James Dobbin (born 17 September 1963) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a midfielder from 1980 until 2000.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Dobbin[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 17 September 1963 | ||
| Place of birth | Dunfermline, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Whitburn Boys Club | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1980–1984 | Celtic | 12 | (4) |
| 1984 | → Motherwell (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 1984–1986 | Doncaster Rovers | 64 | (13) |
| 1986–1991 | Barnsley | 129 | (12) |
| 1991–1996 | Grimsby Town | 164 | (21) |
| 1996–1997 | Rotherham United | 19 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | Doncaster Rovers | 31 | (0) |
| 1998 | Scarborough | 1 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | Grimsby Town | 6 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | → Southport (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1999 | Gainsborough Trinity | ||
| 1999 | Boston United | 1 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | Whitby Town | ||
| Total | 428 | (50) | |
| International career | |||
| Scotland under-18 | |||
Medal record | |||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He played for Celtic, Barnsley and Grimsby Town. He also played for Motherwell, Doncaster Rovers, Rotherham United, Scarborough, Southport, Gainsborough Trinity, Boston United and Whitby Town.
Career
editA schoolboy international, Dobbin started his career at Celtic. In 1982, he was part of the Scotland under-18 squad which won the European Under-18 Championship, although he missed out due to injury.[2] Dobbin's chances at Celtic were limited and he made only a handful of league appearances, with a similar return from a loan spell at Motherwell.
In March 1984, Dobbin left Scotland and moved to Doncaster Rovers, signing alongside Scotland under-18 colleague John Philliben.[3] Dobbin spent two and a half years at Belle Vue before moving to Barnsley in 1986. Spending five years at Oakwell, Dobbin featured in over 100 league matches for The Tykes, before beginning the first of two spells with Grimsby Town in 1991. Dobbin's £200,000 move saw him go on to make over 150 league appearances for Grimsby before his release at the end of the 1995–96 season. From here, Dobbin spent a year with Rotherham United, appearing in around half of the club's matches before re-joining Doncaster for the 1997–98 season. A regular during this season, Doncaster were struggling at the bottom and released Dobbin before the end of the season, allowing him to join Scarborough. After just one match, Dobbin returned to Grimsby,[4] featuring twice in the remainder of the season. He played another four matches at the start of the following season before being loaned to Southport for the latter part. In 1999-00, Dobbin spent time with three part-time clubs, turning out for Gainsborough Trinity, Boston United and Whitby Town before retiring at the end of the season.[5]
Personal life
editAfter his retirement from football, Dobbin worked on a building site, and as a gas engineer for Npower.[6][7] He also covers Barnsley home games for Opta.[citation needed] His daughter Beth Dobbin is an athlete who broke the Scottish women's 200m record in 2018 and represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the 2018 Athletics World Cup.[8]
Masters football
editSince his retirement he has played in three Masters football tournaments for Celtic once and twice for Barnsley.[9]
Honours
editScotland
editGrimsby Town
edit- Football League Trophy: Winners: 1998
- Football League Division Two: Play-off winners: 1998
References
edit- ^ "Jim Dobbin". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
- ^ "When Smith made Scots Euro kings". The Scotsman. 4 December 2004. Archived from the original on 5 December 2007.
- ^ "Jim Dobbin". DoncasterRovers.co.uk. Forward Productions. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
- ^ "Boro's Dobbin in switch to Grimsby". The Evening Press. 26 March 1998. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
- ^ "Jim Dobbin". GrimsbyTown-mad.co.uk. 22 February 2005. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
- ^ Hubbert, Richard (6 August 2001). "Player Database: Jim Dobbin". thefishy.co.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
- ^ Fissler, Neil (6 March 2014). "Where Are They Now? Doncaster Rovers 1983-84 Division Four Runners Up". The League Paper. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- ^ "Beth Dobbin: British 200m champion talks seizures, PTSD and Olympic dreams". BBC Sport. 17 July 2018.
- ^ "Screwfix Masters Cup 2009 - Yorkshire Masters". Masters Football. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
External links
edit- Jim Dobbin at Soccerbase
- Jim Dobbin at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
