- Dai Davies (footballer)
Infobox Football biography
playername = Dai Davies
fullname = William David Davies
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1948|04|01
cityofbirth =Glanaman
countryofbirth =Wales
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
position =Goalkeeper
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1969-1970 1970-1977 1974 1977-1981
1981-1983
1983-1984
clubs = Swansea City Everton → Swansea City "(loan)" Wrexham Swansea City Tranmere Rovers
caps(goals) = 009 (0)
082 (0)
006 (0)
144 (0)
071 (0)
042 (0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =William David Davies, better known as Dai Davies (born
April 1 1948 inGlanaman ,Wales ), is a former professional footballer, who played in goal between 1969 and 1987. He made 52 appearances for theWales national football team , and played for Everton, Wrexham (twice), Tranmere Rovers and three spells at Swansea City.Background
David 'Dai' Davies ('Dai' being the Welsh
diminutive for 'David ') was born inGlanamman in theAmman valley onApril 1 ,1948 . His father was acoal mine r and an amateur footballer, who had trials withWolverhampton Wanderers andSheffield United .Dai attended Amman Valley Grammar School,
Ammanford , where he was often known affectionately as Dai Dai. He showed ability as agoalkeeper from an extremely early age, being picked for the village under-18 team when only 12 years old, and playing for nearby Ammanford Town's adult team at just 15.In school, Davies played both football and
rugby union , appearing for West Wales School in theSecond Row , alongside such Welsh rugby greats asPaul Ringer ,Barry Llywelyn , Peter Nicholas andSelwyn Williams . He finished playing rugby when the local football club he played for, Ammanford United, lost 4-0, with Davies being at fault for all four goals, after playing a full rugby match a few hours earlier.Davies played schoolboy and youth soccer with local clubs (Ammanford United, and then Ammanford Town) – soccer was not played at the local grammar school - before becoming a professional footballer at the age of 21, in 1969, after qualifying as a PE teacher. He signed for Swansea Town immediately after leaving training college, as Swansea Town were offering him £17.50 a week, while a teacher's salary at that time was just £14 a week. In 1970, the town of
Swansea gained city status, and the club changed its name to Swansea City, to match.Footballing career
The Swansea youth team (which also featured
Giorgio Chinaglia ) had an excellent run in the English Youth Cup, losing to Wolverhampton Wanderers' youth team in the fourth round. Davies was spotted by an Everton scout, and after just over a year at Third Division Swansea City, Dai Davies signed for First Division Everton, then Football League champions in December 1970 for £40,000. He played for Everton for 7 seasons.In 1977, Davies moved to Wrexham, playing there for one season, before returning to Swansea. A spell at Tranmere Rovers followed, before he went back to Swansea. He then returned to Wrexham from Swansea in 1985, and stayed until 1987, when he retired. Dai Davies played 199 games in total for Wrexham, conceding a total of 210 goals (an average of 1.06 goals a game), and kept 63 'clean sheets'. He received 28 of his 52 Welsh caps while playing for Wrexham, making him the club's most capped player.
After retirement from football
Dai Davies's
autobiography was published first in Welsh, where it bore the title "Hanner Cystal a' Nhad" ('Half the Man my Father Was') in tribute to his father. It was later published in an English translation in 1986, by when its title had become 'Never Say Dai', apun .Davies was a part-owner of a Welsh book and craft shop ("Siop y Siswrn") in
Mold, Flintshire , and is a football commentator onS4C , in both English and Welsh.He is a qualified teacher, and often works as a supply teacher. He runs a natural healing centre in
Llangollen , North Wales, specialising in herbal remedies, remedial massage, muscle work andreiki . [http://www.terrynorm.ic24.net/dai+davies.htm]He is also a Druid, having been initiated into the Welsh
Gorsedd ofBards ("Gorsedd y Beirdd Ynys Prydain") in 1978.External links
* [http://www.terrynorm.ic24.net/dai+davies.htm Dai Davies fan site] - large archive of interviews, images, statistics relating to Dai Davies, and the first 3 chapters of his autobiography
References
*"Hanner Cystal a' Nhad" ('Half the Man my Father Was') - The autobiography of Wales goalkeeper Dai Davies (Published by Siop y Siswrn,
Mold, Flintshire , 1984)
*"Never Say Dai" - English translation of "Hanner Cystal a' Nhad", translated by Iorweth Roberts (Published by Siop y Siswrn,Mold, Flintshire , 1986)
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.