Len Davies

Leonard Stephen Davies (28 April 1899 – 1945) was a Welsh professional footballer. He remains the record goalscorer for Cardiff City in both league and all competitions having scored 179 goals for the club between 1919 and 1931. His involvement with the club coincided with their greatest period, a term in which Cardiff consolidated their position in the First Division and in which they regularly did well in the FA Cup. He also represented Wales at international level.

Len Davies
Personal information
Full name Leonard Stephen Davies
Date of birth (1899-04-28)28 April 1899
Place of birth Splott, Cardiff, Wales
Date of death 1945 (aged 45–46)
Place of death Prescot, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Victoria Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1919–1931 Cardiff City 306 (128)
1931–1932 Thames 27 (12)
1932–1935 Bangor City 10 (2)
Total 343 (142)
National team
1922–1929 Wales 23 (6)
Teams managed
1932–1935 Bangor City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Born in the Splott district of Cardiff, Davies trained as a marine engineer in his teens.[2] He also played cricket at youth level for Glamorgan County Cricket Club.[3]

Club career

Early years

Davies began his career with local youth side Victoria Athletic before joining Cardiff City in 1919.[2] He made his senior debut in the 1919–20 season, replacing George Beare for a 2–2 draw with Luton Town on 13 September 1919 in the Southern Football League.[4][5] However, this proved to be his only first team appearance for more than a year. Cardiff joined the Second Division of the Football League in 1920, but Davies played only three times during the league season. His only other appearance during the 1920–21 season came in the Welsh Cup. With Cardiff meeting Bristol City in the Football League on the same day, they were forced to field a reserve side for their tie against Pontypridd. Although Cardiff went on to lose the tie, Davies scored the first senior goal of his career.[6]

Davies remained a reserve at the start of the 1921–22 season, during which the club initially struggled in the top tier. With Fred Pagnam having failed to score in 13 appearances, Davies was brought into the side in November and scored a brace during a 2–1 victory over Everton. He scored in his next two appearances and remained a regular in the first team for the remainder of the campaign.[7] In December 1921, Cardiff rejected a £3,000 offer for Davies from a rival First Division club.[8] He scored Cardiff's first hat-trick in the Football League on 21 January 1922 during a 6–3 victory over Bradford City.[9] He was also prolific in the Welsh Cup, scoring four times against Newport County in the third round and adding a hat-trick against Merthyr Town in the fourth. In the final, Davies scored Cardiff's second goal as they defeated Ton Pentre 2–0. He finished the season as Cardiff's second highest scorer in the First Division with 17, 3 short of Jimmy Gill, but his scoring exploits in the FA Cup and Welsh Cup saw him out score Gill in all competitions.[7]

Gill and Davies remained a prolific partnership for the club in the 1922–23 season, with Davies scoring 19 league goals, two more than his teammate. Davies' tally included a hat-trick during a 6–1 victory over Chelsea in March 1923. He also scored six times in four matches as Cardiff retained their Welsh Cup title, including a hat-trick in a 10–0 win over Oswestry in the fourth round and the winning goal in the final during a 3–2 victory over Aberdare Athletic.[10]

Near title miss and FA Cup finals

Davies began the 1923–24 season slowly, scoring once in his first five appearances although Cardiff scored ten times in the games. From 15 September to 27 October, he embarked on a scoring run, netting in six of the seven matches his side played, which included winning goals in two matches. On 10 November, he scored all of Cardiff's goals in a 4–2 victory over West Bromwich Albion. He went on to finish the campaign as the club's top goalscorer having scored 23 times in the league, a career high tally.[11] However, his campaign was overshadowed by a missed penalty on the final day of the season. In their last game, Cardiff met Birmingham. If they won the game Cardiff would be guaranteed the First Division title. The match was goalless after 70 minutes, when a goal-bound shot from Gill was blocked by the hand of a Birmingham defender resulting in a penalty being given. The club's usual penalty taker Jack Evans had missed recent attempts, while Gill was reluctant to take it.[12] Davies instead stepped in to take the first penalty of his senior career.[13] His teammate Fred Keenor later described the attempt "There is no doubt that the excitement and the knowledge that so much depended on the shot unnerved Len a little. Under ordinary circumstances it would have been a gift goal, but Len Davies muffed the kick and the ball rolled gently to the goalkeeper, who calmly gathered and made an easy clearance."[14] The game eventually ended goalless while their nearest rivals Huddersfield Town won 3–0 and secured the title courtesy of goal average. The difference between the two sides, 0.024 of a goal remains the closest margin of victory ever recorded in the top tier of English football.[15][16]

