There have been a number of players over the years who have become superstars after leaving Tottenham Hotspur.
Luka Modric won a Ballon d’Or after leaving Spurs, Gareth Bale won five Champions League trophies after leaving Tottenham, while Harry Kane is on course to win the Bundesliga this season too.
However, there are other players who ultimately regret their decisions to leave Spurs.
Indeed, Kieran Trippier regretted how he left Tottenham, Sandro regretted leaving Tottenham in 2014, while Jamie O’Hara wishes he never left Spurs.
Speaking on the Sky Sports Essential Football Podcast, Michael Dawson has now been discussing his departure from Spurs, and he says that he had some real regrets about leaving Tottenham, claiming that he actually cried when he left Spurs.
Michael Dawson regretted leaving Tottenham
Dawson spoke about his departure from Spurs.
The defender joined Hull City for £4m back in 2014, and he was relegated in his very first season at the club.
Dawson says that he cried about making this move, and upon relegation he really questioned his decision.
“And when I made the move, we got relegated in my first season, one of the lowest points in my career,” Dawson said.
“Because I could quite easily have stayed at Spurs, but I love playing football, only thinking ‘why have I made this decision we’ve got relegated?’ and 12 months later you think, are you ever going to get back to the Premier League?
“But we did and it was an incredible day, an incredible night and just walking up those steps and lifting and thinking, thankfully, we’re going to be going back to play Spurs, play Man United, play Arsenal, play Manchester City, play all these big teams”
“Was that something that seriously went through your head?” Dawson was asked.
“Yeah, I cried. No shame in that. I actually shed a tear,” Dawson said.
“You’re thinking, wow, what have I done? You make decisions in your life. Like I’ve said earlier, we haven’t got a crystal ball.
“I had two years left on my Spurs contract. You know, they wanted to bring a player in. And I love playing football.
“And this is what I speak about players. Your career is short. And you look, I went on to play that season, 30 odd games in the Premier League.
“We got relegated. And if I could have turned back time, of course I would have gone back. Why would I want to get relegated?
“So it was a hard time. It was disappointing as a group. We’d failed.”
Michael Dawson record vs Tottenham
Dawson was very upset to leave Spurs, and to make matters even worse, whenever he came up against his former club, he had a bad time too.
Indeed, maybe Dawson would’ve felt better about his decision if he’d been able to pick up any sort of point against Tottenham for Hull.
Sadly, Dawson was always on the wrong end of the scoreline whenever he faced Spurs, and he did receive a thrashing at one point too.
Dawson conceded 14 goals in four games he played against Tottenham in his career, and one of those games against Spurs was a 7-1 defeat on the final day of the 2016/17 season.
Dawson would eventually leave Hull to join his boyhood team, Nottingham Forest, but it’s clear that his career never quite hit the same heights once he left Tottenham.