Name: Ephraim Dodds
Seasons Played: 1948/49-1949/50
Position: Centre-forward
Date of Birth: 07.09.1915
Died: 24.02.2007
Birthplace: Grangemouth, Stirlingshire
League Debut: 09.10.1948, Grimsby Town (a), Div 2
League Games: 60
League Goals: 38
Career: Medomsley Juniors, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield United, Blackpool, Shamrock Rovers, Everton, LCFC.

Described as pacy for a big man (he weighed 14st 8lb and was 6' tall yet apparently took a size six boot), a bustling leader, difficult to knock off the ball and rarely bettered in the air Ephraim (he used the name 'Jock' to emphasise his Scottish roots) Dodds began his career with Medomsley Juniors (alongside one time City manager Bill Anderson) before joining Huddersfield Town as an amateur in June 1932.

He became a professional in September 1932 but it wasn't until he moved on a free transfer to Sheffield United that he made his Football League debut in a goalless draw at home to Burnley in September 1934.

He scored his first goal the following week in a 3-2 defeat at Oldham, eventually finishing up top scorer for the Blades with 19 goals in 28 appearances.

The 1935/36 season saw him appear in all 42 Football League games and he again finished top scorer with 34 goals including a run of 14 goals in seven consecutive matches as United finished third in Division Two. They also reached the FA Cup Final but were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal with Dodds hitting the bar.

The following campaign saw the Blades slip back to fifth in the final table with Dodds again top scorer with 23 goals from 39 games, a feat he repeated the following season with 21 goals from 40 games as United finished third.

United finally won promotion in 1938/39 with Dodds once again top scorer with 17 goals from 29 appearances but in March 1939 he had been transferred to First Division Blackpool for a fee of around £10,000.

He scored on his Blackpool debut, a 3-1 defeat at Charlton and managed a total of 10 goals in his 12 games for them, making him the club's joint top scorer with William Buchan who had played 33 games!

He started the 1939/40 season the way he finished the previous one by scoring three times in the three games played before the Football League was suspended at the start of the Second World War. If his goal scoring record up to that point was good his exploits in Wartime make him one of the greatest scorers in the history of the game.

Despite serving in the RAF, Dodds managed to play regularly throughout the duration of the War for Blackpool netting a total of 230 goals for them in 157 games!

In 1941/42 he scored 77 in total including one run of scoring in 17 consecutive games whilst in 1943 he scored a hat trick in 2 minutes 30 seconds versus Tranmere. He also guested for Fulham and West Ham United in 1944/45 scoring 11 times for each side in nine and 10 appearances respectively.

His form led to him making eight appearances in War Time Internationals for Scotland scoring nine times including a hat-trick in a 5-4 victory over England in 1942. Amongst his Scottish colleagues in that game were Bill Shankly and Matt Busby whilst Stanley Matthews and Tommy Lawton, who also scored three, were in the England side.

Surprisingly, he left Blackpool before peacetime football resumed in 1946 for Irish side Shamrock Rovers but in November he returned to England to play for Everton.

Again he became top scorer with 17 goals in 21 games, a feat he repeated in 1947/48 with 13 goals in 27 games. He had scored six times in seven games in 1948/49 before his old colleague Bill Anderson paid a club record £6,000 to bring him to Sincil Bank in October 1948.

Dodds scored twice on his City debut at Grimsby in a 2-2 draw on October 9th 1948 and once again finished highest scorer for his club with 17 goals in 24 games. Included in that total was a hat-trick against three different West Ham goalkeepers in December!

Despite his goals the Imps were relegated to Division Three North and 1949/50 was Dodds' last in the Football League. Again he finished top scorer with 21 goals in 36 games (the rest of the team managed 39 between them) with his final goal in May 1950 being scored at the age of 34 years 242 days making him the 19th oldest known goalscorer for us.

In the summer of 1950 though he became involved in what became known as 'The Bogota Affair'.

Several well-known players (including England captain Neil Franklin who had guested for the Imps during the war) travelled to Colombia to play for Santa Fe. Their rivals Millonarios signed up Dodds to be their agent in the UK to sign up more players.

Most of the players involved returned shortly after but as Colombia was not a member of FIFA all received suspensions of various lengths but Dodds was expelled from the game for life!

He returned to Blackpool where he had a business and settled in the town until his death in the Victoria Hospital in February 2007 at the age of 91.

Profile adapted from an original article that appeared in the official Lincoln City FC match day programme, 03.03.2007.