 Davies playing forWales in 2006 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1979-10-23)23 October 1979 (age 46) | ||
| Place of birth | Haverfordwest, Wales | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Solva | |||
| Norwich City | |||
| Peterborough United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–2000 | Peterborough United | 65 | (6) |
| 2000–2005 | Tottenham Hotspur | 121 | (13) |
| 2005–2007 | Everton | 45 | (1) |
| 2007–2013 | Fulham | 137 | (13) |
| Total | 368 | (33) | |
| International career | |||
| 1998–2001 | Wales U21 | 10 | (0) |
| Wales B | 1 | (0) | |
| 2001–2010 | Wales | 58 | (6) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Simon Davies (born 23 October 1979) is a Welsh former professionalfootballer who played as awinger. Davies started his career atPeterborough United before playing for Premier League clubsTottenham Hotspur,Everton andFulham, earning a runner-up medal during the2009–10 UEFA Europa League with Fulham. Davies made more than 350 appearances at senior club level in England, along with earning 58 caps for theWelsh national team. He was most recently the assistant manager ofCrawley Town.
Davies played as a junior for Solva AFC,[2] before becoming a trainee atNorwich City and then moving toPeterborough United at the age of 15.[3] After graduating from the side's academy system, he quickly established himself as a first team player with the club, amassing over 50 first team appearances before he turned 20.
At the end of the98/99 season he was named in theDivision Three team of year, and as Peterborough's player of the year.[4]
After a trial withManchester United in July 1999, Davies' performances for Peterborough encouragedTottenham Hotspur managerGeorge Graham to spend £700,000 to take him, along with fellow wingerMatthew Etherington, toWhite Hart Lane on 31 December 1999.
Davies made his Spurs debut on 9 April 2000 during a 2–0 defeat againstLiverpool.[5]
Davies spent the early months of the 2000–01 season as asubstitute. However, after coming on for the injuredØyvind Leonhardsen early in theFA Cup fifth round tie againstStockport County on 17 February 2001, Davies scored twice.[6] This game marked the beginning of his transformation into a first-team regular for the club.
In the five years that Davies played for Tottenham, during which time he suffered a number of injuries, he made 154 appearances and scored 24 goals in all competitions.
On 26 May 2005, he completed a transfer toEverton for a fee which could have reached £4 million depending on appearances. The move meant that Davies received his first chance to play in Europe's premier football competition, theUEFA Champions League. On the whole, Davies had a poor first season in Everton's disappointing 2005–06 campaign. He did, however, score a winning goal atBirmingham City[7] to give Everton their first win in over two months, a result which prompted a change in fortunes for the Merseysiders.
In January 2007, he left Everton for Fulham, for an undisclosed fee. He was brought in as the long-term replacement forSteed Malbranque on the right side of midfield.[8] On 30 January 2007, he played his first Premier League match for Fulham againstSheffield United.
Since joining Fulham from Everton, he became a mainstay on the right hand side of midfield contributing with some spectacular goals (free kick againstSunderland and full volley againstReading) and great crosses.[9] His pace, along with his high work rate made him a crowd favourite and earned him the respect of then-managerLawrie Sanchez. Davies was voted Fulham's player of the season in 2007–08.[10][11]
Davies scored a dramatic equaliser in the second leg of Fulham'sUEFA Europa League semi-final againstHamburg on 29 April 2010; Fulham went on to win the game and the tie 2–1.[12] He followed that up with a volleyed goal in the first half of thefinal againstAtlético Madrid inHamburg that made the score 1–1, although Fulham went on to lose 2–1 in extra time.[13]
Davies signed a new deal with Fulham on 16 August 2010 that saw him playing for the club until 2013.[14] However, Davies later career at Fulham faded after suffering injuries. This first occurred when he suffered a knee injury, which lead Davies sidelined for five months following surgery.[15] Four months later, on 10 December 2011, Davies made his first start of the 2011/12 season, in a 2–0 loss againstSwansea City.[16] Davies went on to make six appearances before suffering a hip injury.[17] Davies was told by ManagerMartin Jol will only be a bit-part player to make way for youngsters ahead of the 2012–13 season.[18]
Despite being included in the club's Premier League squad,[19] Davies played his first match in the club's reserve match in a 2–2 againstWycombe Wanderers reserve team.[20] Davies was one of 12 players released by Fulham at the end of the2012–13 Premier League season.[21]
In July 2013, he returned to his boyhood club, Solva AFC, and played 40 minutes in a game against St Ishmaels at Maes-y-Mor.[2][22] He formally signed for the amateurPembrokeshire League Division Two club in September 2014, paying £3 per game 'subs' for the privilege.[23]
Davies made his debut forWales in aWorld Cup qualifier againstUkraine on 6 June 2001, and scored his first goal againstCroatia on 21 August 2002. Arguably, his best performance for his country came on 16 October 2002 when he scored the team's opening goal in a 2–1 victory overItaly.
Davies played for Wales 58 times and scored six goals, captaining his country during their2010 World Cup qualifiers and he was Welsh Footballer Of The Year in 2002.
He announced his retirement from international football on 9 August 2010.[24]
On 27 November 2022, Davies was appointed assistant toMatthew Etherington atEFL League Two clubCrawley Town.[25] Having overseen just three matches however, the duo departed the club on 29 December 2022 with the club's CEO saying that the partnership was no longer the right fit to carry the club forward.[26]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | FA Trophy | Europe | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Peterborough United | 1997–98 | Third Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| 1998–99 | Third Division | 43 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 48 | 4 | ||
| 1999–2000 | Third Division | 16 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 20 | 2 | ||
| Total | 65 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 6 | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1999–2000 | Premier League | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2000–01 | Premier League | 13 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 4 | |||
| 2001–02 | Premier League | 31 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | — | — | 41 | 7 | |||
| 2002–03 | Premier League | 36 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 39 | 5 | |||
| 2003–04 | Premier League | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 2 | |||
| 2004–05 | Premier League | 21 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 0 | |||
| Total | 121 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 147 | 18 | ||
| Everton | 2005–06 | Premier League | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3[a] | 0 | 36 | 1 | |
| 2006–07 | Premier League | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | |||
| Total | 45 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 53 | 1 | ||
| Fulham | 2006–07 | Premier League | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 2 | ||
| 2007–08 | Premier League | 37 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 40 | 5 | |||
| 2008–09 | Premier League | 33 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 39 | 3 | |||
| 2009–10 | Premier League | 17 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 11[b] | 2 | 33 | 3 | ||
| 2010–11 | Premier League | 30 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 4 | |||
| 2011–12 | Premier League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[b] | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 137 | 13 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 167 | 17 | ||
| Career total | 361 | 32 | 32 | 4 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 436 | 41 | ||
Tottenham Hotspur
Fulham
Individual
