Dawson who has made almost 70 appearances for the club since joining from Nottingham Forest with Andy Reid in January 2005. At the time, with the club highly protracted transfer of Reid, many fans would have been forgiven for overlooking the signing of Dawson, who almost seemed like an add on to the deal. An extremely impressive debut against Liverpool, however, thrust the defender, who has made 13 England U-21 international appearances, thrust himself into Martin Jol's first team plans and has never looked back since. His performances this season have prompted the club to extend his current deal, which still had four years to run.
Dawson has appeared in all but one of the clubs 58 appearances this season, many of which were without his partner at centre back Ledley King. His consistency and determination this campaign has led Jol to nicknaming his 'bionic man' and it is certainly a relief that Dawson has kept himself fit and remained a constant rock in a changing defensive line over the past 6 months. That he has signed a new deal is fantastic news for a club and hopefully the first example of the boards determination to keep onto its top talent in the years to come.