Jock Dodds

Football player infobox
playername = Jock Dodds


fullname = Ephraim Dodds
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date|1915|9|7|mf=y
cityofbirth = Grangemouth
countryofbirth = Scotland
dateofdeath = death date and age|2007|2|23|1915|9|7
cityofdeath = Lytham St Annes
countryofdeath = England
height =
position = Centre forward
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1932-1934
1934-1939
1939-1946
1946
1946-1948
1948-1950
clubs = Huddersfield Town
Sheffield United
Blackpool
Shamrock Rovers
Everton
Lincoln City
Career
caps(goals) = 000 00(0)
178 (113)
015 0(13) [Only includes pre-War stats]
000 00(0)
055 0(36)
060 0(39)
308 (201)
manageryears =
managerclubs =
nationalyears =
nationalteam = Scotland
nationalcaps(goals) = 008 00(9) [ [http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=319912007 Played during World War II; not regarded as official caps] ]

Ephraim "Jock" Dodds (September 7, 1915 - February 23, 2007 [ [http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/period-of-silence-for-jock-dodds.html Obituary at Everton FC.com] ] ) was a Scottish professional football player. He played in the 1936 FA Cup Final, and, at the time of his death, he was thought to be the oldest surviving player to have played in a final at Wembley Stadium.

Playing career

Dodds was born in Grangemouth. His father died when he was two years old. His family moved to Durham in 1927 after his mother remarried. Four years later, at the age of 16, he began his career at First Division Huddersfield Town as a centre forward.

In 1934, after just two years with the Terriers, he took a free transfer to Second Division Sheffield United. Dodds later became the Blades' leading scorer for four successive seasons, netting a total of 130 goals in just 203 appearances.

His debut came on September 15, 1934, against Burnley but despite playing and scoring regularly in the following months, the club was unconvinced that he was yet of first-team quality. The club made an enquiry into the return of former player Jimmy Dunne, who found himself out of favour at Arsenal after he had been sold, but this came to nothing due to a cartilage injury. Dodds secured his position by scoring four goals in the next game, a 6-1 victory against Southampton on February 16, 1935. Dodds' prolific goalscoring helped the club reached the 1936 FA Cup Final. Dodds almost scored in the final, hitting the crossbar with a header. It was said by Ernest Jackson that he would have scored nine times out of ten from such a position and Dodds himself claimed that he had been pushed in the back by Wilf Copping. [Clarebrough, Denis (1989). Sheffield United:The First 100 Years. Sheffield United Football Club. ISBN 0-9508588-1-1.] United ultimately lost the final to Arsenal, 1-0, thanks to a goal by Ted Drake

Big, strong and quick, Dodds worked hard at his game and was duly rewarded. His 100th league goal came in his 154th appearance, against Tottenham Hotspur on September 12, 1938. His last appearance for the Blades came against city rivals Sheffield Wednesday on March 4, 1939. Dodds moved to First Division Blackpool in March 1939 for £10,500, citing family reasons as the source of his transfer request. Despite his departure, Sheffield were finally promoted out of the Second Division at the end of the 1938-9 season.

Dodds made his Seasiders debut on March 11, 1939, in a defeat at Charlton Athletic, scoring Blackpool's only goal. He went on to score four in a home win over Middlesbrough and quickly became a favourite. The Second World War intervened, and the Football League programme was abandoned. Dodds joined the RAF, and was stationed in Blackpool as a PT instructor. He continued to play for Blackpool, with most of his goals in the war years coming in regional competitions. In the North Regional League, he scored 65 goals in 1941-2, and then 47 goals in 1942-3. In 1943, Blackpool beat Sheffield Wednesday over two legs to win the League Cup North, and then defeated League Cup South champions Arsenal 4-2, mainly thanks to right winger Stanley Matthews. He scored 8 goals against Stockport County in 1941, and 7 goals against Tranmere Rovers in 1942, including a hat-trick in just 2½ minutes.

He also made all eight of his international appearances for Scotland during the wartime period. On April 18 1942, he netted a hat-trick in a 5-4 win over England at Hampden Park in front of a crowd of 91,000. [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/eng-warvic-intres.html England Wartime/Victory Internationals - RSSSF.com] ] Bill Shankly hit Scotland's winning goal. He also played guest matches for Manchester United, Fulham and West Ham.

In seven years at Bloomfield Road, Dodds scored well over 200 goals, including 66 in 1941/2 alone.

He signed for Shamrock Rovers in August 1946 [ [http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/archive/1946/0822/Pg002.html#Ar00202:5213A356A3C45603F858C40D52C42455843A5ED4AB6034C16034AB61A4C15655975915AC5373F855540D Irish Times] ] and scored twice on his debut at Milltown on the 8th of September [http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/archive/1946/0909/Pg002.html#Ar00207:6650657240AE6A71436E915A6861F569520C6951F56B720C6AE3786DE38F6D149D7014B466514769B15E] . In total he played five games, two in the Dublin City Cup and three in the League of Ireland Shield scoring four goals before being sold to Everton in November 1946 for £7,750 [http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/archive/1946/1102/Pg002.html#Ar00221:4A72A24CA2B93CC07442B0A53C82B03FA2C849D3224CE33A3DA35340D36A3EA39341C3AA] .

Everton were in desperate need of a centre forward after Dixie Dean retired and Tommy Lawton moved to Chelsea. He scored 36 goals in 55 league appearances for the Toffees in 1946-8. He was sold to Lincoln City in October 1948 for £6,000, where he ended his playing career.

After retiring as a player, he tried to recruit players to go to Bogotá, to play in a new league outside FIFA control. He was banned by the Football Association in July 1950 for bringing the game into disrepute, but was later cleared. He decided against taking up positions in football management, and concentrated on business interests in Blackpool.

His wife died in 2005. He died in Blackpool two years later.

Career stats

heffield United

Everton

Notes

References

*Calley, Roy (1992). "Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887-1992". Breedon Books Sport. ISBN 1-873626-07-X.
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2334873.ece Obituary] , "The Independent", 7 March 2007
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2075109,00.html Obituary] , "The Guardian", 9 May 2007