Billy Dodds

For those of a similar name, see William Dodd (disambiguation).

Billy Dodds

Billy Dodds in 2008 with Qots the start of his coaching career
Personal information
Full name	William Dodds [1]
Date of birth	(1969-02-05) 5 February 1969 (age 55) [1]
Place of birth	New Cumnock, [1] Scotland
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) [2]
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Chelsea
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986–1989	Chelsea	3	(0)
1987	→ Partick 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)
International career
1996–2001	Scotland	26	(7)
Managerial career
2006	Dundee United (caretaker)
2021–2023	Inverness Caledonian Thistle
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Dodds (born 5 February 1969) is a Scottish football coach and former player who was most recently the manager of Scottish Championship club Inverness Caledonian Thistle and works with BBC Scotland match commentary these days.

His playing career started with English club Chelsea and the rest of his career was spent in Scotland with Partick Thistle, Dundee, St Johnstone, Aberdeen, Dundee United and Rangers. Dodds made 26 appearances for Scotland, scoring seven goals.

He has had coaching spells at Queen of the South, Dundee, Ross County and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. After a spell as their assistant manager, Inverness appointed Dodds as their manager in 2021. He guided them to the 2023 Scottish Cup final, but was sacked later that year.

Club career

Early career

Born in New Cumnock, Dodds began his career with English club Chelsea in 1986. He made his senior debut on loan to Partick Thistle in 1987–88. ^[3] After making only three appearances for Chelsea, he was transferred to Dundee in 1989. He scored 68 league goals in 174 appearances for Dundee, winning a Scottish First Division title in the 1991–92 season and scoring a hat-trick in the 1990 Scottish Challenge Cup Final. ^[4]

St Johnstone

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

Aberdeen

Dodds was Aberdeen's record signing at £800,000. ^[5] During his time at Pittodrie, he scored important goals to prevent relegation in 1994–95 ^[5] and 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 ^[6] having also netted both goals in the semi-final victory the previous month. ^[7] Dodds remained at Aberdeen until September 1998, when manager Alex Miller used him – along with £700,000 – in a swap deal to bring Robbie Winters to Pittodrie Stadium from Dundee United. ^[8]

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

In December 1999, less than fifteen months after joining United, 30-year-old Dodds was signed for Rangers (the club he supported in childhood) ^[9] by manager Dick Advocaat for £1.3m, following injuries to forwards Michael Mols and Jonatan Johansson. ^[10] Dodds proved an instant success at Ibrox, scoring goals domestically and in European competition. Dodds was part of the squad that won a League and Scottish Cup double in 2000, and a cup double in 2002. ^[11] He has described his time with Rangers as "the pinnacle of my career". ^[9] First team opportunities dried up later in his stay, leading to his departure in January 2003.

Final playing spell

With few first team opportunities under new Rangers manager Alex McLeish, Dodds returned to Dundee United in January 2003 as he was swapped for Steven Thompson. On Dodds' second debut for United, he scored the first equaliser in a 2–2 draw at home to Kilmarnock. ^[12]

During 2005, Dodds signed a new contract at Dundee United that would see him work with manager Gordon Chisholm as both player and first team coach. Now playing more in midfield or as a sweeper as his pace began to slow, Dodds helped United avoid relegation that year. When Chisholm was sacked as manager in January 2006, Dodds took over as caretaker manager for one match, a 2–1 win against Falkirk in the Premier League. ^[13] When Craig Brewster took over as manager the following week, Dodds left the club. He then signed for Second Division club Partick Thistle as a player later that month, but left after making only three appearances.

International career

Dodds gained his first Scotland cap on 5 October 1996 against Latvia while playing for Aberdeen, coming on as a 59th-minute substitute in the 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualifier win in Riga. He was in the starting line-up for the following fixture against Estonia in Tallinn four days later, but a scheduling dispute meant the home team did not adhere to a quickly-rearranged afternoon kick-off time, and the match was abandoned at kick-off with no caps awarded to the Scotland players; the fixture was re-arranged for the following February, but Dodds was not selected. ^{[14] [15]}

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 during the qualifying, with his first two goals for Scotland coming against Estonia at Tynecastle Park, and a long-range winning goal away to Bosnia and Herzegovina. ^[16]

He continued to be selected whilst at Rangers, with his 26th and final cap coming in September 2001 against Belgium, a match which Scotland lost 2-0 meaning they would not qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. ^[17] He scored three times in the group taking his goals total to seven, all in competitive matches.

