 Davis in 2021 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leif Davis[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1999-12-31)31 December 1999 (age 26) | ||
| Place of birth | Newcastle upon Tyne, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.82 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Left-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Ipswich Town | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2015–2016 | Wallsend Boys Club | ||
| 2016–2018 | Morecambe | ||
| 2018 | Leeds United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2022 | Leeds United | 9 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | →AFC Bournemouth (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2022– | Ipswich Town | 147 | (8) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19:14, 7 February 2026 (UTC) | |||
Leif Davis (born 31 December 1999) is an English professionalfootballer who plays as aleft-back forEFL Championship clubIpswich Town.
Born inNewcastle upon Tyne, Davis spent time in the youth systems atWallsend Boys Club andMorecambe before joiningLeeds United in 2018. He helped Leeds win promotion to thePremier League in 2020. He spent a loan spell atAFC Bournemouth during the 2021–22 season, where he also won promotion to the Premier League. In 2022, Davis signed for Ipswich Town, helping the side win promotion to the EFL Championship in his first season at the club in the 2022–23 campaign, and an immediate subsequent promotion to the Premier League in the 2023–24 season.
Born inNewcastle upon Tyne, Davis started his career at English youth football clubWallsend Boys Club inWallsend, North Tyneside.
On 27 June 2016, Davis joinedMorecambe where he spent two years as a scholar, progressing through the ranks of the club's academy.[3]
On 4 July 2018, Davis joinedEFL Championship sideLeeds United under head coachMarcelo Bielsa for an undisclosed fee, where he initially linked up with the Leeds academy.[4]
After impressing forLeeds' Under 23s side,[5] Davis was promoted to the first team and was named as an unused substitute on several occasions by head coach Bielsa before making his debut for the club on 23 December 2018, when he started in a 3–2 win againstAston Villa atVilla Park afterBarry Douglas fell ill before kickoff.[6]
Davis was regularly named as an unused substitute on the bench for the first team squad in the Championship, but still featured regularly forCarlos Corberán's Leeds United Under 23s side over the course of the2018–19 season,[7] that won thePDL Northern League 2018–19 season and became the national Professional Development League champions by beatingBirmingham City on penalties in the final in May 2019.[8]
With Davis potentially set for a spell in the first team towards the end of the 2018–19 season, after injuries to left-backs Barry Douglas andEzgjan Alioski, Davis himself was ruled out for the remainder of the season, including Leeds' play-off campaign, after knee surgery in April.[9][10] Davis made a total of five appearances during his first season of senior football at Leeds.[11]
Davis made his first appearance of the2019–20 season as a second-half substitute in a 3–1 away win againstBristol City on the opening day of the season. He went on to make a total of three substitute appearances in the league during the season, as well as two starts in theEFL Cup.[12] After the English professional football season was paused in March 2020 due to theimpact of COVID-19, the season was resumed during June, where Davis earned promotion with Leeds to thePremier League and also become the EFL Championship Champions for the 2019–20 season in July after the successful resumption of the season.[13]
His first start of the2020–21 season came on 16 September 2020 in Leeds' 1–1 draw againstHull City in the EFL Cup. Hull went on to win 9–8 on penalties.[14] Davis made his Premier League debut for Leeds, as a second-half substitute in Leeds' 1–1 draw withManchester City on 3 October 2020.[15] He made a total of 4 appearances in all competitions as Leeds finished 9th in the club's first season back in the Premier League since 2004.[16]
Davis also featured a number of times for Leeds' U23 side which won the Premier League 2 Division 2 title for the2020–21 season.[17]
On 27 July 2021, Davis joined Championship sideAFC Bournemouth on a season-long loan deal.[18] He made his debut for the club coming on as a late sub in the Cherries 2–1 win overNottingham Forest on 14 August.[19] Davis then made his first start for Bournemouth in an unfamiliar right wing role, in a 2–0 away win at Birmingham City on 18 August.[20] Davis made 15 appearances in all competitions during the2021–22 season, with 12 of those appearances coming in the league as he helped Bournemouth achieve promotion to the Premier League following a second-placed finish in the Championship.[21]
On 25 July 2022, Davis joinedIpswich Town on a three-year contract for a seven-figure fee.[22][23][24] He made his debut five days later on the opening day of the2022–23 season in a 1–1 draw againstBolton Wanderers atPortman Road.[25] He quickly established himself as the first choice left-back at Ipswich. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–2 away defeat againstOxford United on 21 January 2023.[26] Davis was an integral member of the team during the 2022–23 season with Ipswich, making 46 appearances across all competitions, scoring 3 league goals and getting 14 league assists in total, and helping the club win promotion fromEFL League One following a second-placed league finish.[27] His form throughout the season earned him a place in both theEFL League One Team of the Season[28] and thePFA League One Team of the Year.[29]
Davis continued to be a key player for Ipswich throughout the2023–24 season, making 43 league starts and contributing 18 assists, a record number of assists by a defender in a Championship season,[30] as well as scoring crucial goals in 3–2 home wins against Bristol City andSouthampton in the later stages of the season.[31] He helped Ipswich earn a second successive promotion as Ipswich won promotion to the Premier League as Championship runners-up.[32] His performances throughout the season saw him included in theEFL Championship Team of the Season andPFA Championship Team of the Year as well as being named as Ipswich's Players' Player of the Year and being nominated for the PFA Championship Player of the Season award.[32][33][34]
Following Ipswich's promotion to the Premier League, Davis signed a new contract with Ipswich until 2028 on 21st October 2024.[35] He scored his first Premier League goal for Ipswich in a 1–1 home draw on 2 November 2024 againstLeicester City: a stunning 55th-minute volley which was cancelled out byJordan Ayew in the 94th minute.[36] The goal was nominated for thePremier League Goal of the Month award for November.[37]
Davis predominantly plays as a left-back. During his time at Leeds United, he was converted by then Leeds United Under 23s managerCarlos Corberán to also play as a centre-back.[38] Davis describes his style of play as "a modern-day, attacking left-back".[39][40] Davis is known for his crossing ability andset piece taking and his ability to create chances and provide assists.[41]
Outside of football, Davis has expressed an interest in becoming an aircraft pilot. He often usesMicrosoft Flight Simulator in his spare time and has stated that he would like to train for a pilot licence after he retires from playing football.[42][43]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Leeds United | 2018–19[11] | Championship | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2019–20[12] | Championship | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21[16] | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22[21] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | ||
| Leeds United U21 | 2020–21[16] | — | — | — | — | 2[a] | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| AFC Bournemouth (loan) | 2021–22[21] | Championship | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | |
| Ipswich Town | 2022–23[27] | League One | 43 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 46 | 3 |
| 2023–24[44] | Championship | 43 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 44 | 2 | ||
| 2024–25[45] | Premier League | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 33 | 1 | ||
| 2025–26[46] | Championship | 28 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 29 | 2 | ||
| Total | 147 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 152 | 8 | ||
| Career total | 168 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 183 | 8 | ||
Leeds United
AFC Bournemouth
Ipswich Town
Individual
