Career
Born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, Dowson started his career with Sunderland"s youth system, and signed a professional contract on 12 June 2007. He made his debut while on loan at Chesterfield on 23 February 2008 against Brentford, also scoring a goal. His loan, initially for one month, was later extended to the rest of the season.
After his debut, he went a spree of several games without scoring a goal until he netted two goals in a 4–1 victory over Shrewsbury Town on 5 April.
Dowson spent most of the 2009-2010 season on loan at Darlington, scoring one goal in 12 appearances. Dowson signed for Conference Premier club Gateshead on 18 July 2010 on non-contract terms, but was released on 10 August 2010.
He had a trial with Conference Premier team York City in September 2010 and played in a 1–1 draw against former club Chesterfield in the reserve team He signed for the club on a short-term contract on 25 September and made his debut later that day as an 85th-minute substitute in a 3–1 victory at Tamworth.
Having made five appearances for York he was released by new manager Gary Mills on 22 October 2010.
He finished the 2010-2011 season with 20 goals for Durham in 34 appearances. On 13 June 2012 Dowson signed for Darlington, but on 25 June his registration was changed to the new Darlington 1883 club following the liquidation of the original club