He was again Cardiff's highest goalscorer the following year, netting 20 times despite suffering several injury problems that restricted him to 30 league appearances. However, his injury issues cost him a place in the squad for 1925 FA Cup final with Joe Nicholson starting in his place. His side went on to suffer defeat against Sheffield United.[17][18] The signing of Hughie Ferguson in 1925 led to Davies being moved to an inside forward role and his scoring record fell as a result. He scored eight times during the 1925–26 season and seven the following year.[19][20] In 1927, he was part of the Cardiff side that beat Arsenal to win the FA Cup, becoming the only side from outside England to have won the competition. The only goal of the game came as the opposition goalkeeper was unable to control a shot from Hughie Ferguson as Davies advanced on him.[2] Two weeks after the final, Davies scored the opening goal in Cardiff's 2–0 win over Rhyl in the Welsh Cup final.[20]

Davies remained with Cardiff until 1931, one year after finishing as the club's top scorer for the fifth time in the Football League.[21] He missed the majority of his final season after undergoing surgery for appendicitis,[22] before being released alongside Keenor.[23] The pair both made their final appearance for the club in a goalless draw with Tottenham Hotspur on 6 April 1931. The club had suffered relegation to the Third Division South by the time of his departure.[24] He remains the club's highest scorer with 179 goals in all competitions.[25]

Later career

He instead joined fellow Third Division South Side Thames. During his one season with the club, they played his former side Cardiff which resulted in a clash of kit colours. Thames instead played in 11 of Davies' Welsh shirts which he had obtained on international duty.[26] Thames finished bottom of the Third Division South in the 1931–32 season and the club was wound up at the end of the season. Davies became manager of Bangor City for the 1932-33 season, staying with the club until 1935.[2]

International career

Davies made a goalscoring debut for Wales on 4 February 1922 in a 2–1 win over Scotland.[27]

Davies played 23 times for the Welsh national side, scoring six times and helping Wales to Home Championship titles in 1924 and 1928. His last game for Wales came on 20 November 1929 against England.[28]

Later life

He eventually became a school sports coach at Mostyn House School, Parkgate and later worked on an aircraft production line during World War II.[3] He died of pneumonia in Prescot in 1945.[29]

International goals
Results list Wales' goal tally first.
GoalDateVenueOpponentResultCompetition
1.4 February 1922Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales Scotland2–11922 British Home Championship
2.1 April 1922Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland Ireland1–11922 British Home Championship
3.16 February 1924Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales Scotland2–01924 British Home Championship
4.12 February 1927Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales England3–31927 British Home Championship
5.12 February 1927Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales England3–31927 British Home Championship
6.26 October 1929Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales Scotland2–41929 British Home Championship

Honours

As a player

Cardiff City[2]

References
  1. "Cardiff City". Athletic News. 24 August 1925. p. 6. Retrieved 13 November 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Cardiff City. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 47. ISBN 1-85983-462-0.
  3. Peter Shuttleworth (4 January 2009). "Cup Friends Reunited". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  4. Shepherd 2002, p. 21
  5. "Cardiff City Team". Western Mail. 13 September 1919. p. 10. Retrieved 9 January 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. Shepherd 2002, p. 22
  7. Shepherd 2002, p. 23
  8. "Nothing Doing!". Western Mail. 5 December 1921. p. 4. Retrieved 14 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "The roaring twenties". Cardiff City F.C. 17 November 2004. Archived from the original on 26 June 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  10. Shepherd 2002, p. 24
  11. Shepherd 2002, p. 25
  12. Lloyd, Grahame (1999). C'mon City! A Hundred Years of the Bluebirds. Seren Books. p. 75. ISBN 1854112716.
  13. Saunders, Christian (2013). From the Ashes – The Real Story of Cardiff City Football Club. Llygad Gwalch Cyf. p. 44. ISBN 9781845242138.
  14. Leighton, James (2010). Fred Keenor – The Man Who Never Gave Up. Derby: Derby Books Publishing Company. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-85983-828-0.
  15. "Looking back to 1924: Cardiff City and Huddersfield Town were Britain's best". WalesOnline. Media Wales. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  16. Shuttleworth, Peter (22 April 2009). "Top Ten Ninian Park Memories". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  17. "Association football". The Times. 25 April 1925. p. 7. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  18. Shepherd 2002, p. 26
  19. Shepherd 2002, p. 27
  20. Shepherd 2002, p. 28
  21. Shepherd 2002, p. 31
  22. "Cardiff Contrasts". Athletic News. 13 April 1931. p. 1. Retrieved 15 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  23. "Cardiff City Surprise". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 11 April 1931. p. 8. Retrieved 15 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  24. Shepherd 2002, p. 32
  25. Shepherd 2002, pp. 20–32
  26. "Similarity of Colours". Northern Whig. 5 February 1932. p. 2. Retrieved 15 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  27. "Wales 2-1 Scotland". Welsh Football Data Archive. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  28. "England 6-0 Wales". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  29. Davies, Gareth; Garland, Ian (1991). Who's Who of Welsh International Soccer Players. Bridge Books. p. 39. ISBN 1-872424-11-2.

Bibliography

  • Shepherd, Richard (2002). The Definitive: Cardiff City F.C. Nottingham: SoccerData Publications. ISBN 978-1-899468-17-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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