Scott Dann
Encyclopedia
Scott Dann is an English footballer who plays for Premier League club Blackburn Rovers as a centre back. He began his Football League career with Walsall
, before moving on to Coventry City
and then to Birmingham City
in 2009. After Birmingham's relegation from the Premier League, Dann joined Blackburn in August 2011.
in 2003 as a junior after impressing on trial at the Bescot Stadium
, signing a professional contract with the Saddlers the following year. He moved up the ranks at Walsall
to become a regular in the reserve team throughout 2004–05 and was allowed to join Danish side Køge BK
on loan towards the end of the campaign.
Dann then joined Conference North
side Redditch United
on loan in October 2005 initially until the end of the season, but he was recalled in January 2006. He then Joined Redditch's league rivals Hednesford Town
on loan following injuries to their regular centre backs Richard Teesdale and Ian Wright. He played in three games for the Pitmen against Hucknall Town
, Stafford Rangers
and Lancaster City
before injury put an end to his loan spell at Keys Park
. He returned to Walsall and was put on a short-term contract for the 2006–07 season, where he has earned his place in the starting line-up with a number of excellent performances at the back. His season was ended in March 2007 after picking up a metatarsal injury in the game against Milton Keynes Dons
.
As reward for his outstanding season for the Saddlers, who were promoted as League Two Champions, Dann was given a three year contract to commit him to the club and to ward off interest from a number of clubs higher up in the league.
for an undisclosed fee, suggested in the media to be "in excess of £1,000,000". His impressive form for the Saddlers continued in the Championship for the Sky Blues alongside former Walsall team-mate Daniel Fox
, who had also moved to the Ricoh Arena
. He helped the club narrowly avoid relegation. The England set-up had seen enough in Dann and Fox to decide they were ready to make the step up to international level, with both players making their U-21 debuts in March 2008 against Poland at Molineux
.
Dann was appointed captain of Coventry City for the 2008–09 season.
on 12 June 2009 for an undisclosed fee, described as a "club record fee for a defender"; local press reports suggest the fee to be in the region of £3.5 million with a possible increase to £4 million with performance based add ons. Surgery during the summer and then a pulled thigh muscle meant Dann was not fully match fit when an injury to Franck Queudrue
gave him the chance to make his Premier League debut on 19 September at Hull City
. Birmingham won 1–0, and Dann played well and retained his place in the starting eleven.
At Christmas 2009, The Times
correspondent Patrick Barclay
described Dann and defensive partner Roger Johnson
as "certainties" for his team of the season so far. His first goal for Birmingham came against Derby County
in the FA Cup
on 13 February 2010, during a run of 15 games unbeaten in all competitions, including a club record 12 unbeaten in the top flight. A calf injury sustained in training caused him to miss the last three games of the season as the club finished in ninth place, their best for more than 50 years.
Dann scored the opening goal as Birmingham beat a Hong Kong XI
3–2 in an invitation match branded the Xtep Cup, part of the club's 2010 pre-season tour of the Far East, and his first Premier League goal, a header from a Sebastian Larsson
cross, on the opening weekend of the 2010–11 season as Birmingham drew 2–2 away at Sunderland
. Following surgery on a hamstring damaged in the League Cup
semi-final in January 2011, Dann was ruled out for the remainder of the season.
, with whom he had worked at Coventry, was "a big factor" in his decision to join the club. He was given squad number 16. On 11 September, he made his debut in a 1–1 draw with Fulham
at Craven Cottage
, starting alongside Christopher Samba
and completing the full 90 minutes as Rovers earned their first point of the season.
season ticket holder.
Birmingham
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...
, before moving on to 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 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...
in 2009. After Birmingham's relegation from the Premier League, Dann joined Blackburn in August 2011.
Walsall
Dann joined WalsallWalsall 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...
in 2003 as a junior after impressing on trial at the Bescot Stadium
Bescot Stadium
Bescot Stadium, also known as the Banks's Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is the home ground of Walsall Football Club. It was built in 1989-90 by GMI Construction with a reported build cost of £4.5m...
, signing a professional contract with the Saddlers the following year. He moved up the ranks at 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...
to become a regular in the reserve team throughout 2004–05 and was allowed to join Danish side Køge BK
Køge BK
Køge Boldklub is a Danish football club from Køge, Zealand, they currently compete in the Sjællandsserie.-History:In 1954, the club became the first outside Copenhagen to win the Danish Championship....
on loan towards the end of the campaign.
Dann then joined Conference North
Conference North
The Conference North also known as Blue Square Bet North for sponsorship reasons, is a division of the Football Conference in England, taking its place immediately below the Conference National. Along with Conference South it is at Step 2 of the National League System and the sixth overall tier of...
side Redditch United
Redditch United F.C.
Redditch United F.C. is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club are currently members of the Southern League Premier Division and play at the Valley.-Birmingham Combination:...
on loan in October 2005 initially until the end of the season, but he was recalled in January 2006. He then Joined Redditch's league rivals Hednesford Town
Hednesford Town F.C.
Hednesford Town Football Club are an association football team based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They play at Keys Park.-History:...
on loan following injuries to their regular centre backs Richard Teesdale and Ian Wright. He played in three games for the Pitmen against Hucknall Town
Hucknall Town F.C.
Hucknall Town F.C. are an English football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. The club are members of the Northern Premier League Premier Division and play at Watnall Road.-History:...
, Stafford Rangers
Stafford Rangers F.C.
Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts...
and Lancaster City
Lancaster City F.C.
