Trevor Dawkins (born 7 October 1945) is an English retired 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 played as a defender or

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 ...

. He spent seven seasons 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 ...

, five in South Africa, and seven in the United States, most in indoor leagues. Following his retirement in 1985, he coached for fourteen years in the U.S. indoor leagues. He was the 1986 AISA Coach of the Year, 1991 MISL Coach of the Year and 1996 CISL Coach of the Year.

Playing career

Dawkins was born in

Thorpe Bay Thorpe Bay is an area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. located on the Thames Estuary. Thorpe Bay is situated within the Thorpe ward of Southend-on-Sea. It is around 4 mi ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and began his professional career with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

when he was fifteen. In 1964, he entered West Ham's first team. but made only six league appearances before signing for Crystal Palace of Division Two in October 1967. He made his league debut in January 1968, in a home 1–0 defeat to Hull City but it was his only league appearance that season, although he made two as a substitute in the League Cup. In 1968–69, when Palace achieved promotion to the top tier for the first time, Dawkins made four appearances scoring once. In each of the subsequent two seasons he made ten appearances, scoring two goals in 1969–70. In September 1971, he moved to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

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 ...

. In 1978, he moved to the United States where he signed with the Sacramento Gold of the American Soccer League. He played at least two seasons in Sacramento, with part of the 1979 season spent as a player-coach.''DAWKINS IS HIRED AS INVADERS' COACH'' Akron Beacon Journal (OH) – Thursday, 11 July 1985 The team withdrew from the league following the 1980 season and Dawkins joined the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1984, Dawkins signed with the Canton Invaders of the

American Indoor Soccer Association American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. While he remained with the team the entire year, he never saw first team time.

Coaching career

In 1979, Dawkins became the head coach of the Sacramento Gold for the last four months of the American Soccer League season. On 11 July 1985, Dawkins was hired as the head coach of the Canton Invaders in the

. He took the team to the AISA title and was named AISA Coach of the Year. He took the Invaders to the 1987 championship series which they lost to Louisville. He began the 1987–88 season with Canton, but was fired on 14 March 1988. He was subsequently hired as part of the staff at the Cleveland Force Fitness Facility. In 1989, Dawkins moved to the expansion

Cleveland Crunch The Cleveland Crunch is an American professional indoor soccer club located in Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1989 as an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), the Crunch played a total of 16 seasons in three separate leagues unde ...

as an assistant coach. During the 1990–91 season, the team began a slide down the table at mid-season and on 20 December 1990 Dawkins replaced Kai Haaskivi as head coach. He took the team to the championship series and was named the 1991 MISL Coach of the Year. When the league collapsed following the 1991–92 season, the Force moved to the National Professional Soccer League and replaced Dawkins with Gary Hindley. On 15 August 1992, Dawkins was hired as the head coach of the

Buffalo Blizzard The Buffalo Blizzard was a soccer club that existed from 1992 to 2001 in Buffalo, New York. History The team was originally owned by the Knox brothers who owned the Buffalo Sabres at the time, and additionally by the Riches who owned the minor l ...

. After a disappointing 1993–94 season, the Blizzard fired Dawkins on 23 June 1994. On 8 February 1995, the Houston Hotshots of the

Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice ...

(CISL) hired Dawkins. In 1996, he added to his achievements when he was named the CISL Coach of the Year. Financial problems led the Hotshots owner to withdraw the team from the CISL in 1998. Dawkins passed on several coaching offers in order to be available when the Hotshots returned in 1999. In 2000, the Hotshots moved to the

World Indoor Soccer League The World Indoor Soccer League (WISL) was a United States–based indoor soccer sports league, league that operated from 1998 to 2001 and consisted of nine teams. History After the demise of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, four of its te ...

which replaced the CISL.

References

External links

*
MISL Yearly Award Winners
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawkins, Trevor 1945 births Living people People from Southend-on-Sea (district) English men's footballers Men's association football defenders English Football League players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players West Ham United F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Germiston Callies F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Durban United F.C. players Durban City F.C. players Highlands Park F.C. players Sacramento Gold (1976–1980) players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Canton Invaders players English football managers Continental Indoor Soccer League coaches Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) coaches World Indoor Soccer League coaches English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa