Claude Davis (born 6 March 1979) is a Jamaican former

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 defender. He previously played for

Portmore United Portmore United Football Club is a Jamaican football team in the top flight Jamaica National Premier League. The team trains and plays home matches at the Prison Oval. History Hazard United The club was formed as ''Hazard United'' and has bee ...

(Jamaica),

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

and

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

. He has also played international football for

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Playing career

Club career

Hazard United

Born in Kingston,

, Davis captained Hazard United, now known as

, to the Jamaica National Premier League title in 2002–03."Portmore United kick off against newcomers Cosmos"
, ''Jamaica Gleaner'', 14 September 2003. Retrieved 9 November 2013. He left Hazard on a year loan deal with

in the summer of 2003.

Preston North End

He signed for

from Hazard United in July 2003, initially on loan for the 2003–04 season before concluding a permanent deal 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 ...

in March 2004. During the 2004–05 season he provided

Chris Lucketti Christopher James Lucketti (born 28 September 1971) is an English football manager and former professional player, who is assistant manager of Bradford City. He played as a central defender. In a playing career of over 600 games, Lucketti be ...

and Youl Mawene with real competition for centre half positions and made 38 appearances for Preston,Soccerbase: Claude Davis
Racing Post. Retrieved 7 July 2007. including the Championship play-off final where Preston lost to West Ham. In the 2005–06 season, Davis established himself as the mainstay of the Preston defence, contributing to 24 clean sheets and swept the board at the club's Player of the Season awards, named both the Player's Player and fans Player of the Season, as Preston reached the play-offs again.

Sheffield United

On 14 June 2006, he signed on a four-year deal with

for a club record £3 million, with up to £500,000 to follow based on his appearances for ''the Blades''. However, he missed the start of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

season after sustaining a knee

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck an ...

injury in a friendly against

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

in August 2006 at

Meadow Lane Meadow Lane Stadium is a football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 2014 until 2017. It currently h ...

. In total he made 22 league and cup appearances for Sheffield United.

Derby County

On 6 July 2007, newly promoted

agreed a £3million transfer for Davis with Sheffield United, subject to a medical and work permit, signed a four-year contract on the same day."Davis agrees £3m switch to Derby"
BBC Sport, 6 July 2007. Retrieved 7 July 2007. Davis was not officially registered as a Derby County player until 25 July 2007, after a delay with his work permit.

Crystal Palace

Davis reunited with former

boss

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English former football manager and player. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed sixteen different clubs from the Premier League to ...

, in 2009, by signing a loan deal to play for

. He played an instrumental part in helping the team avoid relegation. Davis was expected to move to Palace on a permanent basis, but unfortunately for both him and the club,

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 ...

placed a transfer embargo onto the club due to unpaid bonuses to former players, and Davis remained a Derby player until the end of August (when the embargo was lifted), joining the Eagles on a two-year contract on the final day of the transfer window. During this season he played a major part in helping the team to the fifth round of the FA cup.

Crawley Town

After joining League Two side

on 15 September 2011 he led the club on a 13-game unbeaten streak and played a major part in their promotional campaign. He was also the first international player to ever represent the club, captaining the Jamaica National team against New Zealand during the international break this same season. He continued to show his leadership off the pitch with his community involvement by agreeing to be the teams ambassador to their junior program.

Rotherham United

On Monday 21 January 2013, Davis signed for promotion chasing

on an 18-month contract to link up with his former Crawley manager, Steve Evans and the chance to play at the

New York Stadium The New York Stadium (known as the AESSEAL New York Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a football stadium in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Opened in July 2012, it is the home ground of Rotherham United. Its name was inspired by the com ...

. After a nightmare debut his place in the team was solidified and he helped the Millers to back to back promotion from League 2 to League 1 and then League 1 to Championship. At the end of the 2014 campaign Davis' contract with Rotherham was not renewed after they won the League One Play-Offs against Leyton Orient despite several meetings with manager and the board.

International career

Davis has made 68 international appearances for

, scoring two goals and captaining the team on several occasions.

Media personality

Davis was an analyst for Jamaican station CVM during the World Cup 2010 as well as World Cup 2014 alongside Michael Hall, Simon Preston, Andre Virtue and Roy Simpson

Honours

Hazard United

*Captain 2001–02 & 2002–03 *Jamaica National Premier League Champions

Preston North End

*Play-Off Final Runner Up 2005 *Players Player of the Season 2005–06 *Fans Player of the Season 2005–06

Crawley Town

*League Two: Promotion 2011–12 (Runners Up)

Rotherham United

*League Two: Promotion 2012–13 (Runners Up) *League One: Promotion 2013–2014 (Play-Off Winners)

References and notes

External links

* *
neilbrown CPFC players page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Claude 1979 births Living people Jamaica international footballers Jamaican footballers Association football defenders Portmore United F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Jamaican expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in England National Premier League players