William Dodgin (4 November 1931 – 17 June 2000) was an English football player and manager.

Club career

Dodgin was born in Wardley, Gateshead, and was the son of footballer Bill Dodgin Sr. He began his career as an amateur, before signing for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, whom his father managed. When Dodgin Sr. moved to Fulham in 1949, his son followed him there, although he still had to wait two years before making his debut in December 1951, against Preston North End at left back. He soon switched to

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, before Fulham were relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Feeling the pressure from the fans (who questioned whether he would have been picked, were his father not manager), Dodgin transferred to Arsenal for a fee of £4,000 in December 1952, having played 35 League matches for the Cottagers. By now, he was a

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

, and after a spell in the reserves he made his debut against Bolton Wanderers on 15 April 1953. Arsenal won the old First Division in 1952–53 but the Bolton game was his only contribution to that success. After the departure of regular centre half Ray Daniel to Sunderland that summer, Dodgin became first choice at the back for Arsenal, missing only three matches that season. However, despite his height, Dodgin was a rather cumbersome defender, and could not live up to the performances of his predecessor. He was dropped at the start of 1954–55 in favour of

Jim Fotheringham James Gibb Fotheringham (19 December 1933 – 16 September 1977) was a Scottish footballer, who played as a defender. Fotheringham was a product of the Arsenal youth system and at 6'4" looked to be an imposing centre back. However, Fotheringha ...

. He returned in 1956–57 and was a regular in the side for the next four seasons. All through this time, Arsenal were going through a barren patch, and apart from a third-place finish in 1958–59, they were never close to winning a trophy. In total he played 208 matches for Arsenal, scoring only one goal. Dodgin was given a free transfer in March 1961 and returned to his old club Fulham. However, he broke his leg in a match against Aston Villa in 1962 and the injury effectively ended his career; he played only seven more games.

International career

Although Dodgin played for and captained

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at under-23 level, he never appeared for the full international team.

Management career

After retiring from the game, Dodgin became a coach, first at

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

, then at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

, where the club had its

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

win. He became QPR's caretaker manager in August 1968 before leaving the club in November of that year. During his tenure at Loftus Road, he presided over the club's worst start in its history, a run of 12 games without a win. He then took the manager's job at Fulham in December 1968. Although the club were relegated from the

to the Third that season, Dodgin stayed with the club and they were promoted to the Second Division in 1971. However, Fulham struggled to stay afloat in the Second Division, and despite avoiding relegation in 1972 he was sacked. Dodgin later managed

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

and Brentford, winning promotion from the Fourth Division with both clubs. He then managed Northampton Town for a second, less successful spell and finally Woking before retiring. He died after a long battle with

Alzheimers Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

in 2000, aged 68.

Honours

Player

;Arsenal * FA Charity Shield:

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

Coach

;Queens Park Rangers *

: 1966–67

References

General * * Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dodgin, Bill 1931 births 2000 deaths Footballers from Gateshead Arsenal F.C. players Brentford F.C. managers English football managers English footballers Association football central defenders England under-23 international footballers Fulham F.C. managers Fulham F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers Southampton F.C. players London XI players English Football League players English Football League managers Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Isthmian League managers Woking F.C. managers Deaths from dementia in England