Joseph Patrick Dudgeon (born 26 November 1990) is a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
coach and scout, and former player, who is currently employed by the
Northern Ireland under-17 team and
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
respectively.
As a player, Dudgeon was a
left-back; he began his career with
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
, and represented
Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
,
Hull City and
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
before retiring due to injury in 2015.
Born in England, he represented the
Northern Ireland national under-21 team on four occasions between 2009 and 2011.
Club career
Manchester United
Dudgeon was born in
Leeds, England. He played his first match for the Manchester United Under-18s side in April 2006, when he was still only 15 years old, coming on as a substitute for
Oliver Norwood
Oliver James Norwood (born 12 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Championship club Sheffield United.
Norwood began his career with Manchester United, and had loan spells at Carlisle United, Scunthorpe United ...
in a 3–2 defeat away to
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
. He then appeared in two matches at the 2006 Northern Ireland Milk Cup in August 2006 – a 1–0 win over County Tyrone and a 2–2 draw with
Sheffield United – but didn't play for the club again until February 2007, when he appeared in eight of the club's last 10
Premier Academy League fixtures. His performances earned him a trainee contract with the club, which he signed in July 2007.
The following season, Dudgeon became a regular in the Under-18 team, appearing 21 times as they managed a third-place finish in the
Premier Academy League and the Fourth Round of the
FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
. He also received his first taste of reserve team football during 2007–08, being named as an unused substitute for the reserves' 4–0 win over
Oldham Athletic in the quarter-finals of the Lancashire Senior Cup. He retained his spot in the under-18 side for 2008–09, while continuing to establish himself in the reserves, mainly as a substitute, making his debut on 22 January 2009 in a 3–0 win over
Accrington Stanley in the first round of the Lancashire Senior Cup, coming on as a half-time substitute for
Fábio. At the end of the season, Dudgeon was named in the reserve squads for the finals of both the
Manchester Senior Cup and the Lancashire Senior Cup; as an unused substitute in the former and playing the full 90 minutes in the latter.
In 2009–10, Dudgeon made the full step-up to the reserve team, and after playing in the first six Premier Reserve League games of the season, he was rewarded for his performances with a first team squad number (44) ahead of the
League Cup Fourth Round tie against
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
. However, he was not included in the matchday squad. He remained a regular in the reserve team throughout the season, appearing in 14 out of the team's 18 Premier Reserve League matches as they claimed the Premier Reserve League North title. He then appeared in the Premier Reserve League play-off against
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
, which United won 3–2 on penalties after coming from behind three times to draw 3–3 in normal time.
After appearing regularly for the reserve team during the 2010–11 pre-season, Dudgeon underwent knee surgery at the end of August 2010 and missed three months of the start of the season. He returned in mid-November 2010 to reclaim his regular left-back berth, appearing in the next five Premier Reserve League matches.
On 27 January 2011, Dudgeon signed for
Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
on loan until the end of the season to provide defensive cover after
Sean McDaid
Sean Andrew McDaid (born 6 March 1986) is a former professional footballer who played for Leeds United, Doncaster Rovers and Carlisle United before having his career cut short by injury in March 2011. Born in England, he represented Scotland int ...
suffered a season-ending injury in October 2010. He was the fourth Manchester United player to go on loan to Carlisle in 2010–11. Dudgeon made his debut for Carlisle on 29 January, coming on as a half-time substitute for
Peter Murphy in a 2–2 at home to
Oldham Athletic. He then made his first league start three days later in Carlisle's 2–0 defeat away to
Huddersfield Town.
Hull City
On 11 May 2011,
Hull City signed Dudgeon on a three-year contract. He made his debut in the first game of the season on 5 August 2011 at the
KC Stadium in the 1–0 defeat to
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
. For the remainder of the
2011–12 season, Dudgeon was in and out of the starting line-up, with regular competition for the left back slot with
Andy Dawson
Andrew Stuart Dawson (born 20 October 1978) is an English former professional footballer and coach. He is part of the coaching staff at Hull City.
As a player he was a defender from 1997 to 2015. Having left Nottingham Forest as a youngst ...
. Under new Hull manager
Steve Bruce
Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...
, Dudgeon started the
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season in fine form, and was ever-present in the side until a serious knee injury in October ruled him out for the rest of the season. On 7 July 2014, Dudgeon signed a new one-year contract with the club.
On 28 May 2015, Hull City did not renew Dudgeon's contract along with five other players who were out of contract at the end of the 2014–15 season.
Loan to Barnsley
On 31 July 2014, Dudgeon joined
League One side
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
on a one-month loan.
International career
Although he was born in England, Dudgeon is of Northern Irish descent and was called up to the
Northern Ireland national under-21 team in October 2009. He appeared in the team that lost 2–1 away to
Iceland U21 on 13 October, and then played again against
Germany U21 in a 1–1 home draw.
On 5 October 2012 it was announced that he had received his first call up for the Northern Ireland senior team for their game against Portugal on 16 October 2012.
References
External links
Profileat ManUtd.com
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudgeon, Joe
1990 births
Living people
Footballers from Leeds
English footballers
Association footballers from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers
English people of Northern Ireland descent
Men's association football defenders
Manchester United F.C. players
Carlisle United F.C. players
Hull City A.F.C. players
Barnsley F.C. players
English Football League players