Trevor Dawkins (born 7 October 1945) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a defender or in midfield. He spent seven seasons in the Football League, five in South Africa, and seven in the United States, most in indoor leagues. Following his retirement in 1985, he coached for fourteen years in the U.S. indoor leagues. He was the 1986 AISA Coach of the Year, 1991 MISL Coach of the Year and 1996 CISL Coach of the Year. Player Dawkins was born in Thorpe Bay, Essex and began his professional career with West Ham United when he was fifteen. In 1964, he entered West Ham's first team. but made only six league appearances before signing for Crystal Palace of Division Two in October 1967. He made his league debut in January 1968, in a home 0–1 defeat to Hull City but it was his only league appearance that season, although he made two as a substitute in the League Cup. In 1968–69, when Palace achieved promotion to the top tier for the first time, Dawkins made four appearances scoring once. In each of the subsequent two seasons he made 10 appearances, scoring two goals in 1969–70. In September 1971, he moved to Brentford on loan. In 1978, he moved to the United States where he signed with the Sacramento Gold of the American Soccer League. He played at least two seasons in Sacramento, with part of the 1979 season spent as a player-coach. The team withdrew from the league following the 1980 season and Dawkins joined the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1984, Dawkins signed with the Canton Invaders of the American Indoor Soccer Association. While he remained with the team the entire year, he never saw first team time. Coach In 1979, Dawkins became the head coach of the Sacramento Gold for the last four months of the American Soccer League season. On 11 July 1985, Dawkins was hired as the head coach of the Canton Invaders in the American Indoor Soccer Association. He took the team to the AISA title and was named AISA Coach of the Year. He took the Invaders to the 1987 championship series which they lost to Louisville. He began the 1987–1988 season with Canton, but was fired on 14 March 1988. He was subsequently hired as part of the staff at the Cleveland Force Fitness Facility. In 1989,