Lancaster City F.C. is an English football club based in Lancaster, Lancashire. The club are currently members of Northern Premier League Division One North and play at Giant Axe.-History:...
before injury put an end to his loan spell at Keys Park
Keys Park
Keys Park is home of Hednesford Town Football Club, and is situated on Keys Park Road in the town of Hednesford, Staffordshire. The club previously played at the Cross Keys, a ground situated behind the pub of the same name....
. He returned to Walsall and was put on a short-term contract for the 2006–07 season, where he has earned his place in the starting line-up with a number of excellent performances at the back. His season was ended in March 2007 after picking up a metatarsal injury in the game against Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons F.C.
.Milton Keynes Dons Football Club is an English professional football club founded in 2004 and based since 2007 at Stadium mk, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire...
.
As reward for his outstanding season for the Saddlers, who were promoted as League Two Champions, Dann was given a three year contract to commit him to the club and to ward off interest from a number of clubs higher up in the league.
Coventry City
His form in League One was equally as impressive as the previous season, so it was little surprise that in January 2008 Dann joined Coventry CityCoventry 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...
for an undisclosed fee, suggested in the media to be "in excess of £1,000,000". His impressive form for the Saddlers continued in the Championship for the Sky Blues alongside former Walsall team-mate Daniel Fox
Daniel Fox (footballer)
Daniel "Danny" Fox is an English-born Scottish footballer who plays for English Championship club Southampton as a left wingback but can also play as a left winger...
, who had also moved to the Ricoh Arena
Ricoh Arena
The Ricoh Arena , home to Coventry City F.C., is a stadium complex situated in the Rowleys Green district of the city of Coventry, England containing a 32,609 seater football stadium, a 6,000 square-metre exhibition hall, a hotel, a leisure club, and a casino...
. He helped the club narrowly avoid relegation. The England set-up had seen enough in Dann and Fox to decide they were ready to make the step up to international level, with both players making their U-21 debuts in March 2008 against Poland at Molineux
Molineux stadium
Molineux Stadium is a Premier League football stadium situated in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, England. It has been the home ground of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club since 1889, and has a long and illustrious history as the first 'new build' stadium in Football League history, one of the...
.
Dann was appointed captain of Coventry City for the 2008–09 season.
Birmingham City
Dann signed for Birmingham CityBirmingham 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...
on 12 June 2009 for an undisclosed fee, described as a "club record fee for a defender"; local press reports suggest the fee to be in the region of £3.5 million with a possible increase to £4 million with performance based add ons. Surgery during the summer and then a pulled thigh muscle meant Dann was not fully match fit when an injury to Franck Queudrue
Franck Queudrue
Franck Queudrue is a French footballer who plays as a left back for Lens. He began his career with Lens, for whom he played in Ligue 1, and went on to play in the Premier League for Middlesbrough, Fulham and Birmingham City, and in the Football League for Colchester United.-Lens:Queudrue began his...
gave him the chance to make his Premier League debut on 19 September at Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...
. Birmingham won 1–0, and Dann played well and retained his place in the starting eleven.
At Christmas 2009, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
correspondent Patrick Barclay
Patrick Barclay
Patrick 'Paddy' Barclay is a Scottish sportswriter.He started his career with The Guardian in 1970s. When the newspaper The Independent was launched in 1986, he was appointed its first football correspondent. He joined The Observer in 1991, and later became football correspondent of The Sunday...
described Dann and defensive partner Roger Johnson
Roger Johnson (footballer)
Roger Johnson is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
as "certainties" for his team of the season so far. His first goal for Birmingham came against Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
in the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
on 13 February 2010, during a run of 15 games unbeaten in all competitions, including a club record 12 unbeaten in the top flight. A calf injury sustained in training caused him to miss the last three games of the season as the club finished in ninth place, their best for more than 50 years.
Dann scored the opening goal as Birmingham beat a Hong Kong XI
Hong Kong League XI
Hong Kong League XI, or known as Hong Kong XI or Hong Kong League Selection, is a football team which represents the Hong Kong First Division League in exhibitional matches, mainly the Lunar New Year Cup....
3–2 in an invitation match branded the Xtep Cup, part of the club's 2010 pre-season tour of the Far East, and his first Premier League goal, a header from a Sebastian Larsson
Sebastian Larsson
Sebastian Bengt Ulf Larsson is a Swedish footballer who plays for Premier League club Sunderland and the Sweden national team. Larsson is renowned for being a set piece specialist.-Arsenal:...
cross, on the opening weekend of the 2010–11 season as Birmingham drew 2–2 away at Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
. Following surgery on a hamstring damaged in the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
semi-final in January 2011, Dann was ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Blackburn Rovers
On 31 August 2011, the last day of the transfer window, Blackburn Rovers signed Dann on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be in the region of £5 million rising to as much as £8m. Dann said that manager Steve KeanSteve Kean
Stephen "Steve" Kean is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League.-Playing career:...
, with whom he had worked at Coventry, was "a big factor" in his decision to join the club. He was given squad number 16. On 11 September, he made his debut in a 1–1 draw with Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
at Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage is the name of a football stadium in the Hammersmith and Fulham area that has been the home ground of the association football team Fulham F.C. since 1896....
, starting alongside Christopher Samba
Christopher Samba
Veijeany Christopher Samba , more commonly known as Christopher Samba, is a Congolese footballer who plays as a defender for Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League.-Sedan:...
and completing the full 90 minutes as Rovers earned their first point of the season.
Personal life
Dann attended Archbishop Beck High School in the Walton district of Liverpool. He is a former LiverpoolLiverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
season ticket holder.
Honours
Walsall- Football League TwoFootball League TwoFootball League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....
: 2006–07
Birmingham
- League CupFootball League CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
: 2010–11
External links
- Scott Dann player profile at ccfc.co.uk
- Scott Dann player profile at saddlers.co.uk