Arron Rhys Davies (born 22 June 1984) is a Welsh former professional

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

midfielder 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 ...

. He made one appearance for the Wales national team.

Early life

Davies was brought up in Llantwit Major, where he attended Llantwit Major Comprehensive School.

Club career

Southampton

Davies joined

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

's Centre of Excellence at Bath before moving up to the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

. He made his first appearance for the reserves in September 2001 and became a regular for the Saints reserves in the 2002–03 season after moving from the wing to a striking role. Between March and April 2003 he scored 4 times in 5 reserve games, which brought him to the attention of first team manager

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Co ...

. Strachan named Davies in his initial 20-man squad for the

2003 FA Cup final The 2003 FA Cup Final was the 122nd final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest domestic football cup competition. The final took place on Saturday 17 May 2003 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, in front of a crowd of 73,726. It was the third co ...

, however he failed to make the bench. Davies also travelled to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

for Saints'

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tie. Although seemingly on the verge of breaking into the senior team, Davies never made a first team appearance for Southampton. In February 2004, he went on loan to

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

side Barnsley. On 14 February 2004 he made his debut for Barnsley in a 1–0 loss against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. Davies was released by Southampton following the arrival of new manager Harry Redknapp in December 2004.

Yeovil Town

On 16 December 2004, Davies moved to League Two side

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

on a free transfer On 18 December 2004, Davies scored the winning goal on his debut in a 3–2 victory over

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

. On 29 January 2005, Davies scored in a 3–2 loss against

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 ...

in the fourth round of the

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 ...

. In February 2005, Davies scored in four consecutive matches against Chester City, Scunthorpe United,

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

. Yeovil finished the 2004–05 season as champions of League Two and won promotion to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

. Davies blossomed during 2005–06, where he scored 8 goals in 39 appearances. On 4 March 2006, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in a 3–0 victory. At the end of the season, Davies signed a new two-year contract with Yeovil, keeping him at the club until 2008. In 2006–07, Davies scored 6 league goals. On 18 May 2007, he scored twice in Yeovil's 5–2 Football League One Play-off semi-final win against

Nottingham Forest 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 Tren ...

at the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when En ...

. His goals helped Yeovil to a 5–4 aggregate win. 27 May 2007, Yeovil lost 2–0 against Blackpool on in the League One Play-off Final.

Nottingham Forest

6 July 2007, Davies moved to

side

in a combined £1.2m deal with teammate

Chris Cohen Christopher David Cohen (born 5 March 1987) is an English former professional footballer and is currently assistant manager at Southampton. Primarily a midfielder, he was able to operate equally in the centre or on the left, but was also emplo ...

. On 6 July 2007, he signed a three-year contract. Davies missed the start of the 2007–08 season due to injury. 30 October 2007, He made his debut as a substitute in a 0–0 draw against

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

. Unfortunately, injuries limited the number of appearances Davies made for The Reds. Forest finished the season in second place and won gained promotion to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. Davies' appearances were again limited due to injury during the 2008–09 season. On 1 September 2009, Davies signed on loan with

side

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

until the end of the year. However, after only 7 appearances, Brighton terminated his loan on 2 December 2009. On 19 January 2010, Davies, along with James Reid, Aaron Mitchell and Joe Heath, had his contract terminated by mutual consent.

Return to Yeovil

In January 2010, a proposed move to join his former club,

, collapsed due to FIFA regulations which state that a player "may only play for two clubs in any one season where he has been on contract or a standard loan". This prevented Davies from signing for a third club during the season. To avoid these regulations, Davies signed on non-contract terms with

on 11 February 2010. Once signed, he was loaned to Yeovil for the remainder of the season.

Peterborough United

On 9 July 2010, Davies was signed by former boss

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

for

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

on a two-year contract. On 7 August 2010, Davies made his debut in a 3–0 win against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

. On 4 September 2010, Davies sustained a hamstring injury in a 1–0 loss against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

. He was sidelined for three weeks following the match. On 2 November 2010, Davies scored his first goal in over three years in a 3–1 win over against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

. Peterborough were promoted to the Championship at the end of the season after beating Huddersfield 3-0 in the play-off final. Davies was transfer listed and then had his contract terminated by mutual consent by new manager

Darren Ferguson Darren Ferguson (born 9 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Championship club Peterborough United. In between his stints with Peterborough, he also managed Preston No ...

at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Northampton Town

On 30 June 2011, Davies was signed by Gary Johnson for a third time at

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

. On 6 August 2011, Davies made his debut for the club in a 0–0 draw against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

. On 20 August 2011, Davies scored his first goal in a 3–2 loss against

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

. Gary Johnson was sacked in mid-November 2011 and replaced by

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...

. Under Boothroyd, Davies' first team opportunities were limited. On 4 July 2012, Davies had his contract terminated with Northampton Town by mutual consent.

Exeter City

On 5 July 2012, Davies signed with League Two side

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. On 19 October 2013, Davies scored a spectacular dipping long range effort from the sideline against Scunthorpe United in a 4–0 away victory. The goal was voted by Exeter supporters as the club's goal of the season. Davies left Exeter at the end of the 2015–16 season after the club could not afford to offer him a new contract.

Accrington Stanley

On 1 August 2016, Davies joined fellow League Two side

on a one-year contract. He scored his first goal for Accrington in a 2–1 loss to

on 20 August 2016.

International career

Davies has represented his country at all levels including captaining Wales at under-21 level. He earned his only senior international

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

as a substitute in a 2–1 friendly victory against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Yeovil Town *

Champions: 2004–05 *

Play-off Finalists: 2006–07 Nottingham Forest *

Runners-up: 2007–08 Peterborough United *

Play-off Winners:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

References

External links

*
Photo gallery whilst with Wales under-21 team

Profile on Yeovil Town fansite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Arron 1984 births Living people Footballers from Cardiff Association football defenders Welsh footballers Wales youth international footballers Wales under-21 international footballers Wales international footballers Southampton F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players English Football League players