Benjamin Edward Davies (9 June 1888 – 1970) was an English 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 le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. During his career, he made over 100 appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in spells with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

Career

Davies began his career with his hometown side

, serving as understudy to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

international Tim Williamson during his spell at the club, making 31 league appearances. In 1920, he joined

for their first season in the

and, after beginning the season as second choice behind

Herbert Kneeshaw Herbert Justin Kneeshaw (1883–1955) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made over 100 appearances for Cardiff City during a 12-year spell at the side and later became a coach at the club. Career Born in Beck ...

, he eventually made his debut on 22 January 1921 in a 1–0 victory over

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. He retained his place for the rest of the 1920–21 season, conceding 12 goals in his 19 league appearances as Cardiff won promotion to the First Division. Davies was later forced out of the side by the arrival of

Tom Farquharson Thomas Gerard Farquharson (4 December 1899 – 24 December 1970) was an Irish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Dublin, he played youth football for local sides. In his teens, he became a member of the Irish Republica ...

during the 1922–23 season and moved 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

. Davies made his debut for the ''Foxes'' on 8 December 1923 in a 2–1 victory over

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

, becoming the second oldest debutant in the club's history at the time behind Chris Duffy, and made two further appearances in the same month. He later joined

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

but did not make an appearance for the side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Ben 1888 births 1970 deaths Footballers from Middlesbrough English men's footballers Middlesbrough F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football goalkeepers