Dai Davies (footballer born 1880)
Encyclopedia
David "Dai" Davies was a Welsh
rugby union
, professional rugby league
, and association football (soccer) player of the 1890s, 1900s and '10s who at club level played rugby union (RU) for Llanelli RFC
, at representative level played rugby league (RL) for Wales
, and Lancashire, and at club level for Swinton
(twice), and Leigh
, and at representative level played association football for Wales
, and at club level for Bolton Wanderers
, playing as a goalkeeper. Dai Davies is the only person to have appeared in both the rugby league Challenge Cup
final and the association football FA Cup Final
, and is one of the very few, perhaps the only, footballer to play for Wales at both international association football and international rugby league.
that lost only once in 31 matches in the 1896–97 season; he scored a try in the win over Newport in February 1897 that was described by the Daily Chronicle
as being for "the club championship of the United Kingdom".
(association football) in 1904 against Scotland (1–1), and Ireland (0–1), and in 1908 against England (1–7) as a half-time
substitute for the injured Stoke City goalkeeper Leigh Richmond Roose
who was replaced until half-time by defender
Charlie Morris
. Roose had been injured in the fifteenth minute following a shoulder-charge by Vivian Woodward
; Davies was attending the match as a spectator and at half time, with Wales four goals down, the F.A. officials and Woodward, the England captain, allowed Davies to play in goal for the remainder of the match.
He also won a cap for Wales
(RL) while at Swinton in the 13–39 defeat to England at Coventry on 10 December 1910.
, in Swinton
's 16–8 victory over Salford
in the 1900 Challenge Cup
final at Fallowfield Stadium
, Manchester
.
, in Swinton
's 3–4 defeat to Oldham
in the 1911 Lancashire Cup
final.
of the Football League First Division
in the summer of 1902, having only attended one Association Football match and never having handled an association ball. Davies was a "tough individual" and in a contemporaneous report it was climed that he "excelled in the dangerous and difficult task of diving headlong at an incoming forward's feet and whisking the ball away as he curled up and rolled to safety". A later report said that "in his indifference to cuts and bruises he was characteristic of the age he was playing in". At the end of Davies' first season with the Burnden Park
club, they were relegated to the Second Division
.
A year later, in April 1904, Davies played in goal in Bolton's 0–1 defeat to Manchester City
in the FA Cup Final
at Crystal Palace, London
. Despite being on the losing side, Davies "had a good match" and made a number of fine saves; he was only beaten once, by fellow Welsh international, Billy Meredith
.
Bolton returned to the First Division in 1905 for three years, before spending 1908–09 back in the Second Division. In 1909, they again returned to the top flight as Second Division champions, but were again relegated in 1910; by then, however, Davies had brought his soccer career to an end, returning to Rugby League with Swinton in December 1909.
.
, the 19th Lancashire Fusiliers
during World War I
, spending time in a French hospital due to an illness unrelated to the fighting. Davies organised the sporting activities for the 'Swinton Pals' at their First World War training camp in North Wales. After the war Davies assisted Swinton Park ARLFC.
Bolton Wanderers
.
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, professional rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
, and association football (soccer) player of the 1890s, 1900s and '10s who at club level played rugby union (RU) for Llanelli RFC
Llanelli RFC
Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded in 1875 and its senior team is one of the leading club sides in Wales. The club began the 2008-09 season at their historic home ground of Stradey Park in Llanelli, but moved in November 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent...
, at representative level played rugby league (RL) for Wales
Wales national rugby league team
The Wales national rugby league team represent Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is seventh in the RLIF World Rankings. The team were run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from...
, and Lancashire, and at club level for Swinton
Swinton Lions
Swinton Lions is an English professional rugby league club from Swinton, Greater Manchester. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. They currently play in the Championship.-Early years:...
(twice), and Leigh
Leigh Centurions
Leigh Centurions is an English professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester who play in the Co-operative Championship.The club was founded in 1878 as Leigh Rugby Football Club and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in...
