Alan Davies (5 December 1961 – 4 February 1992) was an English-born Welsh international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, although he could also play on the left. Davies began his football career with

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, before spending time with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

, Swansea City (two spells) and

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. Davies committed suicide in February 1992.

Career

Club career

Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, Davies began his football career at

, turning professional in December 1978. He made his senior debut for United on 1 May 1982, and made a total of 10 appearances for them, scoring one goal, in the first leg of their European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final against Juventus in April 1984. He made his final United appearance on 5 May 1984. He played in both games in the 1983 FA Cup Final when United defeated Brighton. Davies then moved to

and made 21 league appearances in his two seasons there, although he also had loan spells with

and

. He then transferred to Swansea City for the 1987–88 season. Davies found much more success at Swansea, playing in 84 league matches in two seasons there, and scoring eight goals. He then transferred to

for a season in June 1989. After 26 league appearances and one goal for the Bantams, Davies returned to Swansea City, scoring a further four goals in 43 league appearances. He committed suicide in 1992. A testimonial match in his memory was contested between Swansea City and Manchester United at the

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales. It was used for football matches and was the home ground of Swansea City until the club moved to the newly built Liberty Stadium in 2005. Opened in 1912, the ground held around 12,000 ...

in August that year.

International career

Although he was born in England, Davies' parents were Welsh and he was therefore eligible to play for the

Wales national football team ) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth ...

. Davies won 13 caps for Wales in a seven-year international career.

Death

On 4 February 1992, after dropping his daughter off at school, Davies drove to

Horton Horton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Horton Glacier, Adelaide Island, Antarctica * Horton Ledge, Queen Elizabeth Land, Antarctica Australia * Horton, Queensland, a town and locality in the Bundaberg Region * Horton River (Australia), ...

, and committed suicide by

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large e ...

. At the inquest of fellow player

Gary Speed Gary Andrew Speed (8 September 1969 – 27 November 2011) was a Welsh professional footballer and manager. As manager of Wales, Speed is often credited as being the catalyst for the change in fortunes of the national team and as setting t ...

, who was found hanged in November 2011, it was alleged that he and Speed had been "favourites" of convicted child-abuser

Barry Bennell A child sexual abuse scandal involving the abuse of young players at football clubs in the United Kingdom began in mid-November 2016. The revelations began when former professional footballers waived their rights to anonymity and talked publicly ...

, though there was no suggestion they had been abused by Bennell.

Honours

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: 1982–83

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Alan 1961 births 1992 deaths Footballers from Manchester Welsh footballers Wales international footballers Association football wingers Manchester United F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players English Football League players Suicides in Wales Wales under-21 international footballers Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning 1992 suicides FA Cup Final players