Coaching career

Assistant

Gordon Chisholm appointed Dodds as strikers' coach at Queen of the South. ^[18] Queens made it to the 2008 Scottish Cup Final, 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. ^[19]

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. ^[20] Dodds subsequently objected to the company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that took Dundee out of administration in 2011. ^[21]

On 9 September 2014, Dodds become assistant manager to Jim McIntyre at Ross County. ^[22] He left the club on 25 September 2017 when both he and McIntyre were sacked. ^[23] When McIntyre was appointed Dundee manager in October 2018, Dodds was linked with the assistant position there. ^{[24] [21]} This move did not proceed as Dundee fans objected to Dodds due to his vote against the CVA, and Jimmy Boyle was appointed assistant instead. ^[21]

Inverness CT manager

Dodds joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle as an assistant to interim manager Neil McCann during the latter part of the 2020–21 season after John Robertson went on compassionate leave. ^[25] At the end of that season Inverness appointed Dodds as their new head coach, with Robertson becoming their sporting director. ^[26] In his first full season as manager, Dodds guided Inverness to the Premiership playoff final, but they lost 6–2 on aggregate to St Johnstone. ^[27] In his second season they reached the 2023 Scottish Cup final, which they lost 3–1 to Celtic. ^[28] Dodds and his assistant Barry Wilson were sacked on 17 September 2023, with the team bottom of the Championship at the time. ^[29]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Chelsea	1986–87	Football League First Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	2	0
	1988–89	Football League First Division	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	3	0
	Total		3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	5	0
Partick Thistle (loan)	1987–88	Scottish First Division	30	9					0	0			30	9
Dundee	1989–90	Scottish Premier Division	30	13					0	0			30	13
	1990–91	Scottish First Division	37	15					0	0			37	15
	1991–92	Scottish First Division	42	19					0	0			42	19
	1992–93	Scottish Premier Division	41	16	0	0			0	0			41	16
	1993–94	Scottish Premier Division	24	5					0	0			24	5
	Total		174	68	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	174	68
St Johnstone	1993–94	Scottish Premier Division	20	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	6
Aberdeen	1994–95	Scottish Premier Division	35	15					0	0			35	15
	1995–96	Scottish Premier Division	31	7					0	0			31	7
	1996–97	Scottish Premier Division	31	14	2	1	2	4	0	0			35	19
	1997–98	Scottish Premier Division	34	10	1	0	3	2	0	0			38	12
	1998–99	Scottish Premier League	6	0	0	0	2	3	0	0			8	3
	Total		137	46	3	1	7	9	0	0	0	0	147	56
Dundee United	1998–99	Scottish Premier League	30	16	7	1	0	0	0	0			37	17
	1999-00	Scottish Premier League	15	9	0	0	3	1	0	0			18	10
	Total		45	25	7	1	3	1	0	0	0	0	55	27
Rangers	1999-00	Scottish Premier League	18	10	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	21	15
	2000–01	Scottish Premier League	30	9	1	0	2	1	8	3	0	0	41	13
	2001–02	Scottish Premier League	11	2	3	4	1	0	1	0	0	0	16	6
	2002–03	Scottish Premier League	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
	Total		65	21	7	9	3	1	9	3	0	0	84	34
Dundee United	2002–03	Scottish Premier League	14	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	16	2
	2003–04	Scottish Premier League	33	10	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	35	10
	2004–05	Scottish Premier League	21	2	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	25	2
	Total		68	14	2	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	76	14
Partick Thistle	2005–06	Scottish Second Division	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Career total			544	189	20	11	19	11	9	3	2	0	594	214

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Scotland [30]	1996	1	0
	1997	3	0
	1998	2	3
	1999	9	1
	2000	6	0
	2001	5	3
Total		26	7

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dodds goal.

