Steven Davis (born 1 January 1985) is a Northern Irish 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 ...

who plays as 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 ...

for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

club Rangers and

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 ...

the Northern Ireland national team. Davis made his full international debut in 2005 and has since been capped 140 times, scoring 13 goals, at senior level to become the most capped player in Northern Ireland, and the most capped

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

player of all time. He captained his nation to the last 16 at

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

. Davis began his career with Premier League club Aston Villa in 2004. He was named "Young Player of the Year", "The Fans Player of the Year" and "Player of the Year" for the 2005–06 season after making 42 appearances during the season. Davis was sold to Fulham for £4 million in the summer of 2007, but moved on loan to Scottish club Rangers in January 2008 for an initial six months. He was part of the team that reached the

2008 UEFA Cup Final The 2008 UEFA Cup Final was a football match that took place on 14 May 2008 at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. It was the 37th annual final of the UEFA Cup, UEFA's second tier club football tournament. The match, which was ...

and that won the

2007–08 Scottish League Cup The 2007–08 Scottish League Cup was the 62nd staging of the Scotland's second most prestigious football knockout competition, also known for sponsorship reasons as the CIS Insurance Cup. Rangers won the cup by defeating Dundee United in the ...

and

2007–08 Scottish Cup The 2007–08 Scottish Cup was the 123rd season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The winners were Rangers, who defeated Queen of the South in the final. The 2007–08 tournament saw a change in structure for the t ...

. At the end of the season, he moved permanently to Rangers for £3 million. He made 211 appearances for the Glasgow club, winning three consecutive league titles in 2009, 2010 and 2011, two

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

s. Following the club's liquidation in 2012, Davis exercised his rights under TUPE regulations to rescind his contract and become a free agent, returning to the Premier League with

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. During his later years with Southampton, he captained the side before returning to Rangers under manager Steven Gerrard in 2019.

Club career

Aston Villa

Davis, who was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, started his career at St Andrews Boys Club before transferring to Aston Villa in 2002. He was a member of the 2002 FA Youth Cup winning team that beat Everton 4–2 in the final. His first professional appearance was on 18 September 2004, he was a 57th-minute replacement for

Nolberto Solano Nolberto Albino "Ñol" Solano Todco (born 12 December 1974), commonly known as Nobby Solano, is a retired Peruvian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently the assistant manager of the Peru national football team, as w ...

in a goalless

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 Fo ...

match against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

at Carrow Road. Davis made 28 league appearances across the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

, scoring the winner in a 3–2 comeback victory at

on 16 April 2005. On 13 August 2005, in Villa's first game of the new campaign, Davis volleyed past

Jussi Jääskeläinen Jussi Albert Jääskeläinen (; born 19 April 1975) is a Finnish football coach and retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During his career, Jääskeläinen most notably represented Bolton Wanderers from 1997 until 2012, making 530 app ...

to secure a 2–2 home draw against Bolton Wanderers, albeit after nine minutes. He scored twice on 20 September in the third round of the Football League Cup, as Villa won 8–3 at

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

. By October 2005, he was a regular for the club and missed only one game for Villa in the 2005–06 season. Davis was named Villa's "Young Player of the Year", "The Fans Player of the Year" ''and'' "Player of the Year" for the 2005–06 season. His form prompted the Northern Ireland manager

Lawrie Sanchez Lawrence Philip Sanchez (born 22 October 1959) is a Northern Irish football manager and former international footballer. The defining moment of his playing career came in the 1988 FA Cup Final, when he scored the winning goal for Wimbledon a ...

, to state that Davis could be "another

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...

". Davis made 102 appearances for Villa and scored nine times. On 2 January 2006, he headed the first goal of a 2–1 win at rivals

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

Fulham

In the summer of 2007, Davis followed teammate

Aaron Hughes Aaron William Hughes (born 8 November 1979) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Hughes played mainly at centre back, but was also used at right back or left back, as well as anywhere in midfield. He i ...

to Fulham on 5 July 2007 to team up with international manager Sanchez, for a fee of around £4 million. He made his Fulham debut against Arsenal on 12 August 2007 and made 22 appearances for Fulham before moving to Rangers.

