Joe Dudgeon

Manchester United

Dudgeon was born in Leeds, England. He played his first match for the Manchester United Under-18s side in April 2006, when he was still only 15 years old, coming on as a substitute for Oliver Norwood in a 3–2 defeat away to Sunderland. He then appeared in two matches at the 2006 Northern Ireland Milk Cup in August 2006 – a 1–0 win over County Tyrone and a 2–2 draw with Sheffield United – but didn't play for the club again until February 2007, when he appeared in eight of the club's last 10 Premier Academy League fixtures. His performances earned him a trainee contract with the club, which he signed in July 2007. The following season, Dudgeon became a regular in the Under-18 team, appearing 21 times as they managed a third-place finish in the Premier Academy League and the Fourth Round of the FA Youth Cup. He also received his first taste of reserve team football during 2007–08, being named as an unused substitute for the reserves' 4–0 win over Oldham Athletic in the quarter-finals of the Lancashire Senior Cup. He retained his spot in the under-18 side for 2008–09, while continuing to establish himself in the reserves, mainly as a substitute, making his debut on 22 January 2009 in a 3–0 win over Accrington Stanley in the first round of the Lancashire Senior Cup, coming on as a half-time substitute for Fabio. At the end of the season, Dudgeon was named in the reserve squads for the finals of both the Manchester Senior Cup and the Lancashire Senior…

Although he was born in England, Dudgeon is of Northern Irish descent and was called up to the Northern Ireland national under-21 team in October 2009. He appeared in the team that lost 2–1 away to Iceland U21 on 13 October, and then played again against Germany U21 in a 1–1 home draw. On 5 October 2012 it was announced that he had received his first call up for the Northern Ireland senior team for their game against Portugal on 16 October 2012.