Kevin Patrick Dawson (born 30 June 1990) is a retired Irish

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 lea ...

who played as a midfielder.

Career

Sporting Fingal

Following his schoolboy years at St Malachys FC and both

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco * Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

and St. Kevin's Boys,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

-born Dawson joined Sporting Fingal in 2009. Initially part of their Under–20 squad, Dawson forced his way into Fingal's first team picture making 4 appearances during the 2009 First Division season. Dawson won an FAI Cup winners medal in 2009 as an unused substitute during Sporting's Fingal's 2–1 victory over Sligo Rovers. Following Sporting Fingal's promotion to the Premier Division for 2010, the young midfielder made a further 16 league and cup appearances and won a 2010 A Championship Cup medal as part of their reserve side. Ahead of the 2011 season, Dawson was still under contract at Sporting Fingal but following the pre-season demise of the club Dawson was left without a club.

Shelbourne

On 14 February 2011, Dawson was snapped up Shelbourne for their 2011 First Division campaign. He became more of a permanent fixture halfway through the season where he helped Shels gain promotion to the Premier League. He received praise for his performance in the 2011 FAI Cup Final against Sligo Rovers. Shelbourne would eventually lose on penalties, Dawson being one of the players to miss from the spot.

Yeovil Town

Dawson signed for English League One side Yeovil Town following the expiry of his Shelbourne contract upon the opening of the 2013 January transfer window, signing a contract until the end of the 2012–13 season. On 8 January 2013, Dawson made his Yeovil debut as a substitute in their

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

area semi-final defeat against

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

. On 19 May 2013, Dawson played in the 2013 League One play-off final as Yeovil beat

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

2–1 to secure promotion to the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

. On 26 June 2013, Dawson signed a two-year contract extension.

Cheltenham Town

On 17 May 2017, Dawson rejected the offer of a new contract at Yeovil, and signed for fellow League Two side

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

on a two-year deal.

Forest Green Rovers

On 1 July 2019, Dawson rejected the offer of a new contract from Cheltenham Town to sign for League Two rivals

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

on an initial one-year deal. At the end of the 2019–20 season, Dawson was released by Forest Green Rovers.

Gloucester City

On 10 September 2020, Dawson signed for

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

club Gloucester City.

Torquay United

On 4 March 2023, Dawson joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

on loan for the remainder of the season. He made the move permanent following the side's relegation at the end of the 2022–23 season.

Gloucester City

On 5 June 2024, Dawson returned to Gloucester City following their relegation to the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

Premier Division South.

Personal life

His eldest brother

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

has played in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

, Bury,

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

and

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

. Another brother Brendan played youth football for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

and made one first team substitute appearance for Rovers in 2005.

Career statistics

Honours

Sporting Fingal *

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Yeovil Town *

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

: 2012–13

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Kevin 1990 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders League of Ireland players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players Sporting Fingal F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Belvedere F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Gloucester City A.F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players 21st-century Irish sportsmen