West Ham United supporters love a Cult Hero.
Whether they be players who catch the imagination with their enigmatic talent, or those to confound their critics to become important members of the team, Hammers fans appreciate those who both get them on the edge of their seats with excitement – think Paolo Di Canio – or have them applauding their sheer commitment to the Claret and Blue cause – think Julian Dicks.
Craig Dawson falls into the second category.
The Greater Manchester-born defender was shunned by professional clubs, instead starting his career with local non-league sides Radcliffe Borough and Flixton, before signing for League Two Rochdale at the age of 18.
The young Dawson scored 22 goals in two seasons for The Dale, winning promotion and a place in the PFA League Two Team of the Year in 2009/10.
Premier League West Bromwich Albion recognised the centre-back’s potential, not just as a strong defender with a knack for finding the net, but as one with the technical ability to play at the highest level.
And the Baggies’ scouting report proved accurate as, after productive loan spells back at Rochdale in League One and Bolton Wanderers in the Championship, Dawson established himself as a reliable, if understated, member of the West Brom team that remained in the Premier League for the next five seasons, playing 194 times and scoring 14 goals.
Every career has its hurdles and Dawson’s arrived in 2019/20, when a move to Premier League Watford ended in the disappointment of relegation.
With the COVID pandemic raging, the defender was offered a route back to the top-flight by David Moyes, who initially signed Dawson on loan in October 2020, only for the form of Angelo Ogbonna, Fabián Balbuena and Issa Diop to delay his debut for two full months.
When Dawson’s opportunity finally arrived, he took it in typical style, keeping clean sheets on his first four appearances and scoring a thumping headed winner at a rain-soaked Stockport County in the FA Cup third round.
Since then, Dawson has gone from afterthought to a vital member of Moyes’ squad, helping the Hammers finish sixth in the Premier League in 2020/21, then by making 50 appearances as West Ham finished seventh and reached the UEFA Europa League semi-finals last season.
Such was the No15’s contribution to the Irons’ memorable European campaign – ten starts, five clean sheets and two goals – that he, the boy from Rochdale, was voted into the 2021/22 Europa League Team of the Season by UEFA’s Technical Observer panel.
And then, to crown an unpredictable, unforgettable two years, Dawson received the ultimate honour earlier this season – his own terrace chant:
He’s Craig Dawson.
He cost a million pound and he’s awesome.
Cross the ball and he scores ‘em.
He’s Craig Dawson.
The travelling Claret and Blue Army sang the song loud and proud during his first start of the season, at Danish side Silkeborg IF in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The man himself, back in action after a pre-season injury, responded with a typically robust performance and another thumping near-post header in West Ham’s 3-2 Group B win, and he has followed that up with further impressive displays – and clean sheets – in victories over Wolverhampton Wanderers and RSC Anderlecht.
That’s Craig Dawson. West Ham United’s newest Cult Hero.
🎶 He's Craig Dawson... 🎶 pic.twitter.com/qWKthRan3g
— West Ham United (@WestHam) September 15, 2022
I was ready to go for the new season and was feeling fit, then I was really unfortunate to get injured in the first game in Servette.
It was nothing more than a little niggle but it took a little bit of time to get right.
I did a lot of running and now I feel fit and I feel strong and I’m looking forward to playing games again.
Of course, it's nice to be back playing. It's been a bit of a long pre-season but I’m glad to be back.
Obviously, it’s nice to hear praise from people like Declan Rice. We have a good group and that's one of the one of the main reasons we've had the success over the years – the togetherness in the group and how we can laugh and enjoy moments and enjoy each other’s success.
We get on with each other, which is important, and it shows on the pitch.
Dec and I enjoy getting on each other.
It’s just the usual banter. It’s anything from clothes to little comments to what happens in the game – we have a laugh.
For example, he did a photoshoot recently and dressed up as Dracula!
You can't make the highs too high and the lows too low and we get on each other and it's a sign of a good group that we can do that and enjoy it as well.
We spent a lot of time together, so it’s important to get on.
There is a lot of competition for places at West Ham now.
But at any Premier League team playing in Europe, there's going to be lots of competition and it's only a good thing for everyone to compete and to fight for positions.
If you look throughout the pitch now, there's lots of competition for everybody, so everyone's got to be at their best in training day in day out and obviously in the games as well. I'd like to say that over the last couple of years, I've shown what I can do in the team.
The success we've had, to be a part of that was brilliant, and hopefully we can have a bit more as well.
I think my passing out from the back has always been there, to be honest.
When I was at Rochdale, that's probably where it started, so it's always been there.
It's just about being confident enough to do that and last year I showed bits of that which was good.
So hopefully I can do that again and get it going again.
When I said about the lads getting on, I must get sent every fake Craig Dawson tweet a million times, so I know what's going on!
I'm not on social media so when anything happens it gets sent to me a million times, but it's all great fun and it's lovely to see and I'd like to say it's a little bit to show how well we've done over the last couple of years with the success we've had.
I’d say I’ve given everything I've got for the Club over the last couple of years and loved every minute of it.
When someone says “Van Dijk is the best Cb in the league” pic.twitter.com/0CxYGMnq77
— Craig Dawson (@CraigDawson15_) October 4, 2022
Of course, I heard the song in Silkeborg – you can’t not hear it because the fans are so loud!
It’s great to hear and I definitely got a little bit of stick for it from the lads after the game – but they’re just jealous!
I think the lads are singing it as well, now, which is nice, and I hear the players and staff singing it when I’m walking down the corridor at Rush Green, but I’ve not heard the gaffer singing it yet!
The journey we've had in Europe in the last couple of years, it's been unbelievable.
Thursday nights are special moments and have been warmly enjoyed by everyone so hopefully we can have more of those evenings.
Scoring in our win in Lyon was pretty special, but the Seville night at London Stadium was special as well – they’re great memories and great moments.
It’s one of those when you are fully focused before the game, but then after the game you can kind of see and feel what you've achieved to get through that game.
The way we did that in Lyon was unbelievable and after the game seeing the fans up there in the stand, it was just a moment you'll have forever and a great experience for everybody involved.
It’s good to play in all these places, for sure, and have these great experiences that I’ll look back on.
When you're when your career is done, I’ll think ‘Yeah, I played in that one’, so yeah it's all been a great experience and one I’ve enjoyed.
In my career, I've had a few setbacks and probably a few rejections from people saying ‘Oh, he's not good enough, he’s from Rochdale, he's not fancy enough for the Premier League’.
So, to have those moments in the Europa League last year and to get to the position we got to were great moments and this year we've got an opportunity to do it again and hopefully we can keep doing that.
We know there's going to be some tough nights. It's difficult playing Thursday/Sunday, we know that, but we've got a bigger squad now, a few extra faces and top, top quality players so hopefully we can take it take it further this year.
