Simon Ithel Davies (born 23 April 1974) is a Welsh 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 ...

coach and former player who is currently the Head of Coaching Methodology at Tottenham Hotspur's academy. As a player, he was 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 ...

who notably played in 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 ...

for

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, where he was part of the famous 1992 youth team. He later played 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 ...

for

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 ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. He wound up his playing days in the

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...

with

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Bangor) are an inactive Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. They started the 2021–22 season in the Cymru North the second level of the Welsh football league system, but ...

, Total Network Solutions,

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

and

Airbus UK Airbus UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus which produces wings for Airbus aircraft. When Airbus was incorporated as a joint-stock company in 2001, BAE Systems transferred its UK Airbus facilities in return for a 20% share of the new compa ...

. He was capped once for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, in a match against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in 1996. Davies went into coaching towards the end of his career, where he was a youth team coach at Chester City. He was caretaker manager of the club in 2007 and 2008. In 2010, Davies joined

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

where he eventually became the EDS manager and the Head of the Youth Academy. In 2019 he joined the coaching staff at Anderlecht and briefly managed the club before relinquishing his duties and reverting to his previous role. In August 2022, Davies became Head of Coaching Methodology at Tottenham Hotspur's academy.

Playing career

During his career he played for a few English clubs in the 1990s, after starting out at

. He scored the opening goal in a 4–0 Champions League win against

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

and played 20 first team games for the club, although he failed to add any more goals. He was part of an acclaimed batch of youngsters to come through the United ranks in this period, after winning the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

in 1992, with his colleagues who lifted the trophy including

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...

Nicky Butt Nicholas Butt (born 21 January 1975) is an English football coach and former player who was most recently the head of first-team development at Manchester United. He is also a co-owner and chief executive officer of Salford City. He played prof ...

and

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit and former player. He is also a co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. After retiring from football in 2011, Neville went into punditry and was a comm ...

. Although born in England, Davies was capped for the

Welsh national team ) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth ...

against

in 1996. After leaving Manchester United for

in a £150,000 deal in August 1997, Davies struggled to recapture his early promise and his league career was to end with spells with

and

. He then crossed the Welsh border, becoming

Peter Davenport Peter Davenport (born 24 March 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager who has managed teams in both the Welsh and English leagues. He has also managed classes as a substitute teacher. Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, he won ...

's first signing at

in the

in 2001. He was named as the Welsh Premier League's player of the season in 2002–03. He also played for

and Total Network Solutions and would briefly join

Coaching and management

In 2006, Davies joined the coaching staff at Chester City, predominantly as part of the youth set-up. In April 2007, he was appointed as the club's caretaker manager after the departure of Mark Wright. He took charge for the final game of the season, as Chester lost 2–0 at Lincoln City. Despite the loss, Davies was offered an interview for the job on a permanent basis but

Bobby Williamson Robert Williamson (born 13 August 1961 in Glasgow) is a Scottish football player and manager. Williamson played as a striker for Clydebank, Rangers, West Bromwich Albion, Rotherham United and Kilmarnock. He then became a manager at Kilma ...

was subsequently appointed, although Davies remained at the club as youth team manager. The following March, Davies was again appointed as Chester's caretaker manager following Williamson's sacking. Despite losing his two games in caretaker charge, Davies was named manager until the end of the season on 11 March 2008. His first win followed in a 2–1 success against

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

on 22 March and Chester went on to clinch survival in their penultimate match of the season with a 0–0 draw against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

. A few days earlier, Davies celebrated his 34th birthday with a new two-year contract at the club. Davies endured a difficult start to the 2008–09 season, with Chester conceding six to both

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

and

in the first three months of the season and making early exits from all three cup competitions. He was sacked on 10 November 2008. Exactly a month later, it was announced Davies had returned to Chester as youth team manager. In 2010, Davies joined

as part of their youth coaching programme. From 2013 to 2015, he was assistant to EDS manager

Patrick Vieira Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. Vieira began his career at ...

. In January 2016, Davies succeeded Vieira as manager, when the Frenchman left the club to join

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He left the position in 2018 to become Head of Academy Coaching, with specific focus on the younger age groups. In July 2019, Davies joined

Vincent Kompany Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (; ; born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back and is the current manager of EFL Championship club Burnley. He most notably played for Manchester City f ...

as part of the coaching set-up at

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

. On 22 August, Davies became the head coach after Kompany decided to step down from managerial duties to focus primarily on being a player. Davies's first match in charge was a 1–0 loss to

Genk Genk () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. I ...

, and his second brought Anderlecht their first win of the season, 1–0 over

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

. However, in his next three games, he oversaw two defeats to

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

and

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before ...

and a goalless draw against

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren is a professional Belgian association football club located in the municipality of Beveren, East Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division B. History The club was founded in 1936 as Red Star and registered to an amate ...

. On 3 October, Davies was demoted back to assistant manager, with the club appointing former manager

Franky Vercauteren François Vercauteren (born 28 October 1956), nicknamed "The Little Prince", is a Belgian former footballer who played as a left winger. He is currently unemployed after most recently managing Antwerp. Club career Vercauteren made his first ...

. According to journalist Kristof Terreur, Davies was seen as a " yes man". On 12 August 2022, Davies was appointed to the new role of Head of Coaching Methodology at Tottenham Hotspur's academy.

Career statistics

Honours

Manchester United *

: 1991–92 Individual *

Player of the Season: 2002–03

References

External links

* *
Welsh Premier League profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Simon 1974 births Living people People from Winsford Welsh footballers Wales international footballers English footballers English people of Welsh descent Manchester United F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Chester City F.C. managers R.S.C. Anderlecht managers Welsh football managers Cymru Premier players The New Saints F.C. players Bangor City F.C. players Rhyl F.C. players Airbus UK Broughton F.C. players Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff Sportspeople from Cheshire Association football midfielders Association football coaches