Rangers

On 31 January 2008, Davis was signed on a six-month loan by Rangers, the club he supported as a boy. Davis made his Rangers debut against Panathinaikos in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

on 13 February. He scored his first goal, again in European competition, against German team

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

. Davis scored for Rangers in the penalty shootout against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

that won Rangers the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. He also helped the team reach the

, and won the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, Davis made his move from Fulham permanent on 21 August 2008, in a transfer worth £3 million, signing a four-year contract. He made his first appearance of the season for Rangers against

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, during a 1–1 draw the day after he permanently signed. Davis scored his first goal for Rangers, since his move became permanent, against Motherwell. He scored the only goal in the final

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

derby of the season on 9 May 2009, to take Rangers to the top of the SPL by two points. Davis won the SPL title and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, Davis began his goalscoring in the 2009–10 season against St. Mirren on 27 January. He continued his goalscoring form against Falkirk in the next game, curling a free kick into Bobby Olejnik's top right hand corner. Davis's performances in January 2010, earned him the SPL Player of the Month award. He was also named

PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year The PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year (often called the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Scottish Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in Scottish footbal ...

on 2 May 2010, and won the SPL and Scottish League Cup each for the second time. Davis scored his first goal of the 2010–11 season against Motherwell at Ibrox in October 2010, when he collected the ball 30 yards from goal before striking it into the top corner. The goal drew comparisons to former Rangers favourite

Ian Durrant Ian Durrant (born 29 October 1966) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is currently a first team coach at East Kilbride. During his playing career, Durrant played as a midfielder for Rangers for 13 years and was par ...

. Davis followed this up by scoring the winning goal in the match against Inverness at Ibrox in January 2011. In the 2011 Scottish League Cup Final against Celtic, Davis opened the scoring in a match, which Rangers won 2–1 after extra time. This was the third time he had won the Scottish League Cup. Davis scored in back-to-back games in the 2011 title run in against Motherwell, and then Hearts, before playing his 54th, and final game of the season in a 5–1 win over Kilmarnock, as Rangers won their 3rd consecutive SPL championship. On 19 July 2011, Davis signed a new five-year contract with Rangers. He was made Rangers temporary captain, with the absence of formal club captain David Weir for the first part of the 2011–12 season. Davis scored his first goal of the 2011–12 season in a 2–0 win over Aberdeen at Ibrox in August. In the first Old Firm match of the 2011–12 season, Davis provided two assists in the game, as Rangers beat Celtic 4–2. After Rangers beat Dunfermline 4–0 at East End Park, Rangers manager

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist, (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland in ...

praised Davis's performance by saying "It was a captain's performance from the best player on the park." For his performances during September 2011, he received the SPL Player of the Month award. Following the insolvency of Rangers in 2012, Davis exercised his rights under TUPE regulations to rescind his contract and become a free agent.

PFA Scotland The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland (PFA Scotland) is the association for professional footballers in Scotland. It was known as the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association (SPFA), but that organisation was dissolved and repl ...

had previously commented that players were entitled to become

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

s if they objected to the transfer to the new company formed by Charles Green.

Southampton

Davis rejected the chance to stay with Rangers and instead signed a three-year contract with Premier League club Southampton on 6 July 2012. The deal was subsequently extended to 2016 as part of the agreement with Rangers to complete the transfer without the need for the international transfer clearance to be agreed by FIFA, with the two clubs agreeing a fee. After joining Southampton, Davis pleaded the Rangers fans to agree with his decision to leave but accepted that a minority of fans would take a different view and made his explanation he left Rangers in order to revive his football career. He made his debut on 19 August 2012, and scored to put the team ahead at holders Manchester City only three minutes after coming on as a substitute, but Southampton eventually lost 3–2. His only other goal of the season came against the same opposition, in a 3–1 home win on 13 February 2013. His first two goals of the 2013–14 season came in a 5–1 victory at Barnsley in the League Cup second round on 27 August, the latter being a penalty. On 17 October 2014, Davis signed a new contract to keep him at Southampton until 2018. On 8 May 2016, Davis scored his first ever league brace for Southampton in a 2–1 win over

