Alan Edward Davidson (born 1 June 1960) is an Australian former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player. His father is Australian and his mother is Japanese.

Club career

Davidson made his senior debut in the Victorian State League in 1976 at the age of 15 playing for Altona City SC which had been his junior club. He transferred to

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

in 1978, where he played until the end of the 1984 season, making 155 appearances and scoring 13 goals. He moved to England for the 1984–85 season for

Nottingham Forest F.C. Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Trent ...

and a promising start where he broke into the first team as a right-back was curtailed by illness after suffering a blow to the head and having a seizure during a reserve game on a very cold night which side lined him till the end of the season. He resumed training and played for the first team before suffering a serious back injury which sidelined him for over a year, forcing him into early retirement at the age of 25. He returned home to Melbourne. He resumed playing in Australia at the end of 1986 for South Melbourne and in 1987 transferred to Melbourne Croatia, making 133 appearances and scoring 10 goals from 1987 to the end of the 1991–92 season and transferred to

M-League The Malaysian League or also known as the M-League ( Malay: ''Liga Malaysia'' or ''Liga-M'') is a terminology used to describe the professional association football league in Malaysia. The terminology was mainly used to describe the league and ...

club

Pahang FA Sri Pahang Football Club () is a Malaysian professional football club based in Kuantan, Pahang. Founded in 1959 and has traditionally worn a yellow home kit since. At the beginning, club's home matches were held around the city public fields an ...

in Malaysia during 1992 where he was voted the League's best player, guiding the team to the

Championship and

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual association football, football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popular ...

double. He was the only foreign player ever to be honored and received an AMP awarded by the Sultan of

Pahang Pahang (;Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a ...

in 1996. During 1989 Davidson led the Australia National Futsal Team to the first ever

FIFA Futsal World Cup The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherlan ...

in the Netherlands where he played in all three round one games against Zimbabwe, Italy and United States. Brazil were crowned FIFA Futsal World Champions beating the Netherlands 2-1 in the final. Near the end of his playing career, he guested for

South Melbourne FC South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional Association football, soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, Victoria, Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The club currently competes in the National P ...

for two seasons (1994 and 1995), while with the Malaysian club

between (1992 and 1996). His penultimate season (1996–97) he guested with the

Collingwood Warriors Collingwood Warriors Soccer Club was an Australian semi-professional association football (soccer) club based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford. It participated in the National Soccer League in 1996–97, lasting only a solitary sea ...

, and his last season (1997–98) was back with the

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

. He finally retired in 1998 at the age of 38 after three

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

campaigns, one 1989 FIFA Futsal World Cup and an

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

: 1988 Seoul Olympics, 79 Socceroo appearances, 51 FIFA full A internationals and was number #32 official Socceroo Captain and Socceroo Cap No-292. He was inducted to the

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...

Football Hall of Fame Football Hall of Fame may refer to: American football *College Football Hall of Fame *Pro Football Hall of Fame, located in Canton, Ohio Association football *English Football Hall of Fame *Football Federation Australia Hall of Fame *National Soc ...

n- in the Hall of Champions category in 2001. Davidson was appointed the head coach of his former team Pahang in January 1999, however he parted ways with Pahang in April the same year. In 2006 Former 1974 Socceroo World Cup Coach Rale Rasic named Davidson in his greatest ever Socceroo team. Davidson also sits on Football Federation Australia A-Leagues Independent Match Review Panel and is one of two of the original three founding members of the current Match Review Panel formed in 2008-09 A-League season. Davidson's footballing career was honoured on 12 July 2012 at the "Australia's Greatest Ever Footballers Gala" ceremony at the Sydney Convention Center being named in Australia's Best 11 ever "Socceroo Team" of all time. The team selected was -

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, Joe Marston,

Craig Moore Craig Andrew Moore (born 12 December 1975) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. His 2006 FIFA World Cup profile describes him as being "tough-tackling and uncompromising but also calm and composed under ...

, Alan Davidson,

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and

Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian association football coach, manager and former player. His most recent role as a club manager was at English National League side Barnet, and he is currently a first team coach at Celtic F ...

. Alan has been an honorary playing member of Victoria Police Soccer Club (VPSC) for a number of years (his father was a Victoria Police member), representing the Club at a number of local and National events. In June, 2013, Alan was honoured by accepting the title of Community Patron of VPSC. Alan travelled with VPSC in July, 2013, to Hong Kong, playing for VPSC in a tournament with the Hong Kong Police Force, Hong Kong Celebrity All Stars and Victoria Asian Football Federation. VPSC went through the tournament unbeaten to win the title. Davidson was honoured by

Football Federation Victoria Football Victoria is the state governing body for soccer in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated with Football Australia, the sport's national governing body. History Football Victoria began operation in 1884 under the name Anglo Australia ...

at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne on 14 October 2013 in recognition of outstanding contribution to football in the state of Victoria and inducted to the FFV Hall Of Fame. On Tuesday 17 December 2013, Davidson was again honoured by Football Federation Australia and selected in the FFA Team of the Decade between 1980 - 1989 at The Crown Towers in Melbourne. The FFA Team of the Decade for the 1980s Terry Greedy, Alan Davidson,

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, Joe Watson,

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Zarko Odzakov Zarko (Greek: Ζάρκο, also: ''Zarkos'') is a village in the Farkadona municipality, Trikala regional unit, Greece. Zarko had a population of 1,247 in 2011. Zarko is located on the edge of the Thessalian Plain, 5 km east of Farkadona pro ...

