Paul Dummett signs for Wigan Athletic ✍️
Former Premier League left back and Championship winner, Paul Dummett, has joined Latics on a short-term deal after departing from Newcastle United in the summer.
Wigan Athletic have announced that former Newcastle United left-back, Paul Dummett, has joined the club on a short-term deal until January.
Shaun Maloney has been scouring the free agent market for a left-sided defender since Liverpool-loanee, Luke Chambers, was ruled out for the majority - if not all - of the season, and now he has his man. Dummett brings a wealth of experience from 151 Premier League appearances for the Magpies and is a welcomed addition to our squad.
Part One: An overview of Dummett’s career.
Part Two: Becoming a Welsh international.
Part Three: Dummett’s role at Wigan.
An overview of Dummett’s career ⚽️
Born in Newcastle in September 1991, Paul Dummett grew up watching the Magpies at St James Park and began his football career in the Newcastle United Academy at the age of nine.
Dummett spent 12 years progressing through the youth system, captaining the reserve side on several occasions, before joining Gateshead on loan for his first experience of senior football. The then 21-year-old joined the Conference Premier side initially on a one-month loan in March 2012, but this was extended until the end of the season after impressing ✍️
After returning to Newcastle in the summer, Dummett joined St Mirren on loan on deadline day for the 2012/13 season. The left-back featured in 30 of the 32 Scottish Premiership games he was eligible to play in, remaining as an unused substitution in their first game and not being in the boxing day squad to face Inverness CT.
His first senior goal came against St Johnstone on December 8th in front of the home crowd after latching onto a loose ball in the six-yard box. Dummett’s second of the season also came from close range, diverting Gary Teale’s cross into the back of the net away at Dundee United in the final game of the calendar year.
Dummett’s loan spell originally expired in January, and after making his senior debut for Newcastle in an FA Cup tie against Brighton, the defender rejoined the Scottish side on loan for the remainder of the season.
Alongside his 28 ninety-minute features in the league, Dummett also helped St Mirren to a Scottish FA Cup Quarter-Final, which they lost to Celtic, and a Scottish Communities League Cup Final, where they beat Hearts of Midlothian 3-2 with Dummett assisting Steven Thompson for the second goal. The trophy became the first piece of silverware that Dummett could add to his collection 🏆
In the Summer of 2013, Dummett signed a long-term contract with Newcastle United, and Alan Pardew frequently used the defender throughout their 2013/14 Premier League campaign.
After an opening day 4-0 loss at Manchester City, Dummett remained on the bench for the next six games but returned to the field as a halftime substitute against Liverpool at St James Park. In the 55th minute, Dummett arrived at the back post during a free kick routine and scored his first-ever Premier League goal to give Newcastle a 2-1 lead ⚽️
Dummett played in 18 Premier League games this season and increased his total appearances to 25 in the 2014/15 season. However, knee and hamstring injuries prevented the left back from playing full seasons.
Under Steve McLaren in the 2015/16 season, Dummett was out for the first eight games with a hamstring problem but became a regular starter upon his return. The Magpies were relegated this season, but a standout moment for Dummett will have been the 90th-minute equaliser against Louis Van Gaal’s Manchester United in the 3-3 draw at St James Park 🎯
In March 2016, McLaren was replaced by Rafa Benitez, and in their Championship-winning season Dummett featured in 45 of the Magpies’ 46 games. Newcastle’s record was 29 wins, 7 draws, and 10 losses, where they secured a goal difference of +45 along with 17 clean sheets to return to the Premier League with Brighton and Huddersfield Town.
“When we went down, I was determined to help the club get back to the Premier League and as a team, we did that. Promotion was the main goal, but to achieve it as champions was even better and the medal and the memories are something we'll always be able to cherish.”