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

. He followed this up with a goal in a 4–1 victory over

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 ...

on the final day of the season. On 18 June 2016, he signed a new three-year contract, extending his stay with the club until 2019. He made his 200th Southampton appearance on 16 September 2017 against Crystal Palace, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 victory.

Return to Rangers

On 6 January 2019, Davis returned to Rangers on a six-month loan. On 2 May, Davis agreed to join Rangers permanently once the loan deal had finished, signing a 12-month contract. Davis helped Rangers win the

2020–21 Scottish Premiership The 2020–21 Scottish Premiership was the eighth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football (the 124th edition overall of the top national league competition, not including one cancelled due to World War II). ...

, their first Scottish league championship since 2011, and he won the

SFWA Footballer of the Year The Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the SFWA Footballer of the Year, or simply the Scottish Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the se ...

award.

International career

Davis made his full international debut on 9 February 2005 in a 1–0 loss to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and made the

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

for David Healy in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

's famous 1–0 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 ...

in a 2006 World Cup qualification match on 7 September. Davis' first goal came against

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 ...

in a 3–2 home defeat in another qualifier on 8 October. He was also part of the team who beat

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

3–2 at

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual renta ...

in September 2006. On 21 May 2006, he became Northern Ireland's youngest modern day captain against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

in the United States, a 1–0 loss. On 8 October 2015, Davis scored twice in a 3–1 victory over

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

to help Northern Ireland qualify for the final tournament of

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

, their first European Championship. In November 2019, he won his 116th cap against the Netherlands and became the most capped British midfielder, passing David Beckham. On 7 September 2020, he equaled

Pat Jennings Patrick Anthony Jennings (born 12 June 1945) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played 119 international matches for Northern Ireland in an international career which lasted for over 22 years. D ...

Northern Ireland record of 119 caps,. On 8 October 2020, he played his 120th match for Northern Ireland against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

in the

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs The play-offs of the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament decided the last four teams that qualified for the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, to be staged across Europe in June and July 2021. Unlike previous editions, the participants of the play ...

, to become the most-capped player in their history. As of June 2022 he has 138 caps, making him the most capped British player of all time.

Personal life

Davis was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to football.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 27 September 2022. Northern Ireland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Davis goal.''

Honours

Aston Villa U18 * FA Youth Cup: 2001–02 Rangers * Scottish Premier League /

: 2008–09, 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2020–21 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2007–08, 2008–09, 2021–22 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: 2007–08, 2009–10,

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

runner-up: 2007–08, 2021–22 Southampton * EFL Cup runner-up: 2016–17 Individual *

: 2009–10 * PFA Scotland Team of the Year: 2008–09 SPL, 2009–10 SPL, 2011–12 SPL,

: 2020–21 * Scottish Premier League Player of the Month: January 2010, September 2011 *

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team. ...

International Player of the Year: 2015, 2016 *NIFWA International Personality of the Year: 2006, 2010, 2014 * Aston Villa Supporters' Player of the Year: 2005–06 *Aston Villa Players' Player of the Year: 2005–06 *Aston Villa Young Player of the Year: 2005–06

References

External links

Steven Davis Career Profile
*
Steven Davis profile
at the Irish Football Association website {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Steven 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Ballymena Association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland youth international footballers Northern Ireland under-21 international footballers Northern Ireland international footballers Association football midfielders Aston Villa F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Premier League players Scottish Premier League players UEFA Euro 2016 players FIFA Century Club People educated at Ballymena Academy Members of the Order of the British Empire Scottish Professional Football League players