Martin Dobson (born 14 February 1948;

Rishton Rishton is a town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, about west of Clayton-le-Moors and north east of Blackburn. It was an urban district from about 1894 to 1974. The population at the census of 2011 was 6,625. History Its ...

) popularly known as Dobbo is a former professional footballer and

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 ...

international who played as a midfielder. He was the first player to be transferred for £300,000 when Everton bought him from Burnley in August 1974. He was born in Rishton and attended Clitheroe Royal Grammar School. He was signed as youngster by Bolton Wanderers who spotted him playing for Lancashire Grammar Schools. However he was given a free transfer and moved on to Burnley. He had a long and successful playing career, playing for almost 20 years and totalling over 600 league appearances while playing for

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, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, Everton and Bury. He won 5 England caps overall, 4 while at Burnley and 1 at Everton. His first England cap was given to him on 3 April 1974 in a 0–0 draw against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

by manager Sir Alf Ramsey because of

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

commitments of other players. However, he impressed enough to win 4 more caps throughout the year. As well as finishing his playing career with Bury, Dobson became their manager until 1989. During this period they were promoted from the old Fourth Division and became an established Third Division side. Dobson was appointed manager of

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

in July 1991, however he was sacked after only 12 games in charge in October of the same year. On 10 January 2010 he was appointed joint caretaker manager of

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side and former club

, with Terry Pashley, after

Owen Coyle Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Scottish Championship club Queen's Park. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made one ...

left the club for Bolton Wanderers. However, Dobson and Pashley never managed a game due to the rapid appointment of

Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...

, the

manager at the time kept Dobson on his coaching staff in the short-term as he built up his backroom staff. Dobson had then returned full-time to his role of Director of Youth Development at

. Dobson left his post as director of Youth at

in October 2011 after his contract was not renewed by manager Eddie Howe instead appointing his reserve team manager Jason Blake, from former club AFC Bournemouth, as academy manager. He became the Professional Development Co-ordinator at Everton, in February 2018.

Manager stats

External links

Profile at EnglandFC.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Martin 1948 births Living people English footballers England international footballers England under-23 international footballers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Everton F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Bury F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. managers Northwich Victoria F.C. managers People from Rishton Association football midfielders English Football League players English Football League representative players English football managers Bury F.C. managers Burnley F.C. non-playing staff Everton F.C. non-playing staff