Paul Davis (footballer, born 1961)

Paul Vincent Davis (born 9 December 1961) is an English former footballer. Davis was an integral part of the successful Arsenal side of the late 1980s, and early 1990s,[3] winning the League Cup in 1987 and the First Division in 1989 and 1991. He also won the Cup-Double in 1993 and the Cup-Winners Cup 1994. Davis appeared in total 447 times for Arsenal, scoring 30 goals in the League and 7 goals in the cups.

Paul Davis
Personal information
Full name Paul Vincent Davis[1]
Date of birth (1961-12-09) 9 December 1961
Place of birth Dulwich, England
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1995 Arsenal 447 (37)
1990 → IFK Eskilstuna (loan)
1995 Stabæk 1 (0)
1995–1996 Brentford 5 (0)
Total 482 (30)
National team
1982–1988 England U21 11 (2)
1991 Football League XI 1 (0)
1991 England B 1 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Born in Dulwich, London, Davis signed for Arsenal as an apprentice on 18 June 1979 and turned professional the following year.[4] A talented left-footed midfielder, he made his debut in April 1980 in a North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur.[5]

In the early days he had to battle for a midfield place against Liam Brady, Graham Rix, Brian Talbot and John Hollins. But Davis established himself in the 1981–82 season, and by the time of George Graham’s arrival at Highbury in the summer of 1986, Davis was the defined centrepiece of the Arsenal side.

He was a veteran in terms of individual deeds done and his importance to the club, yet still only 25 and without a major winners medal to his name. Davis, blessed with a wonderful left foot, startling on-pitch vision and unerring pass accuracy, was renowned for his calmness within the heat of a midfield battle. Elegant yet not unwilling to use force when needed, he was the perfect multi-purpose midfielder. In George Graham's first season in charge 1986–87, Davis had a great campaign. He formed a brilliant midfield partnership with Steve Williams, which was key to Arsenal beating Liverpool in the League Cup Final 2–1. Davis was in the side again in April 1988, bidding to retain the cup, but disappointingly lost 3–2 to Luton Town in the Final.

On 17 September 1988, three days after being an unused substitute for England at Wembley against Denmark, Davis punched Southampton player Glenn Cockerill in the jaw, during a 2–2 draw at Highbury. Cockerill's jaw was broken and following the FA's analysis of TV footage Davis was given a then unprecedented 9-match ban and £3,000 fine to him. Davis only played 12 league games, scoring once in the 1988–89 title winning season.[6] Davis also suffered a bad thigh injury that plagued him for 18 months. So he missed the climax of the season at Anfield.

Davis remained largely on the outside looking in throughout 1989–90, not appearing at all until Boxing Day as a combination of injuries, 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 5 games of the campaign that the subtleties he could offer attained a renewed value to the Gunners.

However, after a spell on loan with Swedish club IFK Eskilstuna in June/July 1990, he returned to play a regular role in the 1990–91 title triumph.

Along with the signings of David Seaman and Anders Limpar, it was the rejuvenation of Davis during the 1990–91 season that led to Arsenal reclaiming the First Division title, absorbing only one defeat along the way. Davis missed only 1 League game of this season and won Football League XI recognition.[5][7]

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 for over a year. 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.[8]

When Davis finally returned from injury, fought his way back into the team, he did so just in time to lend a calming hand to Arsenal side for both the 1993 League Cup Final and that year's FA Cup Final, defeating Sheffield Wednesday on both occasions.[9][10] The latter success completed Davis' full complement of major domestic winners medals.

A year later, Davis added a European honour to his impressive list as Arsenal defeated a star-studded Parma side in the 1994 Cup Winners' Cup final.[11] It was Davis last great night in an Arsenal shirt.

The signing of Stefan Schwarz in the summer of 1994 took Arsenal in a new direction and after only 6 appearances in 1994–95,[6] 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.[5]

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.

After leaving Arsenal, he briefly joined Norwegian side Stabæk in 1995. After his spell at Stabæk, appearing in one game as a substitute, he returned to London to sign for Brentford on a free transfer in September 1995, but he retired within a year after just 8 appearances.[5][2]

Coaching career

Davis returned to Arsenal to become a youth coach in 1996, before leaving the club in 2003. In September 2003 Davis joined The Professional Footballers' Association coaching department. 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. As of July 2008, he was working as the PFA's Regional Coach South East.[12]

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 Warwick University, as well as his coach educators awards. Davis is now a senior coach/coach educator for the organisation and he is also an ambassador for the 'Kick It Out' and 'Show Racism the Red Card organisations'.

Honours

Arsenal

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References
  1. "Paul Davis". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  2. Paul Davis at Soccerbase
  3. Paul Davis: the Arsenal midfielder ahead of his time who remains one of the club’s most under-appreciated legends thesefootballtimes.co
  4. "On this day in..." www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  5. "Paul Davis". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  6. Paul Davis at WorldFootball.net
  7. Blizzard, The (2 July 2019). "When the best of Serie A beat a Football League all-star XI". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  8. "Paul Davis". 11v11.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  9. "Arsenal FC – Sheffield Wednesday 2:1 (League Cup 1992/1993, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  10. "Arsenal FC – Sheffield Wednesday 2:1 (FA Cup 1992/1993, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  11. "Arsenal FC – Parma AC 1:0 (Cup Winners Cup 1993/1994, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  12. "Progression kicks off in – LFE" (PDF). p. 5. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  13. "Arsenal FC – Liverpool FC 2:1 (League Cup 1986/1987, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  14. "Arsenal FC – Tottenham Hotspur 0:0 (FA Community Shield 1991, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
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