Jason Dozzell: ‘At 16 I’d walked into a drinking culture – the biggest playground in the world’

The former Ipswich and Spurs player on expectations after becoming the youngest goalscorer in England’s top flight and finding clarity after his mental health spiralled

It turns out that, even 40 years on, there are still Ipswich fans who have not yet stopped Jason Dozzell in the street. He is walking along Portman Road, passing beneath the ageing Cobbold Stand and a display that evokes some of his happiest times, when a grey-haired man diverts from his dog-walking path to instigate conversation. “I was in there when you scored that goal,” he informs Dozzell, who engages as if this is the first time he has heard such recollections. “I just had to tell you. Incredible. Where does the time go?”

That goal. It has followed him everywhere since 4 February 1984 when his smartly hooked finish had the final say in a 3-1 win over Coventry. Dozzell was making his senior debut at 16 years and 57 days old; he became the youngest goalscorer in England’s top flight and it is a record nobody has come particularly close to breaking. He remains a genuine home town hero – the boy who grew up 500 metres from the stadium and watched from the terraces until the moment that changed his life.

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