William "Taffy" Davies (24 June 1910 – 30 October 1995) was a Welsh 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 winger or inside forward. He played his entire professional football career for English club

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

, and made an appearance for his country during a wartime international match against England.

Playing career

Born in

Troed-y-rhiw Troed-y-rhiw (, translation: foot of the slope) is a large community village in the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Its population at the 2011 census was 5,296. It features the Troed-y-rhiw railway station. Governance The community sh ...

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, Davies played local football at amateur Welsh club New Tredegar, before joining

as an amateur in April 1930. He turned professional three months later, and stayed at Vicarage Road for the entirety of his 21-season (20 year) professional career. During that time Davies played 283

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 ...

games, 128 wartime matches and 29

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

fixtures. He also played 13 games in the

Football League Third Division South Cup The Football League Third Division South Cup was a association football, football knockout competition open to teams competing in Football League Third Division South. The competition was first held in 1933–34 Football League, 1933–34 and ran ...

, which Watford won in 1937. He played for the

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

at Ninian Park on 6 May 1944, where they were defeated 2–0 by

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 ...

. However, wartime internationals are not recognised by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

or the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, Welsh national foo ...

as official internationals, and therefore Davies did not receive a cap. Davies was a forceful and skilful winger who not only centred the ball well but was also an excellent schemer. One match report commented: "He puts plenty of life and thought into his game … (but has) a tendency to hold his ground and pass back instead of taking a direct route to goal." A cartilage operation in the 1937–38 season put him out of action until April 1938 and the club never recovered from his loss, missing out on promotion. Davies continued playing for Watford after 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 opposin ...

, and was the club's top scorer in the 1947–48 season, with 11 goals in all competitions.

Later career

Davies retired at the end of the 1949–50 season, just before his 40th birthday. He then became the licensee of the Red Lion pub, which is situated opposite the entrance to Vicarage Road stadium. He died in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

at the age of 85.

Honours

Winner: 1937 Runner up: 1935 Watford Football Club top scorer: 1947–48

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Taffy Watford F.C. players Wales men's wartime international footballers English Football League players Footballers from Merthyr Tydfil 1910 births 1995 deaths Men's association football wingers Welsh men's footballers

Playing career

Later career

Honours

See also

References