David "Dai" Morgan Davies (5 May 1902 – 22 February 1992) was a Welsh

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Amman United and Neath and after changing codes to rugby league (RL) he played at international level 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 ...

and at club level for

Broughton Rangers Broughton Rangers were one of the twenty-one rugby clubs which met at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, in 1895 to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. They were originally based in Broughton, Salford, but in 1933 moved to Gorton, Manchester ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

and

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of ...

, as a . Dai Davies was on the losing side in four Challenge Cup finals with three separate clubs; Warrington (1928 and 1933), Huddersfield (1935), and Keighley (1937).

Playing career

Davies played rugby union for Amman United and Neath before changing codes from rugby union to rugby league when he joined

in 1926. The following year he left Broughton to join

, being paid a signing-on fee of £250, the payment of signing-on fees was widespread but not in accordance with

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

rules. Davies remained with Warrington for eight seasons, appearing on the losing side in two Challenge Cup finals, the first the 3–5 defeat by Swinton in the 1928 Challenge Cup Final at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

in April 1928; in the second he scored two tries in the 17–21 defeat by

in the 1933 Challenge Cup Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 6 May 1933, a game in which Davies scoring two tries. He did win one trophy scoring a try in Warrington's 10–9 victory over St.Helens in the 1932 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1932–33 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 19 November 1932. In 1934 Davies joined Huddersfield for whom he appeared in a third Challenge Cup final as Huddersfield lost 8–11 to

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

in the

1935 Challenge Cup Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart bec ...

Final at Wembley on 4 May 1935, in front of a crowd of 39,000, Davies moved to Keighley in August 1936 for a fee of £200, and captaining the team in their only Challenge Cup final to date, a 5–18 defeat by

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

in the 1937 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley on Saturday 8 May 1937, in front of a crowd of 47,699. The Challenge Cup final appearance for Keighley was Davies' last game, despite an offer to join

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, he decided to retire from a playing career and became a coach for the Warrington Junior Rugby League, a post he held until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The record of playing in four Challenge Cup finals and being on the losing team in all of them was an unwanted record that Davies held until

Paul Loughlin Paul John Loughlin (born 28 July 1966) is an English former rugby league who played for his hometown team St. Helens, the Bradford Bulls, the Huddersfield Giants and the Swinton Lions. Loughlin was born in St. Helens, Lancashire, England. ...

played in five losing finals in the 1980s and 1990s.

International honours

At international level Davies won four caps for

(RL) from 1928 to 1935 while at Warrington. He also appeared once for the

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

(RL) in a 35–19 victory over

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 ...

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifax, who had just w ...

, Halifax in 1930, a game in which he scored two tries as well as three appearances for the Rugby League XIII between 1929 and 1934. Appearances for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

eluded him. He played in two trial matches for the 1932 tour to Australia and New Zealand but he was not picked for the touring squad.

County honours

David Davies played in Glamorgan's 18-14 victory over Monmouthshire in the non-

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

match during the 1926–27 season at

Taff Vale Park Taff Vale Park is a rugby union ground and former greyhound racing track in Treforest, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Taff Vale Park is situated on the River Taff at the end of Nile Street in Treforest. It was originally fields adjacent ...

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

on Saturday 30 April 1927.Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 32 – 1926–27". Rugby Leaguer ISBN n/a Davies made five appearances for the Glamorgan, later Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, county teams in the

and one game for the county against Australia.

Later life

Having left school aged 14, Davies had started his working career in the

collieries Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use c ...

of his native South Wales and throughout his rugby career held other jobs to supplement his rugby payments. After leaving the game during the Second World War he returned to Wales and resumed a career as a pitman. After the war he ran a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

in Warrington while also working as part of the Warrington club's coaching staff. A final return to Wales in 1952 followed and for the remainder of his working life he worked in the pits. Davies married Katie Rees (1909–1985) in 1932 and they had two children. Dai Davies died in 1992, aged 89.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * *

External links

1937 - A Year To RememberStatistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, David 1902 births 1992 deaths Broughton Rangers players Glamorgan and Monmouthshire rugby league team players Glamorgan rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants players Keighley Cougars captains Keighley Cougars players Neath RFC players Rugby union players from Ammanford Rugby league players from Carmarthenshire Place of death missing Publicans Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Neath Port Talbot Rugby League XIII players Rugby union players from Neath Port Talbot Wales national rugby league team players Warrington Wolves players Welsh miners Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players