundee United F.C. non-playing staff
Dundee F.C. non-playing staff
Men's association football forwards
Scottish radio personalities
Scottish football managers
Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. managers
Scottish Professional Football League managers
People from New Cumnock