Paul Davis (footballer, born 1961)
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Paul Vincent Davis[1] | ||
Date of birth | 9 December 1961 | ||
Place of birth | Dulwich, England | ||
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1980–1995 | Arsenal | 447 | (30) |
1990 | → IFK Eskilstuna (loan) | 7 | (1) |
1995 | Stabæk | 1 | (0) |
1995–1996 | Brentford | 5 | (0) |
Total | 482 | (30) | |
International career | |||
1982–1988 | England U21 | 11 | (2) |
1991 |
Football League XI | 1 | (0) |
1991 | England B | 1 | (1) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Paul Vincent Davis (born 9 December 1961) is an English former professional
Career
Arsenal
1980–86: Debut and First-team regular
Born in
The all-new, all tackling Davis had suddenly developed an armour plated exterior. He was about to emerge as the elegant cultural icon of the midfield, but as he realised, he had to learn to mix skill with resilience and strength.
1986–88: George Graham arrives
By the time of
1988–90: Glenn Cockerill incident, injuries and League champions
On 17 September 1988, three days after being an unused substitute for England at Wembley against Denmark,[10] Davis punched Southampton player Glenn Cockerill in the jaw, during a 2–2 draw at Highbury. It seemed inevitable that Davis would be sent-off for such an indiscretion. However none of the matchday officials saw the incident. Cockerill's jaw was broken and following the FA's analysis of TV footage Davis was given a then unprecedented nine-match ban and £3,000 fine. In fact in his previous nine seasons he had only been booked a miserly 14 times. Davis was subsequently removed from the England squad and lost the opportunity to represent his country.[11] Davis played enough games to guarantee he would receive a championship medal, 12 league games and scoring once in the 1988–89 title winning season.[12] In January 1989 he went with Arsenal to play two matches in Bermuda and suffered a bad thigh injury that plagued him so he missed the climax of the season at Anfield.[13] In August 1989 he needed a hernia operation to cure a persistent groin problem.[14]
Davis remained largely on the outside looking in throughout 1989–90, not appearing at all until Boxing Day, against Southampton as a substitute. Davis had started in just 5 matches in his new year comeback, even as a Nigel Winterburn replacement as a left back against Stoke City in the third round FA Cup tie, before a hamstring injury forced him out of contention for six weeks. A combination of the drive of Michael Thomas and the consistency of Kevin Richardson left him frustrated on the sidelines. Within this, Davis relationship with Graham became strained. Yet, when the injuries began to mount up, toward the end of an unsuccessful defence of their title, Graham once again turned to Davis and it was within these last five games of the campaign that the subtleties he could offer attained a renewed value to the Gunners.[15]
1990–91: Ten years at Arsenal and a title triumph
However, after a spell on loan with Swedish club IFK Eskilstuna, six weeks in June/July 1990, he returned to play a regular role in the 1990–91 title triumph.[16]
Along with the signings of
1991–92: A year on the sidelines
After starting the 1991–92 season in the same form as he ended 1990–91, Davis again succumbed to an injury, which kept him out of the Arsenal side. With him went Arsenal's league consistency, as did his renewed claims to a place in the national team, having performed well while on duty for England B, on 5 February 1991 against Wales.[22][23] Although selected for the England senior squad on several occasions, he never made an appearance for the senior team, despite 12-appearances for the Under-21 team, where he captained the side.
Arsenal were knocked out by Benfica on 6 November 1991 in the European Cup. Afterwards Davis was fined and dumped from Graham's first-team plans, when he was criticising the manager's tactics. Asked to play more of a harrying, chasing game, he and Graham fell out. Davis recalled: "I had been asked to chase and track back more by George, particularly in the Benfica game. I didn't think it was my strength, I told him that. So we argued about it and I was dropped". Davis was replaced by David Hillier. Over the next sixteen months, Davis appeared just twice in the first team, the last at Loftus Road on 18 January 1992.[24][16] Graham made him train with the youth team, and Davis went to see Graham, thinking that he might as well leave if he was not going to play. But Graham thought differently, making it clear that Davis was not going anywhere.[25] Davis also missed the summer pre-season training because of a calf muscle strain in his right leg. He's also suffered problems with superficial veins. While he was recovering from the calf strain, he had an operation to remove the veins.[26]
1993–95: Comeback with Cup success and final seasons at Arsenal
When Davis finally returned and fought his way back into the team, he stepped up for his first league game in fourteen months against
Davis had forced his way back into the team starting 21 league games in
The signing of Stefan Schwarz in the summer of 1994 took Arsenal in a new direction and after only six appearances in 1994–95,[12] some 15 years beyond his debut in that north London derby, he was released from the club on a free transfer in the wake of the arrival of Bruce Rioch as manager.[6] He played his last game for the club on 3 December 1994 away at Nottingham Forest where he scored in a 2–2 draw.[32]
After spending 16 seasons at Arsenal Davis was released on a free transfer in the summer of 1995.
