Christopher Dawes (born 31 May 1974) is a retired

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. He was known to be very disciplined, a good passer of the ball and a tight man-marker.

Club career

Nicknamed 'Simba', Dawes has played as a defender or

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, starting his career at Jamaican club Galaxy F.C. and having a brief spell at

Belgian Fourth Division The Belgian Fourth Division was the lowest nationwide division in Belgian football. The division was split into four separate leagues, A, B, C and D. The team with the most points in the four leagues together was declared the overall winner. ...

club SVD Handzame in 1996. In 2001, he signed for MLS club MetroStars only to be traded to

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, ...

for a 2002 draft pick. Dawes returned to Jamaica in 2002 joining

May Pen May Pen is the capital and largest town in the parish of Clarendon in Middlesex County, Jamaica. It is located on the Rio Minho river (Jamaica's longest), and is a major market centre for the Parish. The population was 61,548 at the 2011 cen ...

based club

Hazard United Portmore United Football Club is a Jamaican football team in the top flight Jamaica National Premier League. The team trains and plays home matches at the Prison Oval. History Hazard United The club was formed as ''Hazard United'' and has bee ...

and had a brief stint with Village United before returning to the previous club, now relocated and called

Portmore United Portmore United Football Club is a Jamaican football team in the top flight Jamaica National Premier League. The team trains and plays home matches at the Prison Oval. History Hazard United The club was formed as ''Hazard United'' and has bee ...

. He retired in 2006 to become a coach.

International career

He also played for the

Jamaica national football team The Jamaica national football team, nicknamed the "Reggae Boyz", represents Jamaica in international football. The team's first match was against Haiti in 1925. The squad is under the supervising body of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF ...

and was a participant at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for th ...

. He played his last international in 2001 against Costa Rica and earned over 60 caps for the Reggae Boyz. He scored once in a 2000 friendly match against Cayman Islands, which Jamaica won by 6–0.

Coaching career

He is currently manager of Jamaica National Premier League side

Sporting Central Academy Sporting Central Academy or otherwise known simply as Sporting is a Jamaican football club based in the Clarendon, Jamaica. Sporting Central plays in Clarendon Major League, the third tier of Jamaican football. History After the collapse of ...

but is currently on an educational sabbatical working on his coaching badges in the United States and England.The Jamaica Star :: Sport :: Coaching carousel continues at Sporting
In 2010, Dawes returned to coaching

References

1974 births Living people Footballers from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican men's footballers Jamaican expatriate men's footballers Jamaica men's international footballers 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Colorado Rapids players Portmore United F.C. players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Major League Soccer players Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders {{Jamaica-footy-bio-stub