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Eddie Krncevic Eduvard "Eddie" Krncevic ( ; hr, Edi Krnčević; born 14 August 1960) is a retired Australian footballer who played as a striker, and a current manager. Football career Club career After playing his first four years of professional footbal ...

. Wednesday 19 March 2014, Davidson was again honoured by Football Federation Victoria by Awarding him a Life Member of FFV in recognition of his outstanding meritorious service to football in Victoria.

International career

His first Australian representative honours were in 1978–79 during the Under 19 World Youth Cup, qualifiers in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and made 10 youth appearances. Davidson made his senior debut for Australia on 9 February 1980 at the age of 19 against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in Melbourne drawing the game 2-2. Davidson retired as

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...

#32 official Socceroo Captain and Socceroo Cap No-292 after 79 international

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

(51 in official

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

matches) between 1980 and 1991 with the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

team, scoring 2 goals in those appearances.

Personal life

His son

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...

is also a professional football player, currently playing for the A-league club Melbourne Victory and the

Honours

South Melbourne * NSL Championship: 1984 * NSL Cup: 1995–96 *

Hellenic Cup The Hellenic Cup ( el, Ελληνικό Κύπελλο, translit=Ellinikό Kypello) is an Australian football (soccer) tournament contested by Greek Australian clubs, mostly from Melbourne, Victoria . Starting in 1983, it was an attempt to formal ...

: 1984 Nottingham Forest *Saudi Arabia Cup: Winners 1984 Melbourne Knights * NSL Championship Runners Up: 1990–91, 1991–92 * Ansett Challenge Shield: 1987 * Buffalo Cup: 1987 Pahang FA *

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League ( ms, Liga Premier) was the second-tier professional Association football, football league in Malaysia. The league replaced the former second-tier league, Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The ...

: 1992, 1995 *

: 1992: Runners Up 1994, 1995 *

Malaysia Charity Shield Piala Sumbangsih (English: Malaysia Charity Cup), also known as Piala Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah ( en, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup), is the Malaysian super cup competition. It is the curtain raiser match to the new Malaysian football season, pitting ...

: 1992, 1993

Runners Up A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

1995 *

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before being transferred to Fo ...

: Runners Up 1995 Collingwood Warriors * NSL Cup: 1996–97 Australia *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

Trans-Tasman Cup The Trans-Tasman Cup was an association football competition played between Australia and New Zealand. Six editions were played between 1983 and 1995 after the OFC Nations Cup was discontinued. It was considered the most important Oceanian tourn ...

: Winners 1988, Runners Up 1983, 1987 *

Merlion Cup The Merlion Cup was an invitational football tournament that was held in Singapore annually from 1982–1986, in 1992, 2009 and 2019. Participants included full national sides, Olympic sides, Invitational XI's and club teams. After the 1986 tou ...

: Winners 1982, 1983 *

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

: Runners Up 1987 * Bicentennial Gold Cup 1988 Runners up

Individual

* Alan Davidson - Field 18 (Albert Park Lake) - 1996 * Ahli Mahkota Pahang

: - 1996 *

Team of the Century – 2000 * FFA Hall of Champions Inductee – 2001 *

Hall of Champions: Inductee – 2002 * Greatest Ever Socceroos XI Team - 2012 *

Hall Of Fame - 2013 *

Team of the Decade 1980-89 - 2013 *Football Federation Victoria Life Member - 2014

References

* http://www.goal.com/en-au/news/4020/australia/2012/07/13/3238568/exclusive-humbled-alan-davidson-hails-greatest-ever-gala * http://au.fourfourtwo.com/Gallery/308555,greatest-ever-socceroos-xi.aspx/1 * http://greatesteveraustralianfootballer.com/

External links

Nostalgia Liga Malaysia: Alan Davidson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Alan 1960 births Living people Australian soccer players Soccer players from Melbourne Australian expatriate soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australia under-20 international soccer players Australia international soccer players Olympic soccer players of Australia National Soccer League (Australia) players South Melbourne FC players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Melbourne Knights FC players Sri Pahang FC players Collingwood Warriors S.C. players Australian soccer coaches Sri Pahang FC managers Expatriate footballers in Malaysia Australian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia 1980 Oceania Cup players Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Australian people of Japanese descent Association football midfielders Association football defenders People from Altona, Victoria Expatriate footballers in England English Football League players Australian expatriate soccer coaches Expatriate football managers in Malaysia