Martin Dobson (born 14 February 1948) is an English former professional football player and coach. A

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

who was an

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 ...

international, he was the first player to be transferred for £300,000, when Everton bought him from

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

in August 1974.

Club career

He was born in Rishton and attended Clitheroe Royal Grammar School. He was signed as youngster by

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

who spotted him playing for Lancashire Grammar Schools. However he was given a free transfer and moved on to Burnley. He played for almost 20 years and totalling over 600 league appearances while playing for Burnley, Everton and Bury.

International career

He won five England caps overall, four while at Burnley and one while at Everton. His first England cap was awarded to him by manager Sir Alf Ramsey (because of

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

commitments of other players) on 3 April 1974, a 0–0 draw against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. However, he impressed enough to win four more caps that year.

Coaching career

As well as finishing his playing career with Bury, Dobson became their manager until 1989. During this period they were promoted from the old Fourth Division and became an established Third Division side. Dobson was appointed manager of Bristol Rovers in July 1991, but was sacked after only 12 games in charge in October of the same year. On 10 January 2010 he was appointed joint caretaker manager of

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side and former club Burnley, with Terry Pashley, after

Owen Coyle Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Indian Super League club Chennaiyin. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made one appearanc ...

left the club for

. However, Dobson and Pashley never managed a game due to the rapid appointment of

Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...

. Laws kept Dobson on his coaching staff in the short-term as he built up his backroom staff. Dobson then returned full-time to his role as Burnley's director of youth development. Dobson left his post as director of youth at Burnley in October 2011 after his contract was not renewed by manager

Eddie Howe Edward John Frank Howe (born 29 November 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Premier League club Newcastle United. A centre-back during his playing career, Howe spent most of his playing ...

who instead appointed his reserve team manager Jason Blake, from former club

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

, as academy manager. Dobson became the professional development co-ordinator at Everton in February 2018.

Managerial statistics

External links

Profile at EnglandFC.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Martin 1948 births Living people English men's footballers England men's international footballers England men's under-23 international footballers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Everton F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Bury F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. managers Northwich Victoria F.C. managers People from Rishton Men's association football midfielders English Football League players English Football League representative players English football managers Bury F.C. managers Burnley F.C. non-playing staff Everton F.C. non-playing staff