Trevor Dawkins

Trevor Dawkins (born 7 October 1945) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a defender or in midfield. He spent seven seasons in the Football League, five in South Africa, and seven in the United States, most in indoor leagues. Following his retirement in 1985, he coached for fourteen years in the U.S. indoor leagues. He was the 1986 AISA Coach of the Year, 1991 MISL Coach Of The Year and 1996 CISL Coach of the Year.

Trevor Dawkins
Personal information
Full name Trevor Andrew Dawkins[1]
Date of birth (1945-10-07) 7 October 1945
Place of birth Thorpe Bay, Essex
Position(s) Defender/midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1962–1967 West Ham United 6 (0)
1967–1972 Crystal Palace 25 (3)
1971 → Germiston Callies (loan)
1971 → Brentford (loan) 4 (0)
1972 Germiston Callies
1973–1974 Durban United
1975–1976 Durban City
1977 Highlands Park
1978–1980 Sacramento Gold
1980–1984 Cleveland Force (indoor) 168 (16)
1984–1985 Canton Invaders (indoor) 0 (0)
National team
England Schoolboys
England Youth
Teams managed
1979 Sacramento Gold
1985–1988 Canton Invaders
1989–1990 Cleveland Crunch (assistant)
1990–1992 Cleveland Crunch
1992–1994 Buffalo Blizzard
1995–1997 Houston Hotshots
1999–2000 Houston Hotshots
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Player

Dawkins was born in Thorpe Bay, Essex and began his professional career with West Ham United when he was fifteen. In 1964, he entered West Ham's first team.[2] but made only six league appearances before signing for Crystal Palace of Division Two in October 1967.[3] He made his league debut in January 1968, in a home 0–1 defeat to Hull City but it was his only league appearance that season, although he made two as a substitute in the League Cup.[4] In 1968–69, when Palace achieved promotion to the top tier for the first time, Dawkins made four appearances scoring once.[5] In each of the subsequent two seasons he made 10 appearances, scoring two goals in 1969–70.[6] In September 1971, he moved to Brentford on loan.[3]

In 1978, he moved to the United States where he signed with the Sacramento Gold of the American Soccer League. He played at least two seasons in Sacramento, with part of the 1979 season spent as a player-coach.[7] The team withdrew from the league following the 1980 season and Dawkins joined the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1984, Dawkins signed with the Canton Invaders of the American Indoor Soccer Association. While he remained with the team the entire year, he never saw first team time.

Coach

In 1979, Dawkins became the head coach of the Sacramento Gold for the last four months of the American Soccer League season. On 11 July 1985, Dawkins was hired as the head coach of the Canton Invaders in the American Indoor Soccer Association.[7] He took the team the AISA title and was named AISA Coach of the Year.[8] He took the Invaders to the 1987 championship series which they lost to Louisville. He began the 1987–1988 season with Canton, but was fired on 14 March 1988.[9] He was subsequently hired as part of the staff at the Cleveland Force Fitness Facility. In 1989, Dawkins moved to the expansion Cleveland Crunch as an assistant coach. During the 1990–1991 season, the team began a slide down the table at mid-season and on 20 December 1990 Dawkins replaced Kai Haaskivi as head coach.[10] He took the team to the championship series and was named the 1991 MISL Coach of the Year. When the league collapsed following the 1991–1992 season, the Force moved to the National Professional Soccer League and replaced Dawkins with Gary Hindley.[11] On 15 August 1992, Dawkins was hired as the head coach of the Buffalo Blizzard.[12] After a disappointing 1993–1994 season, the Blizzard fired Dawkins on 23 June 1994. On 8 February 1995, the Houston Hotshots of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) hired Dawkins.[13] In 1996, he added to his achievements when he was named the CISL Coach of the Year.[14] Financial problems led the Hotshots owner to withdraw the team from the CISL in 1998. Dawkins passed on several coaching offers in order to be available when the Hotshots returned in 1999. In 2000, the Hotshots moved to the World Indoor Soccer League which replaced the CISL.

References
  1. "Trevor Dawkins". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  2. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 262. ISBN 978-1906796709.
  3. Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. The Breedon Books Publishing Company. p. 322. ISBN 0907969542.
  4. Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. The Breedon Books Publishing Company. pp. 228–9. ISBN 0907969542.
  5. Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. The Breedon Books Publishing Company. pp. 230–31. ISBN 0907969542.
  6. Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. The Breedon Books Publishing Company. pp. 232–35. ISBN 0907969542.
  7. DAWKINS IS HIRED AS INVADERS' COACH Akron Beacon Journal (OH) – Thursday, 11 July 1985
  8. "The Year in American Soccer – 1986". sover.net. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  9. INVADERS' OWNER WILL BE COACH, TOO Akron Beacon Journal (OH) – Tuesday, 15 March 1988
  10. Cleveland Crunch History
  11. "Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: CLEVELAND CRUNCH". cwru.edu. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  12. "Transactions". Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  13. Hotshots give reins to coaching veteran/ Dawkins experienced at indoor game Houston Chronicle – Thursday, 9 February 1995
  14. "The Year in American Soccer, 1996". sover.net. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.