Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Curtis Eugene Davies | ||
Date of birth | 15 March 1985 | ||
Place of birth | Leytonstone, London, England | ||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1] | ||
Playing position | Defender | ||
Club information | |||
Current club | Birmingham City | ||
Number | 24 | ||
Youth career | |||
2000–2001 | Wimbledon | ||
2001–2003 | Luton Town | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
2003–2005 | Luton Town | 56 | (2) |
2005–2008 | West Bromwich Albion | 65 | (2) |
2007–2008 | → Aston Villa (loan) | 12 | (1) |
2008–2011 | Aston Villa | 37 | (2) |
2010–2011 | → Leicester City (loan) | 12 | (0) |
2011– | Birmingham City | 25 | (2) |
National team | |||
2006–2007 | England U21 | 2 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:01, 2 January 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
Curtis Eugene Davies (born 15 March 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Birmingham City. Davies has previously played for Luton Town, where he began his career, West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa and Leicester City.
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Davies was born in Leytonstone, to an English mother and a Sierra Leonean Creole father.[2] He started his career with Wimbledon, as a trainee, at the age of 15. A year later, he was released. He wrote to every club in the local area, including Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur and Millwall asking for a trial. Colchester United responded first, two weeks before any other club, and a trial was offered; after a couple of trial matches he was released. Luton Town were next club to offer him a trial. During the trial, he scored two goals in three games and was handed a scholarship straight away. He made his full team debut in 2003.
He made six appearances in the league during the 2003–04 season, with the away performance at QPR particularly good. The next season Davies achieved his first promotion as he appeared in 44 league games for the Hatters, scoring his first senior goal in the title-clinching win at Wrexham. Davies was named League One Player of the Year for that season,[3] as well as winning the Luton Town Young Player of the Year award. He also made the League One PFA Team of the Year for 2004–05, alongside five of his teammates.[4]
The next season Davies only managed six games, and a goal in his final game at home to Millwall before his impressive displays saw him signed by then-Premier League side West Bromwich Albion on 31 August 2005 for a fee of £3 million.[5]
Davies had an impressive first season for West Brom, making 35 starts and scoring two goals. However, he was unable to stop West Brom being relegated. On 28 July 2006 he pledged his future to West Brom, by signing a new four-year deal.
In 2006–07 Davies became West Brom captain on a permanent basis, having worn the armband on several occasions during the previous season.[3] He became Albion's second youngest captain of all time.[6] He received his first-ever red card against Middlesbrough on 17 February 2007 after receiving two yellow cards for challenges on Boro striker Mark Viduka. On 14 March, Davies broke his fifth metatarsal bone in the Baggies' game against Crystal Palace, ruling him out for the rest of the season.[7] This made him unavailable for selection for the first ever game at the new Wembley Stadium, where he was expected to have appeared for the England Under-21s. Davies was named in the PFA Championship team of the year for 2006–07.[8]
On 21 June, Davies had a transfer request rejected by West Brom. Davies subsequently handed in two further transfer requests, both of which were rejected.[9] On 30 August 2007, Albion announced that they had given permission for Davies to speak to Aston Villa regarding a possible move.[10]
On 31 August 2007, Davies signed for Aston Villa on a season long loan, with a view to a permanent transfer in the summer of 2008.[11] He made his Villa debut in a 1–0 League Cup defeat to Leicester City on 27 September 2007.[12] He compared his performance to that of a pub team player saying:
“ | "Just awful; I didn't contribute anything. I've been bigging myself up, saying I'm ready and obviously I'm not. I'm not good enough to get in the team yet. I'm honest with myself in every performance and that was rubbish – I looked like a pub team player."[13] | ” |
Davies made his Premier League debut with Villa in the 2–0 home victory against Derby County on 3 November. He scored on his first Premier League start in a 2–1 away victory at Wigan Athletic on 29 December 2007.[14] He then became a regular in Aston Villa's back four at the expense of Zat Knight.
On 1 March 2008 Davies suffered a season ending ruptured achilles tendon against Arsenal in a 1–1 draw and was thought to be out for around six months.[15] But he surprised doctors by making a remarkable comeback much sooner than expected. He played 60 minutes in a behind-closed doors friendly against Notts County at Villa's training ground, and then 62 minutes in another friendly against Reading at the Madjeski Stadium, a game that ended with a 1–1 draw.
His move to Villa was made permanent on 3 July 2008, with Davies signing a four-year contract.[16] The fee was undisclosed but has been quoted variously at between £8–10 million.[17][18][19][20]
Davies captained Aston Villa for the first time on 6 November 2008, in the 1–0 UEFA Cup win against Slavia Prague,[21] with regular captain Martin Laursen on the substitutes' bench.[22] He netted his first goal of the 2008–09 season in January 2009, helping his team to a 2–1 win against his former club West Bromwich Albion.
Davies started in the team's first game at home against Wigan Athletic in the opening day of the season. The team lost 2–0 at Villa Park in a very disappointing and unsuccessful game with goals from Hugo Rodallega and Jason Koumas. However the team's next league game was away at Anfield, Davies scored the second goal of the game with a header from a corner-kick in first half stoppage time. Davies' recurring shoulder problems prompted an operation in September 2009, forcing the player out of the side for a few months. During his absence, Villa brought in defenders James Collins from West Ham United and Richard Dunne from Manchester City. He made his return to action following the operation as a second half substitute in the FA Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion on 23 January, replacing Stephen Warnock.
After struggling to work his way back in to the team, media speculation began to link Davies with a loan move to Scottish Premier League side Celtic. However, Villa manager Martin O'Neill was quick to deny these rumours.
In August 2010, O'Neill resigned from his position at the club. Following this, Davies told journalists that he felt that O'Neill had not given him a fair chance during his spell at the club, and that he hoped that a new manager would give every member of the squad a clean slate.[23]
On 15 October Davies joined Leicester City on a month's loan deal.[24] On 10 November, Davies extended his loan at the club, seeing him stay at Leicester until January 2011.[25] He returned to Aston Villa on 3 January 2011.[26]
On 28 January 2011, Davies signed for rivals Birmingham City on a three-and-a-half-year contract for a undisclosed fee.[27] He was given the squad number 32.[1] He made his first-team debut in a 3–1 home defeat to former club West Bromwich Albion in March, coming into the starting eleven in place of the injured Martin Jiránek.[28] His first goal for the club came when he opened the scoring with a header from a Jordon Mutch corner on 6 August 2011 as Birmingham went on to lose 2–1 at Derby County.[29] In Birmingham's first match in major European competition for nearly 50 years, the Europa League play-off round first leg against Portuguese club Nacional, which finished goalless, Davies made a well-timed tackle from behind to prevent Mateus opening the scoring.[30]
Davies made his England under-21 debut on 28 February 2006, against Norway U21s. He was named in Fabio Capello's first provisional England squad. Davies initially expressed shock at the news of his call-up.[31] He has since been named in other England squads but has yet to make his full debut.[32]
Davies began his charitable work in December 2009 in Birmingham with a Christmas Party for underprivileged children at the Town Hall, organised by his agents NVA Entertainment Group.[33]
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