, and at representative level played association football for Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
, and at club level for Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
, playing as a goalkeeper. Dai Davies is the only person to have appeared in both the rugby league Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
final and the association football FA Cup Final
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. With an official attendance of 89,826 at the 2007 FA Cup Final, it is the fourth best attended domestic club championship event in the world and the second most...
, and is one of the very few, perhaps the only, footballer to play for Wales at both international association football and international rugby league.
Rugby union club career
Davies was part of the Llanelli team captained by Owen BadgerOwen Badger
Owen Badger was a Welsh international rugby centre who played rugby union for Llanelli and was capped four times for Wales. He later switched codes, playing professional rugby league for Swinton.-Rugby career:...
that lost only once in 31 matches in the 1896–97 season; he scored a try in the win over Newport in February 1897 that was described by the Daily Chronicle
Daily Chronicle
The Daily Chronicle was a British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the Daily News to become the News Chronicle.-History:...
as being for "the club championship of the United Kingdom".
Rugby league club career
The Swinton club secretary, J. W. Scholes, had gone to Llaneli to try to encourage the disenchanted Owen Badger to return to Swinton, while there, he saw Dai Davies play for Llaneli RFC, and contracts were signed on a Llanelli shop window. Davies received £20; £5 in advance, and a further £15 on arrival in Swinton. (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £8,950 in 2009)International honours
Davies won caps for WalesWales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
(association football) in 1904 against Scotland (1–1), and Ireland (0–1), and in 1908 against England (1–7) as a half-time
Half-time
In some team sports such as association football and rugby, matches are played in two halves. Half-time is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match...
substitute for the injured Stoke City goalkeeper Leigh Richmond Roose
Leigh Richmond Roose
Leigh Richmond "Dick" Roose, MM, was a Welsh international footballer who kept goal for a number of professional clubs in the Football League between 1901 and 1912. A celebrated amateur at a time when the game was played largely by professionals, Roose was renowned as one of the best players in...
who was replaced until half-time by defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
Charlie Morris
Charlie Morris
Charles Richard "Charlie" Morris was a professional footballer, who played for Derby County and Huddersfield Town as a full back. He also played international football for Wales on 27 occasions.-Family:...
. Roose had been injured in the fifteenth minute following a shoulder-charge by Vivian Woodward
Vivian Woodward
Vivian John Woodward was an English amateur football player who enjoyed the peak of his career in the late 1900s and early 1910s.-Club career:...
; Davies was attending the match as a spectator and at half time, with Wales four goals down, the F.A. officials and Woodward, the England captain, allowed Davies to play in goal for the remainder of the match.
He also won a cap for Wales
Wales national rugby league team
The Wales national rugby league team represent Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is seventh in the RLIF World Rankings. The team were run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from...
(RL) while at Swinton in the 13–39 defeat to England at Coventry on 10 December 1910.
Challenge Cup final appearance
Davies played, and scored a tryTry
A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...
, in Swinton
Swinton Lions
Swinton Lions is an English professional rugby league club from Swinton, Greater Manchester. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. They currently play in the Championship.-Early years:...
's 16–8 victory over Salford
Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup...
in the 1900 Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
final at Fallowfield Stadium
Fallowfield Stadium
Fallowfield Stadium was an athletics stadium and velodrome in Fallowfield, Manchester, England. It opened in May 1892 as the home of Manchester Athletics Club after it was forced to move from its home next to Old Trafford Cricket Ground...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
.
County Cup final appearance
Davies played, and was captainCaptain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
, in Swinton
Swinton Lions
Swinton Lions is an English professional rugby league club from Swinton, Greater Manchester. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. They currently play in the Championship.-Early years:...
's 3–4 defeat to Oldham
Oldham Roughyeds
Oldham Roughyeds is an English professional rugby league club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Championship One. Oldham is one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895....
in the 1911 Lancashire Cup
Rugby league county cups
Historically, British rugby league clubs competed for the Lancashire Cup and the Yorkshire Cup, known collectively as the county cups. The leading rugby clubs in Yorkshire had played in a cup competition for several years prior to the schism of 1895...
final.
