Harold Dobinson (2 March 1898 – 1990) was an English 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 le ...

who played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Durham City,

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

and

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 ...

Life and career

Dobinson was born in 1898 in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, the son of Thomas William Dobinson, a

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

, and his wife Annie. He attended

Darlington Grammar School Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underw ...

, where he played for the school football team, before joining the Army in 1915. He served in France with 52 Brigade

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

as well as playing for the Brigade's football team. After the war, he worked as a shipyard clerk, played football as an amateur for Sunderland West End, and established a reputation in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and the north-east of England as a

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

. Dobinson signed for Durham City ahead of their first season in the

.. He made his debut on 3 September 1921, playing at

in a 2–0 win at home to

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

in Durham's second match in the newly formed Northern Section of the Third Division.. His first Football League goal came in his sixth appearance, on 22 October in a 7–3 loss to his home-town club of

, and by Christmas he had five goals from a dozen matches. Amid interest from First Division clubs including

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

and Everton, Dobinson signed for

on 13 January 1922, for a reported fee of £600. He made his top-flight debut the following day, away to Aston Villa, and the ''

Athletic News The ''Athletic News and Cyclists' Journal'' was a Manchester-based newspaper founded by Edward Hulton in 1875. It was published weekly, covering weekend sports fixtures other than horse racing, which was already covered by the ''Sporting Chronicl ...

'' Birmingham correspondent "felt sorry for he debutant who could scarcely hope to shine in such company and on such a field". He kept his place for the visit to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, which ended goalless, and thereafter played for the reserves, scoring five goals from 17

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

matches in what remained of the season. Dobinson's services were

retained In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a retained firefighter, also known as an RDS Firefighter or on-call firefighter, is a firefighter who does not work on a fire station full-time but is paid to spend long periods of time On call shift, on call to ...

for the 1922–23 season, but they were mainly employed in helping the "A" team win the North-East Lancashire Combination title. After a trial with Third Division North club

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

came to nothing, Dobinson signed for

of the

Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...

in June 1923. Playing in the

Football Combination The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is n ...

against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

reserves in August, he trod on the ball and injured himself badly enough to be unable to train for several weeks. He made his first-team debut on 22 October in a 3–0 defeat away to

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 ...

, but, as at Burnley, he played mainly reserve-team football. His only other league matchhis last in the Football Leaguewas away to

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

in February 1924. At the end of the season, he returned to local football in the north-east with Thornley Albion, In 1928, he was granted a permit to play for amateur club Heaton-on-Tyne SC. Dobinson married Doris Taylor in 1929. The 1939 Register finds the couple living in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, where Dobinson was working as a departmental clerical officer. He died in Plymouth in 1990 at the age of 92.

References

General * * Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Dobinson, Harry 1898 births 1990 deaths Footballers from Darlington English footballers Association football forwards Sunderland West End F.C. players Durham City A.F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players English Football League players British Army personnel of World War I Royal Field Artillery soldiers