A tribute to Alex Dawson, who passed away today aged 80.
It is an often-overlooked aspect of the era of the Busby Babes pre-February 1958 that the conveyer belt of talent was such that it seemed as if it might never end. The first team were hailed as the best in the world but the genuine strength was the club’s ability waiting in reserve.
The system was perfect due to the four or five years of work undertaken by Sir Matt Busby, Jimmy Murphy and Bert Whalley. Not only did United have this incredible first team. They had a Youth team still winning the Cup every year and those stars from the earlier years who were not in the first team yet were continuing their education in the reserve side. In those days a player might be considered first team ready by the age of 22 or 23. It was a freak that United had so many, so young, but the system was set up to almost run itself for the next ten years.
Leading the line were Tommy Taylor and Dennis Viollet. Waiting in reserve was a young man by the name of Alex Dawson. In the last three league games of the 1956/57 season, Dawson was given his first taste of senior action, and scored in all three games against Burnley, Cardiff and West Brom.
He had been a prolific scorer in the Youth Cup – netting a hat-trick in a March 1956 11-1 win over Bexleyheath, and then in October of that year, scoring all five goals in the first round tie against Burnley. In the following round, United faced Huddersfield Town – Denis Law played for the Terriers and scored, but Dawson even upstaged him, scoring twice in a 4-2 win. He scored 21 in 10 games in that year’s FA Youth Cup run – it was no surprise he was rewarded at the end of the season.
In 1957/58 he continued his education in the reserves – notching six in his first five games of the campaign. It seemed that his destiny was greatness.
Fate, however, dealt Manchester United the cruellest hand in February 1958. The Munich Air Disaster claimed the lives of many of Dawson’s club mates, including Tommy Taylor. Dennis Viollet was also badly hurt.
United needed a striker. Jimmy Murphy, who was so familiar with Dawson from their work in the lower levels, had no problem calling him into the first team. Dawson, of course, scored the third in the 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday which was one of the most emotionally charged nights in Old Trafford history.
He then scored in the next two games, as well.
Murphy had decided to continue using mainly youth players – unapologetically using the emotion from the grief as motivation and inspiration. In terms of historical importance, it was absolutely the right thing to do, because it preserved the soul of the club. Dawson’s role in that can not be understated. To be trusted to carry that responsibility was an incredible thing.
Indeed, it was Dawson who broke and set all kind of records by netting a hat-trick in the FA Cup semi-final replay. This said that United could not only survive, but thrive; a hope they dare not even entertain just weeks earlier.
The Red Devils were going to Wembley. And Dawson’s impressive goalscoring form continued with another three game streak against Aston Villa, Sunderland and Portsmouth; in fact, he earned a reputation as something of a late goal specialist in those matches.
Over the following seasons, Dawson’s goalscoring record was exceptional. He was on the fringes when Viollet returned but fought his way into consideration again, becoming a regular from 1959 to 1961. Despite keeping a strong goal record – 35 goals in 55 games in that two year spell – United’s noble approach was sadly not compatible with a short term need to fight for trophies.
As admirably as Dawson had done, United needed senior firepower and acquired it in David Herd.
The emotional and physical toll weighed heavy on the shoulders of such a young man, and the clinical need at the highest level required a developmental maturity that Dawson had perhaps missed out on because his education had skipped that vital stage in the reserve side.
“It must have been tremendously difficult for the lads who came in after Munich and I’m certain it had a big impact on their careers at United,” Alan Wardle, a former reserve team-mate of Dawson’s, told me. “It was maybe too much, too young, but it also changed a lot of them in terms of their personality. Mark Pearson was perhaps the best example. At times he became a bit of a nasty bastard on the pitch. He was some player, but he was always getting suspended. Normally players would be given a taster of an opportunity then put back in the reserves and gradually introduced more and more, but Munich changed that, and it damaged plenty of careers. Alex Dawson was another player who suffered. He scored a brilliant hat-trick but in doing so he became a name. Everyone knew about him and targeted him. There was no-one to look after him. Jimmy or Joe might have done that but they were doing the jobs of Matt and Bert, not to mention the work of Walter Crickmer.”
Dawson was transferred to Preston in October 1961 and left with a record of 54 goals in 93 games – comparable with any top striker in the club’s history.
He left with no medals, but when it comes to his importance in the club’s history, then each of his goals and each of his appearances were worthy of silverware.
To some he may be a footnote in United’s history because of his relatively short career at Old Trafford, but make no mistake about it, Alex Dawson played one of the most significant roles in United history and, on this day when he has sadly passed, his contribution to the club should be appreciated for what it was.
