Ipswich Town Playing football for the Langham Lions in the Colchester Youth League, Dozzell was noted as a "prolific schoolboy scorer", and was signed on schoolboy terms for
Ipswich Town by
Bobby Robson despite interest from
West Ham United and
Nottingham Forest. Selected for the senior squad by manager
Bobby Ferguson, Dozzell made his debut for Ipswich Town in February 1984, coming on as a substitute against
Coventry City. Ipswich won the match 3–1; Dozzell scored late in the second half, becoming the youngest player, at 16 years and 57 days, to score in the old English
Football League First Division. He went on to make four further appearances in the
1983–84 season. The
following season Dozzell made twenty appearances, five of them from the bench, and scored four goals. In the
1985–86 season he became a regular starter for Ipswich, scoring five goals in 51 games, although the club were relegated to the
Football League Second Division. His
1986–87 season saw him play in every game, making 42 league and 11 cup appearances and scoring a single goal. He was also selected for the
England under-21 team, for whom he played nine times without scoring. In the
1988–89 season, Dozzell finished as the club's joint top-scorer (with
John Wark and
Dalian Atkinson), scoring 13 goals from 37 appearances. The following two seasons saw Dozzell as a regular starter for the team, with 18 goals from 88 appearances. He featured regularly the following season, scoring nine goals in 52 games and helping the club stave off relegation in their first season back in the top tier of English football. In his first season, he made 36 appearances and scored ten goals across all competitions. Dozzell suffered numerous injuries during his time at
White Hart Lane, restricting the number of games in which he played. Dozzell made a brief return to Portman Road in 1997, on loan for a month, and made ten appearances before leaving.
Northampton Town He signed for
Northampton Town in 1997. A season with The Cobblers saw him score four goals from 26 appearances and help the club to the
play-off final at
Wembley Stadium. This was followed by a move to newly promoted
Colchester United, initially on a monthly contract, where Dozzell made more than 100 appearances and scored 11 goals over three seasons. However, he continued playing with
non-league clubs; a brief spell with
Canvey Island reunited him with former Colchester and Ipswich player
Neil Gregory. Canvey Island released him and he moved on to an even shorter stay with
Grays Athletic, who signed him alongside
Carl Leaburn. This was followed by a move back to Ipswich and into management. == Managerial career ==