List of international goals scored by Billy Dodds

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 October 1998	Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh, Scotland	Estonia	1–1	3–2	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
2				3–2
3	14 October 1998	Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen, Scotland	Faroe Islands	2–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
4	4 September 1999	Olimpijski Stadion, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
5	24 March 2001	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Belgium	1–0	2–2	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
6				2–0
7	28 March 2001	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	San Marino	3–0	4–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Managerial record

As of match played 16 September 2023

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record								Ref
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Dundee United (caretaker)		10 January 2006	16 January 2006	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00	[31]
Inverness Caledonian Thistle		1 June 2021	17 September 2023	110	43	31	36	158	135	+23	039.09	[32]
Career Total				111	44	31	36	159	136	+23	039.64	—

Honours

Player

Dundee

• Scottish Challenge Cup: 1990–91
• Scottish First Division: 1991–92

Aberdeen

• Scottish League Cup: 1995–96

Rangers

• Scottish Premier League: 1999–2000
• Scottish Cup: 1999–2000 ^[33]
• Scottish League Cup: 2001–02 ^[34]

Manager

Inverness CT

• Scottish Cup: Runner-up: 2022–23 ^[35]

See also

• List of footballers in Scotland by number of league appearances (500+)

Notes

1. Appearances in Full Members Cup

References

1. "Billy Dodds". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
2. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p.  122. ISBN   978-0-356-14354-5.
3. "Partick project a bridge too far for Ken". The Scotsman . 6 March 2004. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
4. Kenny Ross (3 August 2016). "1990 – B&Q Centenary Cup". Dundee F.C. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
5. "Dark Blue Dons: Billy Dodds". AFC Heritage Trust. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
6. McKinney, David (27 November 1995). "Dodds and Shearer end Aberdeen's wait". The Independent. London. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
7. McKinney, David (25 October 1995). "Rangers doubled up by Dodds". The Independent. London. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
8. "Dundee Utd's transfers in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2008.
9. "Billy Dodds: I jumped at chance to join boyhood heroes Rangers but I can understand why it's different for guys like Scott Allan". Daily Record . 12 January 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
10. "Dodds set to move south to Rangers for £1.3m". The Independent . 4 December 1999. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
11. ^[ permanent dead link ]
12. "Dodds' return lifts United". BBC Sport. 2 January 2003.
13. "Dundee United 2-1 Falkirk". BBC Sport. 15 January 2006. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
14. Brewin, John (10 October 2014). "One team in Tallinn: when Scotland kicked off against nobody – and still didn't win". FourFourTwo . Retrieved 14 October 2019.
15. Alan Brown and Gabriele Tossani (13 December 2018). "Scotland - International Matches 1996-2001". RSSSF . Retrieved 14 October 2019.
16. "Dodds fires Scots' Euro dream". BBC Sport. 4 September 1999. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
17. "Defeat spells the end of Scots' world". The Guardian . 6 September 2001. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
18. "Barry Nicholson interview on qosfc.com". Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
19. "QosFC: Club History". qosfc.com. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
20. "Dundee administrator removes manager and eight players". BBC Sport. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
21. "Dundee: Jimmy Boyle is new assistant manager to Jim McIntyre". BBC Sport. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
22. "Ross County: Jim McIntyre joins from Queen of the South". BBC Sport. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
23. "Ross County sack manager Jim McIntyre and assistant Billy Dodds". BBC Sport. 25 September 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
24. Pattullo, Alan (19 October 2018). "Dundee must find new No 2 as Billy Dodds is ruled out". The Scotsman. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
25. Woodger, Calum (21 May 2021). "EXCLUSIVE: Billy Dodds reveals how he nearly became Dundee United boss and why Gordon Chisholm launched his coaching career". The Courier. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
26. Third, Paul (1 June 2021). "Time is right for Billy Dodds to take the lead in the dugout with Caley Thistle". The Press & Journal. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
27. Campbell, Andy (23 May 2022). "St Johnstone 4-0 Inverness CT (agg 6-2): Perth side 'have a lot of work to do'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
28. Duncan, Thomas (3 June 2023). "Celtic 3-1 Inverness CT: Ange Postecoglou's side win Scottish Cup to claim treble". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
29. "Inverness Caledonian Thistle: Billy Dodds and Barry Wilson sacked as club search for new head coach". BBC Sport. 17 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
30. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Billy Dodds". National-football-teams.com. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
31. "Dundee United FC: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
32. "Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
33. "Rangers win 4–0 in Scottish Cup final". CBC Sports. 27 May 2000. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
34. "Rangers lift CIS Cup". News.bbbc.co.uk. 17 March 2002.
35. "Celtic 3–1 Inverness CT: Ange Postecoglou's side win Scottish Cup to claim treble". BBC Sport. 3 June 2023. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

External links

• Billy Dodds at Soccerbase
• Billy Dodds at the Scottish Football Association
• Club profile at Sporting-Heroes.net
• International profile at Sporting-Heroes.net
• Profile at Dundee United FC Historical Archive
• Profile at AFC Heritage Trust