Ulises Alejandro Dávila Plascencia (born 13 April 1991) is a Mexican 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 plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

for

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club

Macarthur FC Macarthur Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in South Western Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). On ...

whom he

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Club career

Guadalajara

Born in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...

, Dávila was champion with Guadalajara in the category 1990–91 in the National Youth Championship in July 2006, with a 1–0 win over

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whic ...

, where he scored the only goal. That same year, Chivas also won the Manchester United Premier Cup "Generation 1991", beating

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

by a score of 2–1. In the 2008–09 season he was on loan at affiliate club Tapatio scoring three goals in eighteen matches in the

Primera División A Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

. He made his debut for

in the Primera División on 29 August 2009, in a 2–2 draw against Pachuca. Dávila also featured in five matches in the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

tournament.

Chelsea

On 27 August 2011, it was announced that Dávila had signed for English club

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, signing a five-year contract, making him the first Mexican to sign with Chelsea.

Loan to Vitesse

On 30 August 2011, it was announced that Dávila joined Dutch football club

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vites ...

on loan for the 2011–12 season. He was given the number 24 jersey. He made his club debut against

Roda JC Kerkrade Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...

on 17 September 2011, with the game ending in a 5–0 win for Vitesse. Unlike his teammate from Chelsea,

Tomáš Kalas Tomáš Kalas (born 15 May 1993) is a Czech professional footballer who plays for Bristol City and the Czech Republic national team. He plays as a centre-back, but has also been played as a right-back. Having begun his career at Sigma Olomouc ...

, Dávila struggled to get into the starting XI and had been an unused substitute for a number of games. Playing for their reserve side, he had more success, scoring three goals in three games. On 19 February 2012, once again returned onto the bench against

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...

but was an unused sub, the game ended in a 1–4 loss for Vitesse. On 28 April 2012, again returned onto the bench against

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

but again was an unused sub, the game ended in a 3–2 win for Vitesse. Dávila spent the majority of his time at Vitesse with the reserve squad.

Loan to Sabadell

On 13 July 2012

CE Sabadell Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team based in Sabadell, a city in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holdin ...

announced that Dávila will join them on loan for the 2012–13 season. On 29 September 2012, Dávila scored his first league goal against

, winning the game 2–1. On 18 November Dávila scored a brace against

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

, and also hit the post almost scoring his first hat trick, Sabadell won the game 5–2 away.

Loan to Córdoba

On the last day of the 2013 Summer transfer window, Chelsea confirmed that Dávila was having a medical at

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...

of the Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

. Later on that day he secured his deal on a season-long loan. On 23 June, he scored an equaliser in injury time away to

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

in the second leg of the play-off final, earning Córdoba's promotion to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

for the first time in 42 years.

Loan to Vitória Setubal

On 23 January 2015, Dávila ended his loan with

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

to join the Portuguese side on loan for the rest of the season. On 3 August 2015, it was announced that Dávila will remain with Vitória for the 2015–2016 season.

Santos Laguna

On 4 December 2015, Santos Laguna announced they had purchased Dávila from

and signed him to a three-year contract.

Delhi Dynamos

In December 2018, Dávila signed with Indian Super League side

Delhi Dynamos Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

, and scored his only goal on 17 February 2019, against

Bengaluru FC Bengaluru Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bangalore, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 20 July 2013, and began its first ...

in a 3–2 win.

Wellington Phoenix

In July 2019, Dávila signed with A-League side

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

on a two-year deal. Dávila secured a 4th goal in 6 starts with a goal from outside the box against

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

on 23 November 2019. The goal proved vital in their 2-1 victory, Wellington's first win of the

2019–20 A-League The 2019–20 A-League, also known as the 2019–20 Hyundai A-League for sponsorship reasons, was the 43rd season of national level soccer in Australia, and the 15th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The regular season commenced o ...

season. Dávila helped the Phoenix to its best ever regular season finish, ending in 3rd place for

the League ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league ...

, before the team lost 0–1 to

Perth Glory FC Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 199 ...

in their first game of the elimination finals. Dávila finished the season with 12 goals and five assists, winning the

Johnny Warren Medal The Johnny Warren Medal is awarded to the best player of the Australian national soccer club competition. It was first awarded in the National Soccer League in 1990, and upon the NSL's demise in November 2004, was carried forward into the new na ...

along with

Miloš Ninković Miloš Ninković ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Нинковић; born 25 December 1984) is a Serbian footballer who currently plays for A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers. Club career Čukarički At a young age Ninković joined FK Čukarički's you ...

Macarthur FC

On 17 May it was announced that Davila had signed a three-year deal to join

for the 2021–22 season. On 6 November 2021, Dávila was announced as the captain for the

2021–22 A-League Men The 2021–22 A-League Men, known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is the 45th season of national level men's soccer in Australia, and the 17th since the establishment of the competition as the A-League in 2004. Melbourne City ...

season.

International career

Youth

Dávila was part of the under-20 side that played the

2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2011 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was expanded to 12 teams beginning in 2011. The tournament determined the four CONCACAF teams that participated at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup to be held in Colombia. In addition, the top three finishers f ...

, in which Mexico finished as champions. He also participated in the

2011 Toulon Tournament The 2011 Toulon Tournament was the 39th edition of the Toulon Tournament and took place from 1 June to 10 June. Ivory Coast were the defending champions, but they failed to win a single match and were eliminated in the group stage. Colombia won ...

in France, where Mexico finished as fourth place losing to Italy in a penalty shoot-out. Dávila scored two goals during the

, scoring against France and Hungary. Dávila was part of the 20-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

that participated in the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil who claimed their fifth title. At a FIFA ...

in Colombia. Mexico would eventually finish third in the tournament by beating France 3–1, and he was able to score a goal against France.

Senior

Dávila received his first call up to the senior national team to play the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South Americ ...

, to replace one of the five players that were suspended for having disciplinary problems in

Quito, Ecuador Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley on ...

. He did not play in any of Mexico's matches.

Personal life

In March 2020, Dávila's wife Lily Pacheco gave birth to a son. On 30 May 2022, Lily passed away.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Santos Laguna *

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

: Clausura 2018 Macarthur FC *

Australia Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Austra ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Mexico U20 *

CONCACAF U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Individual *

Player of the Month: November 2019, December 2019 *

PFA Team of the Season: 2019–20,

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 ...

, 2021–22 * PFA Footballer of the Year: 2020–21 *

* Mark Viduka Medal:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davila, Ulises 1991 births Living people Footballers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexican footballers Association football midfielders C.D. Guadalajara footballers Chelsea F.C. players SBV Vitesse players CE Sabadell FC footballers Córdoba CF players CD Tenerife players Vitória F.C. players Santos Laguna footballers Wellington Phoenix FC players Macarthur FC players Liga MX players Eredivisie players Segunda División players Primeira Liga players Indian Super League players A-League Men players Mexico youth international footballers Mexico under-20 international footballers 2011 Copa América players Mexican expatriate footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Mexican expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand Expatriate soccer players in Australia Mexican expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate footballers in India Odisha FC players