Callum Iain Davidson (born 25 June 1976 in

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

) is a Scottish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and coach. He is the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

of St Johnstone. Davidson played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for St Johnstone,

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

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 ...

and Preston North End between 1994 and 2014. At international level, Davidson represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 19 occasions between 1998 and 2009. Since retiring as a player, Davidson has become a football coach, and was given his first full-time role in management with St Johnstone in June 2020.

Early life

Davidson grew up in Dunblane and attended Dunblane High School from 1988 to 1994, for which he captained the football team. His performances for the team led to his being scouted. He also played tennis at the school, and was part of the team that won the Scottish Schools Championship, where he was coached under

Judy Murray Judith Mary Murray, OBE (née Erskine; born 8 September 1959) is a Scottish tennis coach. She is the mother of professional tennis players Jamie and Sir Andy Murray. Life and career Murray was born on 8 September 1959 in Bridge of Allan, Sti ...

. He also represented Scotland in golf.

Club career

Davidson was scouted and subsequently signed by St Johnstone. His performances for the

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

club attracted interest from Premiership clubs, resulting in a move to

in February 1998 for £1.75m, a St Johnstone club record. He spent two years at Ewood Park, making 66 League appearances and scoring once, against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. Davidson joined

in July 2000, for a fee of £2.75m, and he remained with the Foxes for four years, making over 100 appearances. He was signed by Preston North End in 2004 on a free transfer and was later appointed club captain. His time at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

was dominated by recurring injury problems, but he still managed to make over 160 appearances for Preston. On 26 May 2011, Davidson rejoined his first professional club St Johnstone on a one-year deal on a free transfer after being released from Preston North End earlier in the year. He made his debut on 23 July against

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. He scored his first goal for St Johnstone in a 3–1 win over Dunfermline on 25 February 2012. St Johnstone chairman Steve Brown had initially indicated the club would not be offering Davidson a new contract due to his age, with Davidson's form forcing him into a rethink. Davidson extended his contract with St Johnstone for another season in March 2012.

International career

Davidson made his first full international appearance for

in September 1998, in a goalless draw with

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. He played regularly during the

UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying Qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2000 final tournament, took place throughout 1998 and 1999. Forty-nine teams were divided into nine groups. All teams played against each other, within their groups, on a home-and-away basis. The winner of each group ...

campaign, including the second leg of the

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

tie with

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 ...

. After six years out of the national team, he was included in

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

's squad to face

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in August 2008, but did not play. He then started in a 4–0 defeat against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

in August 2009. Davidson ended up winning 19 caps in total, with his final appearance being in a 2–0 win against Macedonia in September 2009.

Coaching career

Davidson was appointed assistant manager of St Johnstone in June 2013, while retaining his registration as a player. He did not make any playing appearances in the 2013–14 season, during which St Johnstone won the 2013–14 Scottish Cup. Davidson temporarily took charge of the team in March 2014, while manager Tommy Wright was in hospital having a gall bladder operation. He was added to the coaching staff of the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the t ...

during 2017. Davidson left St Johnstone in June 2018, when he became a first-team coach at Stoke City. Davidson linked up with

Gary Rowett Gary Rowett (born 6 March 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is currently manager of Championship club Millwall. As a player, he was a defender, and played in the Premier League for Everton, Derby County, ...

, who had been his teammate at Leicester. Rowett and Davidson both left Stoke on 8 January 2019. In February 2019, Davidson became first-team coach at

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

. He left this position in the summer of 2019, and was then appointed assistant manager of

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

in October 2019 (again working with Gary Rowett).

St. Johnstone

He was appointed manager of St Johnstone in June 2020, succeeding Tommy Wright. He won the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

and Hibernian in the finals 1–0 respectively.

Career statistics

International

Managerial record

Honours

Manager

St Johnstone *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual

St Johnstone * Scottish Premiership Manager of the Month: March 2021

References

External links

Callum Davidson player profile
at pnefc.net

at lcfc.co.uk *

at www.pne.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Callum 1976 births Living people Footballers from Stirling Scottish footballers St Johnstone F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Scotland international footballers Scotland under-21 international footballers Premier League players Scottish Premier League players Association football fullbacks Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish football managers St Johnstone F.C. non-playing staff Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff Dunfermline Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Millwall F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Professional Football League managers St Johnstone F.C. managers