Paul Dummett | May 2017
Back in the top division, Dummett began to suffer from a string of injuries that limited him to roughly 20 games a season from the 17/18 season to the 20/21 season. However, he did begin to captain the Magpies on occasions when he did feature. The injuries included; hamstring, groin, Achilles tendon rupture, and calf 🤕
Dummett’s final Premier League goal was scored at the King Power Stadium as Newcastle United beat Leicester City 4-2 in May 2021. The left-back headed Matt Ritchie’s corner past Kasper Schmeichel from inside the six-yard box, beating Wesley Fofana in the air.
Over the past three seasons, Dummett has played in eight Premier League matches, three EFL Cup matches, and one FA Cup match, taking his total to 213 senior appearances for Newcastle United since January 2013 👏
In the summer of 2024, Paul Dummett departed Newcastle United after 23 years, having been the longest-serving player at the club.
"Paul is one of our Academy's great success stories. He is a shining example to young players in this region.”
Darren Eales, Newcastle United CEO | May 2024
Becoming a Welsh international 🏴
Despite being born in Newcastle, Dummett qualified to represent Wales due to his grandfather’s nationality.
Dummett’s first involvement came at Under-19 level, with Brian Flynn giving the defender his debut at the age of 17 against Montenegro U19s. He then featured in the first three games of Wales’ 2009 Euro U19 Qualifiers against Romania, Turkey, and Andorra.
After seven appearances at U19 level, Dummett was called up to represent the Under 21s again under Brian Flynn. At 19 years of age, Dummett debuted in a 1-0 friendly victory over Austria U21s. The defender made his second appearance in a 2-0 friendly victory over Northern Ireland in 2011 but would have to wait a year for his next cap which came in a 4-0 victory over Andorra in a Euro U21 Qualifier.
Chris Coleman handed Dummett his senior debut as a late substitute in a 2-0 World Cup qualifier loss against the Netherlands in June 2014. He would have to wait another fifteen months until he represented his country again, which was also against the Netherlands in an international friendly.
Dummett’s first competitive experience for Wales came against Ireland in a September 2018 Nations League fixture. Ryan Giggs subbed in the defender for the final 9 minutes but handed him his first start against Denmark in November 2018. Unfortunately, a 39th-minute injury forced Dummett off.
Giggs called Dummett up for international duty in March 2019 and deployed him as a centre-back in a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago. Declan John replaced him on the hour mark, with the game tied at 0-0 - Dummett’s first and only clean sheet for his country.
Dummett’s role at Wigan 🤝
With Luke Chambers out for the majority - if not all - of this season with a back injury, Shaun Maloney has lost a regular starter from the left side of our defence.
Steven Sessegnon has been stepping in to cover despite predominantly being a right-sided player, rotating with Luke Robinson, but both have experienced ongoing injury concerns themselves, and losing one of them to another medium-to-long-term injury would leave us with little depth.
Wigan Athletic’s current left-back options.
Paul Dummett (Age: 33)
Steven Sessegnon (Age: 24)
Luke Robinson (Age: 22)
K’Marni Miller (Age: 19)
Of course, Calvin Ramsay and James Carragher can also fill in on the left side if needed.
One of Dummett’s big strengths is his ability to play as a left-sided centre-back as well as a fullback. This allows Maloney to also class Dummett as an option in the middle pairing should he need to.
Despite naturally losing some of his pace due to his age, preventing him from running up and down the wing like we expected Chambers to do, Dummett is a very strong defender and will get stuck into challenges - especially in a bid to prevent crosses.
Having been a captain at Newcastle United, he will be more focused on keeping Latics well-drilled and disciplined. As we have been faltering on some defending basics lately this could strengthen our backline and how it operates.
In truth, I expect very little from Dummett in terms of goal contributions, but as this is the lowest level he will play at since 2012, he may be able to find more opportunities to affect the scoreline than he has been able to in the highly competitive Premier League.
Overall, I feel this is a smart signing for Wigan Athletic to make for our defensive options, and Dummett’s experience will be extremely valuable to share with our younger players.
Up the Tics 🔵⚪️
🙌 Thank you for reading!
✍🏼 Charlie Keegan / Central Wigan
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