Later career
Davis briefly joined Norwegian side Stabæk on a two-month pre-season loan deal, in an attempt to regain his fitness for the start of the 1995/96 season.
After his spell at Stabæk, appearing in one game as a substitute, he returned to London to sign for
Coaching career
Davis returned to Arsenal to become a youth coach in 1996 but left the club in 2003 after several times being overlooked for promotion an issue he felt was related to skin color.[33] In September 2003 Davis joined PFA, The Professional Footballers' Association coaching department to be a senior educator. On 27 October 2005, Davis was invited to become assistant manager of Kettering Town by new manager Paul Gascoigne, he left Kettering at the same time as Gascoigne's departure from the club on 5 December 2005, despite being asked to stay on, but he chose to return to the PFA where he worked in coach education and equality until February 2016.[34] As of July 2008, he was working as the PFA's Regional Coach South East.[35]
In March 2016, Davis joined the FA where he continues to work with the elite coach development team. Davis has studied and gained the FA and Pro UEFA Coaching awards, the highest coaching award in the U.K. along with his UEFA 'A' Licence and the FA Diploma in Football Management from
On 26 August 2021, Davis was confirmed as an assistant coach for the England U17s working with Tom Curtis and Omer Riza.[36]
Honours
Arsenal
- Football League First Division: 1988–89, 1990–91[12]
- 1992–93[29]
- Football League Centenary Trophy: 1988[38]
- 1993–94[31]
References
- ^ "Paul Davis". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ a b Paul Davis at Soccerbase
- ^ Paul Davis: the Arsenal midfielder ahead of his time who remains one of the club’s most under-appreciated legends thesefootballtimes.co
- ^ Davis, Paul (2022). Arsenal and After. Reach Sport. p. 40.
- ^ "arsenal.com/historic/players/paul-davis". 12 January 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Paul Davis". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ Spurling, Jon (2001). All Guns Blazing. Aureus Publishing Ltd. p. 115.
- ^ Arsenal Official Handbook 1986-87
- ^ Harris, Jeff (1995). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports Publications. p. 259.
- ^ "englandfootballonline".
- ^ Onuora, Emy. Pitch Black: The Story of Black British Footballers. Biteback Publishing.
- ^ a b c Paul Davis at WorldFootball.net
- ^ Miller, Harry (1990). Arsenal The Champions Year - The Inside Story of The Gunners 1989-90 Season. Partridge Press, Transworld Publishers. p. 64.
- ^ Connolly, Kevin (1990). Arsenal Official Matchday Magazine, April 28,1990. Dencol publications. p. 24.
- ^ Official Arsenal Handbook 1990-91.
- ^ a b Official Arsenal Handbook 1992-93.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ Betts, Dan (2020). Almost Invincible. Legends Publishing. p. 20.
- ^ https://podcasts.apple.com › podcast When Shorts Were Short S2 E01 - Paul Davis in Apple Podcasts
- ^ Davis, Paul (2022). Arsenal and After. Reach Sport. p. 125.
- ^ "jim-craig-arsenal-2-celtic-2". 30 August 2022.
- ^ "Paul Davis". 11v11.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ "England Football Online". 1 August 2021.
- ^ Spurling, Jon (2001). Top Guns Arsenal in the 1990s. Aureus. p. 46.
- ^ "Why former Arsenal boss George Graham should be ranked among the best". 1 August 2021.
- ^ Arsenal Official Magazine, 12 September 1992
- ^ Official Arsenal Handbook 1993-94.
- ^ a b "Arsenal FC – Sheffield Wednesday 2:1 (League Cup 1992/1993, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Arsenal FC – Sheffield Wednesday 2:1 (FA Cup 1992/1993, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ Arsenal Official Programme 14 August 1993
- ^ a b "Arsenal FC – Parma AC 1:0 (Cup Winners Cup 1993/1994, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ Official Arsenal Handbook 1994-95.
- ^ Davis, Paul (2022). Arsenal and After. Reach Sport. pp. 174–180.
- ^ "Paul Davis – All Action, No Caps". 22 October 2021.
- ^ "Progression kicks off in – LFE" (PDF). p. 5. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ Veevers, Nicholas (26 August 2021). "England youth coaches confirmed". Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ "Arsenal FC – Liverpool FC 2:1 (League Cup 1986/1987, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ "On this day in..." www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ "Arsenal FC – Tottenham Hotspur 0:0 (FA Community Shield 1991, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
External links
- Paul Davis at arsenal.com
- Paul Davis at Soccerbase