Midfielder George Dobson has become an important part of Phil Parkinson’s Wrexham team after playing for the academies of both Arsenal and West Ham as a youngster
A former Arsenal and West Ham academy product who once starred alongside Declan Rice is now shining for Hollywood-owned Wrexham.
George Dobson signed for the Welsh side owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in July last year ahead of their first season in League One in almost 20 years. The midfielder was in the starting line-up as Wrexham leapfrogged Wycombe into second in the third tier by beating their promotion rivals 1-0 away on Saturday.
Sam Smith scored the only goal of the game in a clash which was delayed for nearly 50 minutes after a Wrexham fan suffered a medical emergency. The striker fired home shortly after the restart once it was confirmed the supporter was in a stable condition and able to be taken to hospital.
Dobson was among the players who received plaudits from manager Phil Parkinson following the final whistle after overcoming injury concerns to make a crucial goal-line clearance just before Smith struck the winner.
“There’s players out there like Dobbo and Ollie (Rathbone) who have been playing with knocks but they’ve shown terrific character to carry on, and you need that at this stage of the season,” Parkinson said. “We’ve asked the lads to go out there when they’re not quite right and it shows the character in the group.
“We had to defend a corner when we came back out, which is always nervy after such a long break and Dobbo’s goal-line clearance was outstanding. Then, after the goal, the save by Arthur (Okonkwo) was absolutely top class and it’s a great credit to those two.
“Sam will rightly get the headlines with a great finish because you need goalscorers to take their opportunities, but it was also (thanks to) the Dobbo clearance and Arthur save.” The win saw Wrexham rise up to second in the table, three points clear of Wycombe, but with the Chairboys having a game in hand over them.
Dobson started his career as a youth player at Arsenal after joining the club at the age of eight. After spending almost ten years with the Gunners, he left to join boyhood club West Ham United in 2015.
It was at West Ham where Dobson played alongside Rice in the Irons’ academy after converting from being a defender to a midfielder. During his younger days, he came up against another future star in Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.
“I played against Rashford in the youth teams, and I just remember him being so sharp,” he told talkSPORT in 2023. “He wasn’t the tallest but I remember him being so sharp. Then he obviously broke through and has done what he has done. He obviously had a dip in form for a period of time but he is an unbelievable footballer.”
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The rise of West Ham teammate Rice would eventually play a part in Dobson’s decision to exit the club in 2017, as it limited his own chances of breaking into the first team. “I made the decision to leave West Ham when I was 18,” he told the Sunderland Echo.
“I could obviously stick it out in (under-)23s football and progress into the first but realistically you’re only going to get one who’s going to do that and for West Ham it was Declan Rice, who’s now England’s No.4. That kind of shows how tough it would be to progress there.”
After leaving, Dobson joined Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam before returning to England with Walsall, where he spent 18 months after previously playing for the club on loan. He then moved to Sunderland for an undisclosed fee in July 2019, where he first encountered Wrexham boss Parkinson.
The 27-year-old switched to Charlton Athletic in mid-2021, where he was named player of the season in his first campaign and also became captain. Dobson was initially all set to join Hungarian club Fehervar last summer but later pulled out due to personal circumstances.
It was then that Wrexham came calling with Dobson making 33 league appearances for the Red Dragons so far this campaign. He will be hoping to help them achieve an incredible third successive promotion as they look to reach the Championship.
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