Dowson takes it a day at a time – and what a hectic day it is

By MATT BADCOCK
ALAN Dowson wasn’t good enough to make the big time as a professional footballer. He didn’t think that should stop him from trying, though.
He would send letters to clubs asking for trials but because his writing wasn’t very good, he didn’t get many replies.
The trials he did get didn’t work out until a schoolteacher helped him get one at Millwall. Aged 15, he was travelling down from his native Gateshead to play for the youth team at weekends.
By 16, he was living in a room ...