Don Dorman

Don Dorman
Personal information
Full name	Donald Dorman
Date of birth	18 September 1922
Place of birth	Hall Green, Birmingham, England
Date of death	12 January 1997 (aged 74)
Place of death	Worcester, England
Position(s)	Inside forward, wing half
Youth career
	Shirley Juniors
Senior career*
Years	Team
1946–1951	Birmingham City
1951–1954	Coventry City
1954–1957	Walsall
Total
Managerial career
1970	Birmingham City (caretaker)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Donald Dorman (18 September 1922 – 12 January 1997) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward or wing half. He made 265 appearances in the Football League playing for Birmingham City, Coventry City and Walsall in the years following the Second World War. He later became a scout.

Life and career

Born in Hall Green, Birmingham,^[1] Dorman served as a paratrooper in the 1st Airborne Division during the Second World War. He was wounded and captured at Arnhem and made a prisoner of war.^[2] After the war he signed a professional contract with Birmingham City in 1946. He remained at the club for five years,^[3] and then joined Coventry City in an exchange deal for Tommy Briggs.^[4] At Coventry Dorman scored at a rate of a goal every three games.^[5] In 1954 he signed for Walsall, and was their leading scorer in 1956–57, the final season of his playing career.^[6]

Dorman then rejoined Birmingham as a scout, and became chief scout when Walter Taylor died.^[3] He was responsible for bringing to the club a number of young players who went on to very successful careers, including Kenny Burns, Trevor Francis, Bob and Dave Latchford, Malcolm Page and Garry Pendrey.^[7] He and coach Bill Shorthouse acted as caretaker managers at the end of the 1969–70 season while the club sought a replacement after Stan Cullis retired.^[8] Dorman left Birmingham when Ron Saunders arrived as manager and took up the post of chief scout at Aston Villa.^[3] He died in Worcester in 1997 aged 74.^[1]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Don Dorman". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
^ "Special tribute to a St Andrew's legend". The Professional Footballers' Association. 25 September 2008. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
^ "A short move for Briggs". Daily Mirror. 22 September 1951. p. 11.
^ "Don Dorman". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
^ Edwards, Leigh. "Ultimate Saddlers A–Z 6". Walsall F.C. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2007.
^ Matthews, Tony (October 2000). The Encyclopedia of Birmingham City Football Club 1875-2000. Cradley Heath: Britespot. pp. 72, 200. ISBN 978-0-9539288-0-4.
^ "Managers". The Birmingham City FC Archive. Tony Jordan. Archived from the original on 10 April 2003.