Jason Dozzell

Jason Irvin Winans Dozzell (born 9 December 1967) is an English football manager and former professional footballer.

Jason Dozzell
Personal information
Full name Jason Irvin Winans Dozzell[1]
Date of birth (1967-12-09) 9 December 1967
Place of birth Ipswich, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Langham Lions
Ipswich Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1993 Ipswich Town 340 (53)
1993–1997 Tottenham Hotspur 89 (14)
1997 → Ipswich Town (loan) 8 (1)
1997–1998 Northampton Town 22 (4)
1998–2002 Colchester United 91 (9)
2002 Canvey Island 4 (0)
2002 Grays Athletic 1 (0)
Total 550 (80)
International career
1986–1989 England U21 9 (0)
Managerial career
2003–2006 Ipswich Wanderers
2006–2007 Leiston
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Ipswich Town and Tottenham Hotspur. He also played in the Football League for Northampton Town and Colchester United before finishing his career with non-league sides Canvey Island and Grays Athletic. He was capped nine times at England U21 level. Dozzell holds the record for being the youngest goalscorer in England's top division after scoring for Ipswich Town against Coventry City in a First Division match on 4 February 1984 at the age of 16 years and 57 days[3] (the youngest goalscorer since the formation of the Premier League is Everton's James Vaughan, aged 16 years 270 days).[4] His son Andre also scored on his Ipswich debut aged 16.[5]

Following retirement, he went on to manage several non-League football clubs, both in the Eastern Counties Football League — Ipswich Wanderers and Leiston.

Early life

Born in Ipswich, Suffolk, in 1967, Dozzell attended the local Chantry High School.[6] Dozzell is of American descent through his father, who left the family and returned to America, only seeing Dozzell again when he turned 21.[7]

Playing career

Playing football for the Langham Lions in the Colchester Youth League,[8] Dozzell was noted as a "prolific schoolboy scorer", and was signed on schoolboy terms for Ipswich Town by Bobby Robson despite interest from West Ham United and Nottingham Forest.[9] Selected for the senior squad by manager Bobby Ferguson, Dozzell made his debut for Ipswich Town in February 1984, coming on as a substitute against Coventry City. Ipswich won the match 3–1; Dozzell scored late in the second half, becoming the youngest player, at 16 years and 57 days, to score in the old English Football League First Division.[10] He went on to make four further appearances in the 1983–84 season.[11] The following season Dozzell made twenty appearances, five of them from the bench, and scored four goals. In the 1985–86 season he became a regular starter for Ipswich, scoring five goals in 51 games, although the club were relegated to the Football League Second Division. His 1986–87 season saw him play in every game, making 42 league and 11 cup appearances and scoring a single goal. He was also selected for the England under-21 team, for whom he played nine times without scoring.[12][13]

In the 1988–89 season, Dozzell finished as the club's joint top-scorer (with John Wark and Dalian Atkinson), scoring 13 goals from 37 appearances. The following two seasons saw Dozzell as a regular starter for the team, with 18 goals from 88 appearances.[11] His 16 goals in the 1991–92 season helped John Lyall's Ipswich win the league title and secure promotion to the newly formed Premier League.[14] He featured regularly the following season, scoring nine goals in 52 games and helping the club stave off relegation in their first season back in the top tier of English football.[11]

In August 1993, Dozzell was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £1.9 million;[15] in his first season, he made 36 appearances and scored ten goals across all competitions.[16] Dozzell suffered numerous injuries during his time at White Hart Lane, restricting the number of games in which he played.[15] In the 1994–95 season, he managed just eight appearances with one goal.[16] He made a total of 89 league and cup appearances and scored 14 goals over his four seasons at the club.[16] Dozzell made a brief return to Portman Road in 1997, on loan for a month, and made ten appearances before signing for Northampton Town in 1997. A season with The Cobblers saw him score four goals from 26 appearances and help the club to the play-off final at Wembley Stadium. This was followed by a move to newly promoted Colchester United, initially on a monthly contract, where Dozzell made more than 100 appearances and scored 11 goals over three seasons.[11]

