George Dobson: From London to Wales, via Hungary

George Dobson was a youth player with Arsenal and West Ham United

George Dobson had been expecting to start the new season with a new adventure – in Hungary’s top-flight.

With his Charlton Athletic contract entering the final few months, Dobson had signed a pre-contract agreement with Hungarian club Fehérvár earlier in the year.

The 26-year-old midfielder had even travelled to Hungary at the start of the summer to have his medical and was all set to complete his move on 1 July.

But rather than finalise a transfer that had been several months in the making, Dobson’s move to Hungary was cancelled.

“My circumstances changed at home during that period,” Dobson explains.

“I spoke to my family and I just felt it would be too hard and we agreed a mutual termination on 1 July."

That meant Dobson was now a free agent.

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson had been Dobson’s manager during his time at Sunderland and was looking to strengthen his squad ahead of their return to League One.

“Because I knew the gaffer I told him I was available and a deal was done 48 hours later. It was that quick,” Dobson said.

“It was an interesting summer because I wasn’t on the market – it literally happened that fast.

“When you have a manager and an assistant in Steve [Parkin] who I worked under as well, they trust you and I enjoyed working for them.

“There were so many things that aligned into one.

“It felt like it was meant to be and when it all got sorted that quickly I jumped at it.”

Dobson arrived in north Wales having been Charlton’s captain for the past two seasons

Parkinson spoke of “leadership quality” when Dobson’s signing was announced and the player himself recognises the importance of having leaders within the squad.

“I feel that I do bring leadership qualities and hopefully I can add to the group,” Dobson said.

“That’s the big thing I’ve realised since I’ve been at the club is the amount of leaders there are in the dressing room.

“You can tell why the team’s been so successful because every team has bad spells but you then need big characters to get you out of them spells and to be able to keep going.

“You can see by the characters in the dressing room and the driving of standards is why the club has done so well over the past couple of years.”

George Dobson (right) chats with Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney as Ollie Palmer (centre) looks on during the club's North America tour.

As well as the opportunity of working with Parkinson once again, Dobson acknowledged the pull of a club with Hollywood stars Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds as owners and a documentary series.

“They have time for everyone,” said Dobson, who met the owners during the club’s three-game tour of North America.

“They genuinely want the best for every single player, on and off the pitch.

“They’ve been really welcoming and helped to bring the feel good factor to the club. There is such a good feel around the place.

“I said when I signed it’s the project that most players want to be a part of.

“For me to get that opportunity I’m really grateful and really enjoying it so far.”

Wrexham will be playing in English football’s third tier for the first time since 2005 after back-to-back promotions and start the season at home to Wycombe Wanderers.

“There’s so much positive going on at the club and I’m really happy to be part of it,” said Dobson, who has also played for Walsall, Sparta Rotterdam and AFC Wimbledon.

“You can feel the momentum that the club’s got and we’ve just got to use it to our advantage and keep pushing as hard as we can.

“We’ve got a strong squad. Obviously we know what a tough league it is and there’s some really good teams in there.

“I’ve played in the league for quite a few years now and it looks like one of the harder ones.

“But I definitely feel we’re in a good place.”