Donald John "Don" Dearson (13 May 1914 – 24 December 1990) was a Welsh professional football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

er who won three caps for his country and played for Birmingham City

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

, Coventry City

Coventry City F.C.

Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 and Walsall

Walsall F.C.

Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...

.

Biography

Don Dearson was born in Ynysybwl

Ynysybwl

Ynysybwl is a village in Cwm Clydach in Wales. It is situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, roughly north-north-east of Cardiff, north of Pontypridd and south of Merthyr Tydfil, and forms part of the community of Ynysybwl and Coed-y-cwm....

, Glamorgan

Glamorgan

Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...

. He began his football career as an inside-forward

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

 with Barry

Barry Town F.C.

Barry Town FC are a football team based in Barry. They dominated the League of Wales during the 1990s, but finished bottom in 2003-04 and were relegated...

 and moved to First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

 Birmingham in 1934. By 1936–37

1936-37 in English football

The 1936–37 season was the 62nd season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...

 he had established himself as a first-team player. The following season he was joint top goalscorer, sharing the honour with Welsh international colleague Wilson Jones. In the last full season played before the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he moved to half-back

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

. He won three full caps for Wales

Wales national football team

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

 in their last three pre-war internationals.

A qualified electrical engineer, he was in a reserved occupation

Reserved occupation

A reserved occupation is an occupation considered important enough to a country that those serving in such occupations are exempt - in fact forbidden - from military service....

 during the war, and was available to represent his country in 15 wartime and victory international matches. Chosen to play against England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 at Birmingham's home ground, St Andrews

St Andrews (stadium)

St Andrew's is an association football stadium in the Bordesley district of Birmingham, England. It has been the home ground of Birmingham City Football Club for more than a century....

, in 1941, Dearson missed a penalty; Wales lost 2–1.
He also made 166 appearances for Birmingham in wartime football, including helping the club to the championship of the 1945–46

1945-46 in English football

The 1945–1946 season was the 66th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:1945–1946 was the first football season since the 1939–1940 season was cut short due to World War II. The FA Cup was the main competition to be played this season along with the Football League North and Football...

 Football League South

Football League North and South

The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created for the League to continue while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The Leagues started in 1941; however, the leagues only had one full season, in 1945-46...

.

By the time the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 proper resumed after the war, Dearson was past his best. He played another half-season for Birmingham as a fullback

Defender (football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

 before moving to Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 Coventry City

Coventry City F.C.

Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 and then to Walsall

Walsall F.C.

Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...

 of the Third Division South

Football League Third Division South

The Football League Third Division South was a level of English professional football which ran in parallel to Third Division North from 1921 to 1958....

, before finally giving up League football at the age of 37. He still played another couple of years of non-league football with Birmingham Combination

Birmingham Combination

The Birmingham Combination was an English football competition for teams in Birmingham and the surrounding areas, active from 1892 until 1954.-History:...

 side Nuneaton Borough

Nuneaton Borough A.F.C.

Nuneaton Town Football Club is an English football club from the town of Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The team compete in the Conference North. This is the 2nd level of Non League Football. In the 2007–08 season they competed in the Conference North division, but due to a liquidation they were demoted...

 and Bilston.

After retiring from the game he worked for BSA

Birmingham Small Arms Company

This article is not about Gamo subsidiary BSA Guns Limited of Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PP or BSA Company or its successors....

 and British Leyland

British Leyland Motor Corporation

British Leyland was a vehicle manufacturing company formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd . It was partly nationalised in 1975 with the government creating a new holding company called British Leyland Ltd which became BL Ltd in 1978...

, and died in Sheldon

Sheldon, West Midlands

Sheldon is an area of eastern Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It is close to the border with the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull and Birmingham International Airport....

, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 at the age of 76.

Honours

• with Birmingham City
  • Football League South
    Football League North and South
    The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created for the League to continue while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The Leagues started in 1941; however, the leagues only had one full season, in 1945-46...
    
    champions 1946.