Ex-Spurs man claims he wants to return to the club and walk out at the new stadium

Few players can claim that they will go down in the history of a club, but Michael Dawson is certainly one of those players.

The central defender joined the Lilywhites back in 2004 after signing from Notting Forest and remained at the club for around a decade.

Dawson played 324 games for Tottenham, across 11 seasons, scoring ten goals and creating endless memories in that time (Wikipedia).

The England man was part of the last trophy-winning Spurs side back in 2008 when they lifted the League Cup. He was also an integral part of the squad that first earned Champions League football under Harry Redknapp.

Despite the fact he is now 36-years-old and it has been over five years since he left North London, Dawson is still plying his trade in English football.

In the 2018/19 season, he secured a move back to his beloved Nottingham Forest and remains there to this day.

However, he has now revealed that he was gutted to miss the White Hart Lane finale in 2017 and cannot wait to return to Spurs one day.

He said (Tottenham): “I’ll always be thankful to Forest. I signed when I was 14 and always dreamed of stepping out at the City Ground. I did that from the age of 18-21 and then got the dream move to Spurs in 2005.

“Everyone knows what that meant to me and it was the hardest day of my career to leave. I could have just sat there… it wasn’t always easy times, and it got to a situation where it looked like I might not play, and that’s something I’ve always loved. I didn’t want to sit around just picking my money up so as much as I loved Spurs, and still do, the time was right. You are a long time retired in football and you want to play for as long as you can.

“I always thought about going back to White Hart Lane, but we’d just been relegated with Hull City (in 2017) and I just felt it wasn’t the right time. It was so hard to watch (the Finale, May 2017) because I wanted to be there but Hull were my employers and out of respect after the relegation, I didn’t think it was right to be seen at White Hart Lane that day, however much I would have loved to have been there. It would have been a chance to see the fans again and thank them because they were always amazing to me. It will be great to come back to Spurs and walk out at that amazing new stadium. I can’t wait for that day.”

On the time since he left Spurs, he added: “Over five years already? It’s mad, scary. As a family, we moved back to Yorkshire. We had a little boy at the time and he’s at school now! I don’t know where the time goes.

“Do I know what I want to do after playing? It’s about opportunities. It always comes down to that. It’s okay saying what you want to do and then not getting the opportunity. It’s funny, I sat down with Robbie and Woody after we played Middlesbrough (2 March), it was just after the League Cup Final and I said to them ‘do you remember where we were this time yesterday, 12 years ago?’ What memories – Woody scoring the winner, such a great day and a great night, your paths cross now and you wish them all well. I just want them to be successful.”

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