- Michael Dawson
Biography
The popular central defender capped an outstanding 2009-10 campaign with an initial call into England’s provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup and then, following the heartbreak of missing out, being called back into the 23 following injury to Rio Ferdinand.
Many pundits believed ‘Daws’ should have been in the 23 anyway after playing a key role as we finished fourth in the Premier League.
Despite not featuring at the tournament in South Africa, Michael finally won his first senior international cap in a friendly with Hungary at Wembley in August, 2010.
Ever-reliable, Michael has become one of the most important players in Harry Redknapp’s side and captained the side for much of the 2009/10 campaign.
Laid low by an Achilles problem at the start of the season, Michael returned for the 9-1 hammering of Wigan in November and missed just one of our next 35 games.
His form earned a number of awards including One Hotspur Player of the Season, Boxholders Player of the Season and Supporters’ Clubs Player of the Year.
Michael has been a key part of our back-line every since his arrival from Nottingham Forest as a 21-year-old in January, 2005.
The affable Yorkshireman made his name at Nottingham Forest, where he progressed through the ranks to make his debut in 2002 and 91 appearances in total before heading to N17.
After recovering from an initial injury, Michael made his Spurs debut in a 2-2 Premier League draw with Liverpool at Anfield in April 2005.
For the following two seasons, he was rarely out of the side, establishing an impressive partnership with Ledley King as we finished in the Premier League’s top five for two consecutive seasons.
In 2006-07, Michael played in 58 of our 59 competitive games that season, and was awarded the captain’s armband for the first time in an FA Cup quarter-final tie with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in March 2007.
Injuries to Ledley meant Daws often found himself playing alongside of various partners for much of the 2007-08 campaign, arguably leading to a dip in form.
This was compounded by the heartbreak of missing out on our famous Carling Cup Final success of February 2008 through an ankle injury.
But following the arrival of Redknapp as manager in October 2008, he quickly re-gained his most consistent form and battled hard to earn the right to be considered as first-choice centre-half alongside evergreen pair King and Jonathan Woodgate
Michael made 28 appearances in 2008-09, scoring twice, picking up the supporters’ Team Player of the Year award thanks to his outstanding contribution.
A former England Under-21 captain, Michael was also placed on stand-by for the senior national side prior to the 2006 World Cup Finals and has two England ‘B’ caps.
Michael signed a new contract at the Club in January 2010, which will keep him at The Lane until 2015.
Michael Richard Dawson (born 18 November 1983) is an English footballer who plays as a defender at centre back for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
Midway through the 2009–10 season, Dawson became the team captain of Tottenham Hotspur as Robbie Keane left for Celtic on loan in January. His form that season saw him included in England’s preliminary World Cup squad. Although he initially failed to make the final 23-man squad, an injury to captain Rio Ferdinand saw him drafted in as replacement.
Club career
Nottingham Forest: Born in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, Dawson grew up in Leyburn and attended Wensleydale school. He is the younger brother of Hull City defender Andy Dawson and Kevin Dawson (formerly of Chesterfield). He started his football career playing for his local team, Northallerton Junior Football club, and also spent a year playing for Richmond before signing as a junior professional with Nottingham Forest at the age of 14. He turned professional in November 2000 accumulating 91 appearances for Nottingham Forest including his début on 1 April 2002 against Walsall in a 3–2 home defeat.
The following season Dawson formed a solid partnership with veteran Des Walker as Forest finished sixth in the First Division and eventually lost 4–3 in the second leg of the playoff final to Sheffield United, although Dawson missed that game having been sent off in the first leg.
In the close season Dawson contracted glandular fever whilst on duty with England Under 21′s which caused him to miss the start of the following season and thus began a struggle against various injuries which marred the rest of his Forest career. Forest also struggled – winning only twice between the end of September and the beginning of February caused Paul Hart to be dismissed and replaced by Joe Kinnear. The season was transformed from one battling relegation to a confident mid-table finish with the return of Dawson and David Johnson to the team being one of the reasons for this.
When Forest suffered relegation to the third tier for only the second time in their history. He and one of his Forest team-mates, left-winger Andy Reid, signed for Tottenham Hotspur on 31 January 2005 from Forest for an undisclosed fee thought to be worth a combined £8m. His début came towards the end of that campaign in the 2–2 draw at Liverpool on 16 April 2005.
Tottenham Hotspur: Dawson enjoyed a good 2005–06 season, impressing many with his aerial ability and attitude. On 28 March 2006 he signed a contract extension which would have lasted until 2011.
He has formed a strong relationship with Ledley King in his time at Spurs. In King’s long-term absence from injury, Spurs have had to rely on Dawson as their star defender, and the 26-year-old has impressed on a consistent basis without the help of his more experienced partner. His never-say-die attitude in Spurs’ defence in the absence of King had led to him becoming established as a fan favourite. Dawson scored his first competitive goal for Tottenham in their 2–1 win over Chelsea at White Hart Lane on 5 November 2006. His goal cancelled out Claude Makélélé’s strike. Aaron Lennon later scored the winner. Dawson first captained the team in the 2007 FA Cup quarter-final tie away to London rivals Chelsea due to injuries to stand-in captains Robbie Keane and Paul Robinson, and to the club’s regular captain King. After a season in which he played all but one of Tottenham’s 59 games he was rewarded with a new five year contract on 11 May 2007 which would have kept him at the club until 2012, despite still having several years left on his contract.
In the 2008–09 season Dawson was to see his playing opportunities become more limited due to the arrival the previous season of Jonathan Woodgate from Middlesbrough. The 2009–10 Premiership season was to be regarded by many as Dawson’s finest season in a Spurs shirt to date as he helped the club to a fourth-place finish, their highest league finish for 20 years and a qualification place for the UEFA Champions League. Initially Dawson was to once again struggle to get into the side partly due to the arrival of Sebastien Bassong from Newcastle in the summer, however after Tottenham’s 9–1 demolition of Wigan in November and with ongoing injury problems to defensive duo King and Woodgate, Dawson was to establish himself as a rock at the heart of Tottenham’s defence. He was to miss just one of Spurs’ games for the remainder of the season and his leadership on and off the pitch saw him awarded the team captaincy after the loan departure of Keane to Celtic.
It was announced on 27 January 2010 that he had signed a new five year contract with Tottenham Hotspur taking him to 2015. Dawson’s excellent performances throughout the course of the season saw him awarded Tottenham Hotspur’s Player of the Year award. His form that season led to Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez calling him “the best English defender I have played against” due to his strength.