James Fleming Dudgeon (born 19 March 1981) is a football coach and former professional

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 lea ...

who is assistant manager of Dodworth Miners Welfare. As a player he was a defender who played between 1998 and 2012, most notably in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

and Lincoln City but predominantly as a Non-league player for

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replaced Halifax Town, who went i ...

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. The team play in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History Previous clubs The club claims it w ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921, Stalybridge Celti ...

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

Newcastle Blue Star Newcastle Blue Star F.C. is a association football, football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was established in 1930 and joined the Wearside League in 1973. In 1978, the club won the FA Vase. They won promotion to the Northern Prem ...

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

, Ilkeston Town,

Frickley Athletic Frickley Athletic Football Club is a football club based in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, England. They are members of the and play at Westfield Lane. History The club was formed on 30 July 1908, and became a member of the South Yorkshire Lea ...

and

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's Historic counties of England, historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom censu ...

Club career

Born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

, England, Dudgeon started his career at

in their

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

as a trainee before signing a professional contract on 19 July 1999. He signed for Lincoln City on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

on 22 November 2000. Dudgeon was released by Barnsley at the end of the 2002–03 season. He was signed by

in May 2003 following his release by Barnsley. He was signed by

in September 2003. He was released at the end of the 2003–04 season. He was reported to have signed for

Leigh RMI Leigh Genesis Football Club, formerly known as Horwich RMI (Railway Mechanics Institute) and Leigh RMI, is an English amateur association football club that currently plays in the South Lancashire Counties Football League. The semi-professional ...

in June 2004, but it was later revealed he had signed for

Dudgeon was signed by

from Worksop in June 2005. He missed several games in the 2006–07 season because of illness, but has since shrugged this off and was fit for York's game against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

, but was not selected. During York's 1–0 defeat to

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

on 29 December 2006, Dudgeon was sent off as

Matt Crossley Matthew John William Crossley (born 18 March 1968) is an English former footballer who played as a central defender. Playing career Born in Basingstoke, Crossley played for Aldershot, Basingstoke Town, Newbury Town, Overton United, Wycombe W ...

head-butted him, after he, a York substitute, tried to intervene as a peacemaker during a touchline tussle between

Neal Bishop Neal Robert Bishop (born 7 August 1981) is an English football manager and Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He previously played in the Football League for Barnet F.C., Barnet, Notts County F.C., Notts County, Black ...

and Woking's Danny Bunce. Dudgeon was given a three match suspension as a result of his red card. In March 2007, he was found guilty of improper conduct, and given the punishment of a £200 fine and a three-game ban, starting on 26 March 2007. He was released by York at the end of the 2006–season on 16 May 2007. Dudgeon was signed by

on 26 June 2007. On 26 November 2007, he joined

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Premier Division side

on a one-month loan. This loan was extended for another three months in December. However, he joined

of the Conference North on a one-and-a-half-year contract in January 2008. In October, he joined Northern Premier League Premier Division club

on a one-month loan, debuting in the 0–0 draw at Kendal Town on 11 October 2008. He joined

in the Northern Premier League Division One North on a one-and-a-half-year contract in November, before suffering a dislocated shoulder just 20 minutes into his debut in the 1–0 home defeat to

Curzon Ashton Curzon Ashton Football Club is an association football club based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1963 and nicknamed "The Nash", the club is affiliated to the Manchester Football Association and currently compete ...

on 15 November 2008. He made his final appearance for the club in the 3–1 home defeat to

Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in . It covers and includes the area of Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urmston, Partington and Sa ...

on 31 January 2009 before being released and joining

. He had an unhappy debut for the club, being sent-off for dissent following the award of a late penalty in the 3–2 defeat at

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay () is a town, Community (Wales), community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (h ...

on 14 February, before scoring his first goal for the club coming in a 2–1 victory at Salford City on 21 February. He joined Ilkeston Town in June. Having failed to break into Ilkeston's first team he joined

on loan for a month, debuting in the 2–0

defeat at Marine on 5 September. He played in Frickley's next match, a 3–1 home victory over Durham City on 8 September, before spending the rest of his loan period as an unused substitute. On 7 October he joined

on loan for the remainder of the season, debuting in the 1–1

Northern Premier League Division One South The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...

at Leek Town three days later. On 11 January 2010, he departed Ilkeston by mutual consent, joining

on a permanent basis as player and assistant manager to his one time

teammate Karl Rose. In May 2012, Rose was appointed manager at

with Dudgeon following him to Westfield Lane to act as his assistant.

International career

Despite being born in England, Dudgeon is a Scottish former youth international.

Coaching career

Having previously held positions on the coaching staff at Goole, Wombwell Town and Frickley, Dudgeon joined Dodworth Miners Welfare as assistant manager on 6 September 2021.

Personal life

Dudgeon is a sufferer of

post-viral fatigue syndrome Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling chronic illness. People with ME/CFS experience profound fatigue that does not go away with rest, as well as sleep issues and problems with memory or concentration. T ...

, which caused him to miss two seasons for

. He married Christy Woodhouse in Barnsley during q2 2003.

Career statistics

Footnotes

:A. The "League" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

and

. :B. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the

Conference League Cup The National League Cup is an annual association football competition in England. The National League Cup is open to clubs playing in the National League and, since its revival in 2024, professional under-21 teams playing in the Premier League 2. ...

Durham Challenge Cup The Durham County Challenge Cup (commonly known as the Durham Challenge Cup) is an annual association football, football competition held between the clubs of the Durham County Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the seni ...

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

and

Northern Premier League Challenge Cup The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...

References

External links

James Dudgeon profile
at the Goole website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudgeon, James 1981 births Living people Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English men's footballers Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Barnsley F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players York City F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Newcastle Blue Star F.C. players Wakefield F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Frickley Athletic F.C. players Goole A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Scottish sportsmen