Craig Dawson

Craig Dawson (born 6 May 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He has previously played for Radcliffe Borough, Bolton Wanderers, Rochdale, West Bromwich Albion, Watford and West Ham United.

Dawson started his career at the youth club Heywood St James, before joining Rochdale St Clements.

At the age of 16, whilst working as a glass collector in his local pub in Rochdale, Dawson was approached by Radcliffe Borough chairman Bernard Manning Jr, son of Bernard Manning, later making his debut for the club in a game against Salford City in the middle of the 2007–08 season.

Following a loan spell at Clipstone, Dawson became a first-team regular after just a few games at Radcliffe.

In the two seasons he was at the club he made 95 appearances and scored 15 goals.

In the season he left, he was voted the Player of the season by Radcliffe.

Dawson was set to make his debut in the second half of the 2008–09 season; however, was set back by injury.

In February 2009, Dawson signed for his local club Rochdale on a two-year contract for a fee of £12,000, despite a bid of £30,000 from Crewe Alexandra.

Although a Rochdale player, Dawson stayed at Radcliffe on loan until the end of the season.

Dawson made his debut for Rochdale reserves, scoring a header from a corner against Manchester City.

Dawson finally got his Rochdale debut on 8 August 2009, starting in the League Two clash with Port Vale at Vale Park.

The match ended in a 1–1 draw.

Dawson's second game was at Hillsborough Stadium in the League Cup against Sheffield Wednesday.

Despite conceding three goals, Rochdale fans gave Dawson rave reviews and named him the man of the match.

He scored 10 goals in all competitions during the 2009–10 season and won a place in the League Two PFA Team of the Year.

On 31 August 2010, Dawson signed for Premier League club West Bromwich Albion for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract.

Immediately after signing for West Brom, he was loaned back to Rochdale for the remainder of the 2010–11 season.

He made his competitive Baggies debut in a 4–1 League Cup win at AFC Bournemouth in August 2011 and the following day was called up into the England under-21's squad by Stuart Pearce, who watched him from the stands at the Dean Court on his debut.

On 26 July 2011, Dawson was rewarded with a new-and-improved Albion contract.

Dawson made his first Premier League start on 17 September 2011, away from home against Swansea City as a fill-in central defender for the suspended Gabriel Tamaş in a disappointing 3–0 defeat.

He re-appeared in the starting eleven for the game against Manchester City in which West Brom went on to lose 4–0.

Again, Dawson appeared in the next league game against Queens Park Rangers, West Brom went on to win the game 1–0.

On 21 February 2012, the centre-half penned a three-and-a-half-year deal to June 2015, plus a further year's option in the club's favour.

On 23 January 2013, despite interest from Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City, Leeds United, and Nottingham Forest, Championship club Bolton Wanderers won the race to sign Dawson on loan for the rest of the season.

On 28 September 2014, Dawson scored his first Premier League goal for West Brom in a 4–0 home win against Burnley.

He scored his next goal of the season in a 1–2 loss to West Ham United on 2 December 2014.

After the arrival of new Albion manager Tony Pulis at the start of 2015, Dawson became a regular feature in the starting lineup.

While not chipping in with any more goals that season, Dawson played his part in the team achieving survival.

During the 2015–16 season, Dawson was again a regular starter.

His first goal of the season came in a 2–3 loss to Everton on 28 September 2015.

His next goal came in a 2–2 draw away at Liverpool on 13 December 2015.

On 18 February 2016, he signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until the summer of 2018.

Two weeks after signing his contract extension he scored a goal in a 3–2 home win against Crystal Palace.

He was also involved in the winning goal for Saido Berahino.

On 25 April 2016, he became the fourth Premier League player of the season to score an own goal and a goal in the same match in a 1–1 draw away to Tottenham.

In 2017, Dawson was included in the Northern Premier League's Greatest 100 Players for the 50th Anniversary of the league, ranking in 14th overall.

On 18 March 2017, he scored two headers from corners, as West Brom defeated Arsenal 3–1 in the Premier League, being named man of the match in the process.

Dawson made 28 league appearances for West Brom in the 2017–18 season as they were relegated from the Premier League.

He subsequently handed in a transfer request and refused to travel to Portugal for the club's training camp.