Dawson: Christopher (Chris)
2012-Current
(Leeds Player Details)
(Player Details)
Midfield
Born: Dewsbury, Yorkshire: 02-09-1994
Debut: Derby County (h): 01-04-2013
5’6” 9st 11lb (2013)
Dewsbury-born Dawson was taken on by Leeds at the age of nine and graduated through
the Leeds Academy, turning professional in September 2012 and in October he was given
a contract until June 2015. In the 2011-12 season he scored twice in two starts and
ten substitute appearances for the Under-Eighteens. In 2012-13 he started the campaign
with the Under-Eighteens, where he scored seven times in twelve appearances but soon
moved into the Under-Twenty-Ones and finished the season scoring four goals in eight
starts and three from the bench. He improved with each game and was groomed for first
team duties by Neil Redfearn and Neil Warnock. The Manager was mindful of the Leeds
promotion aspratins and had it planned to phase him into the squad, but not to play
him until it was not possible to go up. He sat unused on the bench at home to Watford
on 10th November 2012, in the F.A. Cup at home to Tottenham Hotspur on 27th January
2013, at home to Huddersfield Town on 16th March 2013 and at Ipswich Town on 30th
March 2013 before finally being given a starting debut on Easter Monday 1st April in
the home clash with Derby County, when he played fifty-seven minutes before being
replaced by Ross McCormack. Likened to Johnny Giles, there is little doubt that he is
a star of the future and with a little more experience and a little more weight he
will adequately fill the bill. He has already made his Welsh Under-Twenty-One
International debut in January when he came on in the sixty-fourth minute of a
friendly against Iceland in Llanelli. The score when he came on was 0-0, but three
goals in the final twelve minutes enabled Wales to canter to a 3-0 success, with
Dawson setting up a goal for Crystal Palace midfielder Jonathan Williams. His further
advancement was stopped when he missed the closing weeks of the season with a shoulder
injury. But it did not stop Leeds extending his contract even further when he signed a
new three-year contract with the club in May 2013, which has him under contract until
June 2016. His progress continued but mainly in the Academy or Development teams as he
did not get on the pitch for the first team in 2013-14, but he did add a second Welsh
Under-Twenty-one cap when he played at Bangor against Finland on 14th August 2013, when
he came on as a sixty-ninth minute replacement for Tom Lawrence in a 1-5 defeat. 2014-15
saw him make three appearances from the bench for Leeds in the Championship.