David Dodds (born 23 September 1958) is a Scottish former

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 le ...

who played for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and Rangers in the 1980s. With United, he was a Scottish League champion in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

and was in their winning

1980 Scottish League Cup Final The 1980 Scottish League Cup Final was played on 6 December 1980, at Dens Park in Dundee and was the final of the 35th Scottish League Cup competition. The final was a Dundee derby contested by Dundee United and Dundee. Dundee United won the ma ...

-winning team, scoring in the match. During his playing career he scored over 100

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

goals. He earned two

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

Early life and career

Dodds was born and brought up in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and lived close to the city's two football stadia, regularly attending both

and

fixtures. He started his playing career at

Celtic Boys Club St Patrick's Sports Academy is a youth football and sports club based in Motherwell, near Glasgow in Scotland. It operates football teams in age groups from under-9 to under-19. Formerly Celtic Boys Club, it helped more than 50 players towards p ...

, aged 9, where he was played at

left-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 ...

. However, at the age of 14 he signed schoolboy forms with local club Dundee United. Developing into a promising striker, he turned professional with United in 1975, but was initially part-time while also serving an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

as a

painter and decorator A house painter and decorator is a tradesman responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator or house painter.''The Modern Painter and Decorator'' volume 1 1921 Caxton The purpose of painting is to imp ...

, his father's occupation.

Club career

Dundee United

Dodds signed for Dundee United on an S form from Hillside Boys Club in December 1972. Within a couple of years he was appearing in the reserves, and signed a professional contract with United in 1975. He made his first team debut for United against

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

in August 1976, scoring twice in a 3–1 victory, but it took several years for him to fully establish himself as a first team regular. During the 1977–78 season, he played several games for Arbroath on loan. Dundee United at this time were developing into one of the strongest sides in Scotland. Despite playing in some of the earlier rounds, Dodds missed out on the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

final in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

when the club lifted their first ever major trophy, but the following year he was part of the side that defeated city rivals

in the final to retain the cup. He scored United's first goal in a 3–0 victory at Dundee's

Dens Park Dens Park, officially known as Kilmac Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yards ...

ground. By this time Dodds was featuring regularly in the side and forming a profitable attacking partnership, as a 'target man' alongside the diminutive

Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former association football, football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances betwe ...

. In 1982–83 they were part of the United side that lifted the Scottish League title for the first time, with Dodds contributing 22 goals. The following season saw Dodds star in the club's run to the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

semi-finals. He would also finish on the losing side in two

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. Despite this run of success, Dodds was becoming unsettled at Dundee United. Despite the efforts of manager

Jim McLean James Yuille McLean (2 August 1937 – 26 December 2020) was a Scottish football player, manager and director. He managed Dundee United between 1971 and 1993, becoming the longest-serving and most successful manager in the club's history, winni ...

to keep the player at Tannadice, he left the club at the end of his contract in 1986.

Later career

In summer 1986, Dodds joined Swiss club

Neuchâtel Xamax , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France ...

,Scots across the Channel
The Independent, 1 January 1995 whom he had played against for Dundee United in the previous season's

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

campaign. United received a fee of £180,000. However, personal problems (his wife's

postnatal depression Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a type of mood disorder associated with childbirth, which can affect both sexes. Symptoms may include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and chan ...

) led to the player seeking a move back to Scotland within months, and he was brought to Aberdeen by

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

, although within weeks the manager who signed him had moved on. Dodds' most significant contribution during his spell at

Pittodrie Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they wer ...

was finding the net twice in the 1988 Scottish League Cup Final at Hampden Park, but opponents Rangers pulled ahead in the final minutes to win the contest 3–2. As he moved into his thirties, he was featuring in the ''Dons first team only infrequently, but in late 1989 he was then signed for Rangers, reigning Scottish champions and Dodds' boyhood favourites. The move was surprising given that Rangers manager

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit. A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...

had previously likened Dodds to 'a basketball player' when he played against them for Aberdeen. Having been brought to Ibrox primarily as squad cover, Dodds played only a small number of first team matches, sometimes filling in within the defence or midfield, before retiring from playing in 1991. Rangers retained his registration, and due to injuries and foreign player restrictions he was named among the substitutes for a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

match at home to

Olympique Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

November 1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

International career

Dodds scored on his international debut for

in a 2–0 win over

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

in September 1983.Perfect start to Scots build-up
Glasgow Herald (Google News), 22 September 1983

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Dodds was appointed to Rangers' coaching staff – as first team coach – and continued to be employed there until 1997, being part of the backroom staff under manager

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

, his former teammate at Dundee United, during many of the club's successes in the period (six league titles, three Scottish Cups and five League Cups). After parting company with the club he decided not to seek further employment in football coaching.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dodds goal''

Honours

;Dundee United *

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) Th ...

: 1982–83 *

: 1980–81 **Runners-up 1984–85 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1980–81, 1984–85 ;Aberdeen *

: Runners-up 1988–89 ;Rangers *

: 1989-90

References

External links

*
Profile
at ''AFC Heritage Trust''