Dozzell retired from professional football in 2001 as a result of persistent injuries, in particular an ongoing toe problem.[17] However, he continued playing with non-league clubs; a brief spell with Canvey Island reunited him with former Colchester and Ipswich player Neil Gregory. Canvey Island released him and he moved on to an even shorter stay with Grays Athletic, who signed him alongside Carl Leaburn. This was followed by a move back to Ipswich and into management.[11]

Managerial career

Dozzell took his first step into management with Eastern Counties Football League club Ipswich Wanderers in 2003. In his role as player-manager, he moved to play in defence and secured an eighth-place finish in the league during his first season with the club. The following season, he led them to the league title and promotion to the Eastern Counties League Premier Division. The 2005–06 season saw Dozzell lead the newly promoted club to seventh in the league,[18] but despite ending the season with a record tally of points, he left the Wanderers, citing off-pitch issues at the club.[19]

Dozzell went on to manage Leiston,[20] but he left in November 2007.[21]

Personal life

He is the father of professional footballer Andre Dozzell. He has supported local charities, including acting as a patron for "Operation Santa Claus", run in conjunction with radio station SGR-FM.[22] He played for a "Town Legends" side against a Soccer AM team in 2005 to raise money for the Academy,[23] where his son, Andre, was in the under-10s team.[24] In 2007, he was found guilty of driving with excess alcohol and was banned for three years.[25]

Honours

Ipswich Town[26]

Individual

References
General
Specific
  1. Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Ipswich Town. Breedon Books. pp. 52–53. ISBN 1-85983-515-5.
  2. "Canvey Island Football Club First XI". Canvey Island F.C. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  3. "The Premiership's youngest guns". BBC News. 27 December 2002.
  4. "Youngest Premiership goalscorers". BBC Sport. 11 April 2005. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  5. "Debutant Andre Dozzell grabs Ipswich a point at Sheffield Wednesday". TheGuardian.com. 16 April 2016.
  6. "Ex-Town star on drink-drive charge". East Anglian Daily Times. 26 December 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  7. Watson, Stuart (18 June 2013). "There's a new Dozzell in Town – and Jason's determined to make life easier for son Andre". East Anglian Daily Times.
  8. "Soccer: Dozzell signs for U's...at last". Thurrock Gazette. 14 October 1998. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  9. Ponder, Francis (12 October 2001). "Soccer: Dozzell's final curtain..." Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  10. "Teenage star set to shine". Evening Star. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  11. "Jason Dozzell". Pride of Anglia. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
  12. "England Under-21 Caps". The Football Association. Archived from the original on 3 April 2005. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
  13. "England Under-21 Goalscorers". The Football Association. Archived from the original on 6 April 2005. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
  14. "Avoiding the drop". BBC News. 30 May 2000. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  15. "Rocket ride to obscurity". BBC Sport. 21 October 2001. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  16. "Jason Dozzell". soccerbase.com. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  17. "Jason has to call it a day". Thurrock Gazette. 21 September 2001. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  18. "Ipswich Wanderers History". Ipswich Wanderers F.C. Archived from the original on 10 May 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
  19. Henderson, Mel (9 May 2006). "Former Town star quits Wanderers". Evening Star. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
  20. "Dozzell hoping to take management step". Evening Star. 7 April 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  21. "Club are at the crossroads". Non League Today. 16 November 2007. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
  22. "Old Boys in Action". TWTD. 12 June 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  23. "Town legends face Soccer AM X1". Ipswich Town. 21 April 2005. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  24. Clements, Derek (28 September 2008). "Caught in Time: Field day for Tractor Boys". The Times. London. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  25. Smith, Richard (14 January 2008). "Jason Dozzell banned from driving". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  26. "Tier Two (Championship) Honours". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
  27. Pearce, Steve (9 March 2015). "Trio latest to join Hall of Fame". Ipswich Town F.C. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.

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