Gordon John Davies (born 3 August 1955) is a Welsh former

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 lea ...

who played as a forward. He is best known for his two stints at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, where he is the club's all-time top scorer. He represented

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

on sixteen occasions between 1979 and 1986.

Club career

He joined

in 1978 from

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

, and spent six years with the London club. After a season with Chelsea, he was signed by

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

for a fee of £100,000. He made his City debut on 12 October 1985 against

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, and his first goal came two days later in a 6–1 victory over

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in the

Full Members Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. T ...

; Davies scored a hat-trick that day. Once

Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He had a long association with Celtic F.C., Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, m ...

departed as City manager, Davies' days at the club were numbered and his final City match was against Southend United in the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

, and he returned to Fulham in October 1986. His second spell at Fulham lasted five years, eventually becoming Fulham's all-time top scorer, with 178 goals in 450 appearances. At the end of his Fulham career, the club granted him a

testimonial In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, whe ...

which was played against a Wales XI. Davies left Fulham in 1991 and went back to Wales to join

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

. He became a part of

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

history when the minnows

beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...

giants

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 ...

in one of the competition's biggest ever shocks. He left the Welsh club in February 1992 to take up an offer of management in Norway with Tornado FK, signing on as player-manager. In the summer of 1992, he returned to the United Kingdom and signed for

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

where he spent one season and retired from the game the following close season. He is still a popular and frequent guest at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football stadium in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 29,589; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game agains ...

matches.

International career

Davies made his debut for

on 21 November 1979 against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He made 16 appearances in total (scoring two goals) with his last game against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

on 26 March 1986.

International goals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Gordon 1955 births Men's association football forwards English Football League players Fulham F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Merthyr Tydfil F.C. players Wales men's international footballers Welsh men's footballers Living people