Louis Dodds

Leicester City

Dodds was born Sheffield, though he moved with his family to Leicester when he was 3 months old and joined the Leicester City youth academy at the age of ten. He joined Leicester after being spotted by a talent scout while playing for Ratby & Groby, and whilst there earned himself a call-up to the England under-18 squad. He finished the 2005–06 season with a hat-trick in the final of the Westerby Challenge Cup and also picked up the Academy Player of the Year trophy, having scored 65 goals in three seasons for the academy and reserves. The Leicester management described Dodds as "the most natural finisher at the club". Dodds signed a new contract with the "Foxes" to keep him at the club until the summer of 2007. On 9 October 2006, he was allowed to join Conference side Northwich Victoria on loan to gain some first-team experience. This loan deal was extended in November, before he was recalled by the "Foxes" at the end of the month due to an injury crisis. In February 2007 he joined Rochdale on loan, and scored an early winner on his first start. He scored two goals in twelve games for the "Dale". In July 2007 he agreed to a season-long loan deal at Lincoln City. He scored nine goals during his spell with Lincoln City and was voted as scorer of the club's goal of the season for his long-range strike against Wycombe Wanderers. He showed an interest in joining the club permanently. He was offered a new contract at parent club Leicester, but instead…

A skilful and pacey player due to his goalscoring ability, he was able to play as both a midfielder and as a striker. He stated that he preferred to play in the centre of the pitch. Despite his finishing skills from open play, he was a very poor penalty-taker.

"[Dodds] has a great brain and he sees passes that nobody else sees. He has unbelievable quality and he's always trying different things. He has that ability similar to how Dennis Bergkamp used to be at Arsenal. I'm not comparing him to Bergkamp, but he had that vision to spot a pass and time it well. If you can read it and make the runs, he will create a lot for you."

Dodds was appointed to the coaching staff at Hanley Town upon retiring as a player. In October 2024, following the resignation of manager Ryan Shotton, Dodds departed the club. He then began coaching at Congleton Town, who were managed by his former Vale teammate Richard Duffy.

Dodds was born in Sheffield and grew up supporting Sheffield Wednesday, but now lives in Stoke-on-Trent with his wife and children. During his time at Vale Park he was considered the "ringleader of the dressing-room banter". He began writing a column in Staffordshire newspaper The Sentinel in November 2015. He became a schoolteacher after retiring from professional football.