Bolton Wanderers
Davies joined Bolton WanderersBolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
of the Football League First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
in the summer of 1902, having only attended one Association Football match and never having handled an association ball. Davies was a "tough individual" and in a contemporaneous report it was climed that he "excelled in the dangerous and difficult task of diving headlong at an incoming forward's feet and whisking the ball away as he curled up and rolled to safety". A later report said that "in his indifference to cuts and bruises he was characteristic of the age he was playing in". At the end of Davies' first season with the Burnden Park
Burnden Park
Burnden Park was the home of English FA Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games here between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting an FA Cup Final replay it was the scene of one of the greatest disasters in English football and the subject of an L. S...
club, they were relegated to the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
.
A year later, in April 1904, Davies played in goal in Bolton's 0–1 defeat to Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
in the FA Cup Final
1904 FA Cup Final
The 1904 FA Cup Final was a football match between Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City on 23 April 1904 at Crystal Palace in London. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup , it was the 32nd Cup final, and the tenth at Crystal...
at Crystal Palace, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Despite being on the losing side, Davies "had a good match" and made a number of fine saves; he was only beaten once, by fellow Welsh international, Billy Meredith
Billy Meredith
William Henry "Billy" Meredith was a Welsh footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each domestic trophy in the English football league and also gained 48 caps for Wales, for whom he...
.
Bolton returned to the First Division in 1905 for three years, before spending 1908–09 back in the Second Division. In 1909, they again returned to the top flight as Second Division champions, but were again relegated in 1910; by then, however, Davies had brought his soccer career to an end, returning to Rugby League with Swinton in December 1909.
Family
Davies was the brother of the Swinton rugby league footballer, Daniel "Dan" DaviesDaniel Davies (rugby league)
Daniel "Dan" Davies was a Welsh professional rugby league footballer of the 1910s who at representative level played for Wales, and Other Nationalities, and at club level for Swinton.-International honours:...
.
Outside of sport
Davies retired from rugby age 33, and served with his brother in the 2nd Salford battalion (Swinton Pals)Pals battalion
The Pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted units of the British Army comprising men who had enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours and work colleagues , rather than being arbitrarily...
, the 19th Lancashire Fusiliers
Lancashire Fusiliers
The Lancashire Fusiliers was a British infantry regiment that was amalgamated with other Fusilier regiments in 1968 to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.- Formation and early history:...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, spending time in a French hospital due to an illness unrelated to the fighting. Davies organised the sporting activities for the 'Swinton Pals' at their First World War training camp in North Wales. After the war Davies assisted Swinton Park ARLFC.
Honours
SwintonSwinton Lions
Swinton Lions is an English professional rugby league club from Swinton, Greater Manchester. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. They currently play in the Championship.-Early years:...
- Challenge CupChallenge CupThe Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
winners: 1900 - Lancashire CupRugby league county cupsHistorically, British rugby league clubs competed for the Lancashire Cup and the Yorkshire Cup, known collectively as the county cups. The leading rugby clubs in Yorkshire had played in a cup competition for several years prior to the schism of 1895...
finalist: 1911
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
finalists: 19041904 FA Cup FinalThe 1904 FA Cup Final was a football match between Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City on 23 April 1904 at Crystal Palace in London. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup , it was the 32nd Cup final, and the tenth at Crystal... - Football League Second DivisionFootball League Second DivisionFrom 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
champions: 1908–09 - Football League Second DivisionFootball League Second DivisionFrom 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
runners-up: 1904–05
Note
Dai Davies played at Swinton in the same era as, but he was not related to, David B. DaviesDavid Davies (rugby league)
David B. Davies was a Welsh professional rugby league footballer of the 1900s and '10s who at representative level played for Wales, and Welsh League XIII, and at club level for Merthyr Tydfil, Swinton, and Oldham, playing at , or , i.e...
.