Billy Dodds

For those of a similar name, see William Dodd (disambiguation).
Billy Dodds
Personal information
Full name William Dodds
Date of birth (1969-02-05) 5 February 1969
Place of birth New Cumnock, Scotland
Playing position Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1989 Chelsea 3 (0)
1987Partick Thistle (loan) 30 (9)
1989–1994 Dundee 174 (68)
1994 St Johnstone 20 (6)
1994–1998 Aberdeen 140 (49)
1998–1999 Dundee United 45 (25)
1999–2003 Rangers 65 (21)
2003–2006 Dundee United 68 (14)
2006 Partick Thistle 2 (0)
Total 547 (192)
National team
1996–2001 Scotland 26 (7)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


William "Billy" Dodds (born 5 February 1969) is a former Scottish professional footballer and coach.

His playing career started with English club Chelsea and the rest of his career his Scotland with Partick Thistle (two spells), Dundee, St Johnstone, Aberdeen, Dundee United (two spells) and Rangers. Dodds made 26 appearances for Scotland, scoring 7 goals.

He had coaching spells at Queen of the South and Dundee.

He is now assistant manager at Ross County.

Club career

Early career

Born in New Cumnock, Dodds first appeared on the books of English club Chelsea in 1986 but had his first taste of professional football in a successful loan period at Partick Thistle in 1987–88. After making only three appearances for the London club he was transferred to Dundee in 1989. It was during his time at Dens Park that Dodds became prolific, netting nearly 70 league goals in his 174 appearances, winning a Scottish First Division title in the 1991–92 season.

St Johnstone

Dodds moved to St Johnstone, for a Saints club-record £400,000, in January 1994 but moved to Aberdeen within six months.

Aberdeen

During his time at Pittodrie, he was part of the side that won the 1995–96 Scottish League Cup, scoring as The Dons beat his former club Dundee in the November 1995 final.[1] Within a year, Dodds gained his first Scotland cap against Latvia, coming on as a 59th-minute substitute in the October 1996 World Cup Qualifier win in Riga.

Dodds remained at Aberdeen until September 1998, when he was used – along with £700,000 – in a swap deal to bring Robbie Winters to Pittodrie Stadium from Dundee United.[2]

Dundee United

Dodds enjoyed something of a rebirth when Aberdeen offered him and cash for Winters. Restored to playing as a striker, Dodds' full debut for United saw a hat-trick against former club St Johnstone, earning him instant hero status. During his time at Tannadice, he scored 25 goals in 45 league appearances.

Rangers

It was in December 1999, less than fifteen months after joining United, that Dodds was signed for £1.3m by the then-manager of Rangers, Dick Advocaat. Dodds proved an instant success at Ibrox, scoring goals domestically and in European competition, and although later in his stay at Ibrox his first team opportunities dried up, Dodds proved a key member of the team that won a league and cup double in 2000 and a cup double in 2002.[3]

Final playing spell

In January 2003, frustrated by the lack of first team chances under new Rangers manager Alex McLeish, Dodds returned to Dundee United in another swap deal that saw Steven Thompson move in the opposite direction. On Dodds' second debut for United, wearing his familiar no.14 shirt, he scored the first equaliser in United's 2–2 draw at home to Kilmarnock.[4]

During 2005, Billy Dodds signed a new contract at Dundee United that would see him work with manager Gordon Chisholm, as both player and first team coach. Dodds moved into midfield and later sweeper as his pace began to slow down, but as Chisholm steered Dundee United away from relegation, Dodds' vision and playmaking skills proved a valuable asset.

After only seven months in the job, Gordon Chisholm was sacked as manager of Dundee United on 10 January 2006. Billy Dodds took over as caretaker manager for one match, a 2–1 win against Falkirk in the Premier League. When Inverness CT player/manager Craig Brewster took over the side the following week, Dodds parted company with the club, signing for Second Division side Partick Thistle as a player on 20 January; however, he left after only three matches.

International career

His form at Dundee United attracted the attentions of Scotland coach Craig Brown, who restored Dodds to the Scotland squad after a twelve-month absence. During his time with United, he featured in ten competitive international matches, including the UEFA Euro 2000 play-off matches against England, scoring four times.

International goals

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 10 October 1998 Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh  Estonia 1–1 3–2 ECQG9
2 10 October 1998 Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh  Estonia 3–2 3–2 ECQG9
3 14 October 1998 Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen  Faroe Islands 2–0 2–1 ECQG9
4 4 September 1999 Olimpijski Stadion, Sarajevo  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2–1 2–1 ECQG9
5 24 March 2001 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Belgium 1–0 2–2 WCQG6
6 24 March 2001 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Belgium 2–0 2–2 WCQG6
7 28 March 2001 Hampden Park, Glasgow  San Marino 3–0 4–0 WCQG6

Coaching career

Gordon Chisholm appointed Dodds as strikers coach at Queen of the South.[5] With Dodds, Queens made it to the 2007–08 Scottish Cup Final, in which they lost 3–2 to Rangers. This led to the club's first appearance in a UEFA organised competition, the 2008–09 UEFA Cup.[6]

Chisholm selected Dodds to be his assistant manager when he was appointed manager of Dundee in March 2010. In October 2010, as Dundee entered administration, Chisholm and Dodds were made redundant as the administrator Bryan Jackson set about the task of saving the club from liquidation.[7]

On 9 September 2014, Dodds become assistant manager at Ross County.[8]

Statistics

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
Scotland League Scottish Cup League Cup Europe Total
1986–87ChelseaFootball League First Division10---10
1987–88Partick ThistleScottish First Division309N/AN/A-309
1988–89ChelseaFootball League First Division20---20
1989–90DundeeScottish Premier Division3013N/AN/A-3013
1990–91Scottish First Division3715N/AN/A-3715
1991–924219N/AN/A-4219
1992–93Scottish Premier Division4116-N/AN/A4116
1993–94245N/AN/A-245
St Johnstone206---206
1994–95Aberdeen3515N/AN/A-3515
1995–96317N/AN/A-317
1996–9731142124-3520
1997–9834101032-3812
1998–99Scottish Premier League60-23-83
Dundee United301671--3717
1999-00159-31-1810
Rangers181035--2115
2000–013091021834113
2001–02112341010166
2002–0360---60
Dundee United1421010-162
2003–0433101010-3510
2004–05212-40-252
2005–06Partick ThistleScottish Second Division2010--30
Career total 5441892011191193592214

Honours

Club

Dundee
Aberdeen
Rangers

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.