page_title: Stephen Dawson
section_title: Bury
hierarchical_section_title: Stephen Dawson / Club career / Bury
caption_attribution_description: English: Bury FC midfielder Stephen Dawson during the warm up at Gigg Lane, home of Bury Football Club prior to the Bury vs. Shrewsbury Town game. Sunday 10th May 2009
context_page_description: Stephen John Dawson is an Irish professional footballer who is who plays for Radcliffe. He primarily plays as a central midfielder, although he has also been deployed in defensive midfield. He is noted for his aggressive and highly competitive style of play. At international level, Dawson represented the Republic of Ireland national football team at Under-21 level on two occasions.
  Dawson began his career with Leicester City and then moved to Mansfield Town in 2005. He appeared in 114 official games for Mansfield. He later played for played for Bury, Leyton Orient, Barnsley, Rochdale and Scunthorpe United before returning to Bury in May 2017. He has been dogged by injuries since then and has so far made only a handful of appearances in 2018–19. He signed for Hereford in 2019.
context_section_description: Shortly after rejecting a new contract at Mansfield Town, Dawson joined Bury on a two-year contract on 30 June 2008. Upon joining Bury, Dawson said he would improve as a player and hope to score more goals on a regular basis.
  Dawson made his Bury debut on 9 August 2008 on the opening day of the season with a 1–0 win over Brentford at Gigg Lane. Since making his debut for the side, Dawson quickly established himself in the first team, partnering with Brian Barry-Murphy in central midfield. He then scored his first goal for Bury on 18 October 2008 in a 3–1 win at Dagenham & Redbridge. After being suspended against Darlington in the Football League Trophy campaign for picking up his fifth yellow card this season, Dawson returned to the first team and it wasn't until on 6 December 2008 when he scored again, in a 1–1 draw against Macclesfield Town. However, in a 1–0 defeat against Brentford on 28 February 2009, Dawson was sent–off for a second bookable offence. Up until his sending off, Dawson started every matches for the side since the start of the season. Despite being suspended for the second time this season, the club was unsuccessful to reach promotion to League One. Nevertheless, Dawson was awarded 4 awards: Bury Times Player of the Year, Disabled Supporters Player of the Season, Billy Ayre Memorial Official Website Player of the Season, and Forever Bury Player of the Season. Manager Knill praised Dawson's role this season at Bury. In his first season at Bury, Dawson made the total of 47 appearances and scoring 2 times in all competitions.
  In the 2009–10 season, Manager Knill expected Dawson to emulate and improve on his second season at Bury. However, in a 1–0 loss against Cheltenham Town on 12 September 2009, Dawson was at fault when he gave away the ball, leading opposition player Barry Hayles, who scored the winning and only goal for the side. After the match, Dawson made an apology to Bury's supporters for his role. Despite this, Dawson managed to fend off his mistake and scored his first goal of the season on 29 September 2009, in a 3–2 win over Crewe Alexandra. Three weeks later, on 17 October 2009, he scored again, in a 3–2 win over Aldershot Town. His third goal then came on 14 November 2009, in a 3–3 draw against Notts County. Dawson continuously formed a central midfield partnership with Barry-Murphy. By December, he was offered a new contract by the club. However, he turned down a new contract, citing his ambitions to play in the higher division. Despite this, Manager Knill said Dawson remained the key player for the side. It wasn't until on 17 January 2010 when Dawson scored again, in a 2–1 win over Bournemouth. At some point to the season, he was appointed captain at Bury, succeeding Paul Scott and previously captained the side the previous season. Since the start of the season, Dawson played in every matches until he was sidelined over personal reason in March 2010, missing one league match against Macclesfield Town. Despite this, Dawson went on to finish his second season, making the total of 47 appearances and scoring 4 times in all competitions. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Dawson was again awarded the club's Player of the Year and was voted into the PFA League Two Team of The Year for the 2009–10 season at the PFA awards.
  With his contract coming to an end in the summer of 2010, Dawson was offered a new contract by the club. However, Knill conceded defeat in attempt to keep Dawson, as it was made clear that he wanted to leave Bury to play at the higher level. By the time he departed Bury, Dawson went on to make the total of 97 appearances and scoring 6 times during his two years stay. Reflecting on his time at Bury, Dawson said he had to leave the club, saying: "I felt I had to move from Bury because, like in any job, I am not happy just to pick up a wage. I want to do well in my career and keep progressing to play at a higher level."
caption: Dawson playing for Bury.
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