Fred Dawes

Frederick W. Dawes (2 May 1911 – 12 August 1989) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League as a defender for Northampton Town and Crystal Palace. He also managed Crystal Palace and was the younger brother of Albert Dawes, who also played professionally for Crystal Palace and Northampton.^[2]

Fred Dawes

Personal information
Full name	Frederick W. Dawes
Date of birth	(1911-05-02)2 May 1911
Place of birth	Frimley Green, England
Date of death	12 August 1989(1989-08-12) (aged 78)
Place of death	Shirley, England
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
?–1929	Aldershot
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1929–1936	Northampton Town	162	(1)
1936–1950	Crystal Palace	223	(1)
	Beckenham Town
Total		385 +	(2 +)
Managerial career
1950–1951	Crystal Palace (Joint manager, with Charlie Slade)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Dawes began his youth career with Aldershot and, in 1929, signed for Northampton Town, where his older brother Albert was also a player. Between then and 1936, Dawes made 162 League appearances for the club, scoring once.

In February 1936,^[3] Dawes signed for Crystal Palace, once again re-joining his older brother who had moved to Palace in 1933,^[3] and immediately established himself in the side being ever-present for the remainder of that season and throughout the 1936–37 season.^[4] Dawes went on to make a total of 223^[3] Football League appearances for Palace before being forced to retire as a player, through injury, during the 1949–50 season.^[5] Dawes career was notable in that he completed a century of appearances for Crystal Palace either side of World War II.^[6]

Managerial career

After retiring as a player, Dawes was appointed as assistant to then Crystal Palace manager Ronnie Rooke.^[5] Despite a reasonably successful 1949–50 season and a number of close-season signings, the club had a very poor start to the 1950–51 season. In November 1950, Rooke was relieved of his position and Dawes was appointed as joint-manager, together with chief scout Charlie Slade.^[7] However, the partnership was unable to improve upon the season start and the club had to seek re-election in 1951.^[5] The 1951–52 season also began poorly and Dawes and Slade were dismissed in October.^[5][6]

Later career

Dawes was reinstated as an amateur by the Football Association after leaving Crystal Palace^[5] and went on to play for Beckenham Town. After leaving football altogether, Dawes became a shopkeeper.^[5]

He managed Croydon Amateurs FC in their first two seasons, 1953–54 and 1954–55, taking them to the Surrey Senior League Cup and Charity Cup Finals in that inaugural season. After a poor second campaign, he resigned when Chelsea's John Harris was appointed coach without his knowledge.

Fred Dawes died on 12 August 1989 in Shirley, Surrey, aged 78.^[6]