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 lea ...

who last played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

club

Macarthur FC Macarthur Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in South Western Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League, under Professional sports league organi ...

Club career

Guadalajara

Born in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

, 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 (; ), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the east-central Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca Municipality, Pach ...

, 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 loaned to 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 Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

. 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 Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

tournament.

Chelsea

On 27 August 2011, it was announced that Dávila had signed for English club Chelsea, 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 SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem, Eng: Professional Football Foundation Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally known as Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, footba ...

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 (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the ...

on 17 September 2011, with the game ending in a 5–0 win for Vitesse. Unlike his teammate from Chelsea, Tomáš Kalas, 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 (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

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 may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

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 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 List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

, 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 (), is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Córdoba, Andalusia, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it plays ...

of the Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. 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 professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

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 as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

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, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

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 2015–16 season.

Santos Laguna

On 4 December 2015, Santos Laguna announced they had purchased Dávila from Chelsea and signed him to a three-year contract.

Delhi Dynamos

In December 2018, Dávila signed with Indian Super League side Delhi Dynamos, and scored his only goal on 17 February 2019, against Bengaluru FC 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 football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

on a two-year deal. Dávila secured a fourth goal in six starts with a goal from outside the box against Brisbane Roar on 23 November 2019. The goal proved vital in their 2–1 victory, Wellington's first win of the 2019–20 A-League season. Dávila helped the Phoenix to its best ever regular season finish, ending in third place for

the League ''The League'' is an American television 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, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...

, before the team lost 0–1 to

Perth Glory FC Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

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

Miloš Ninković Miloš Ninković ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Нинковић; born 25 December 1984) is a Serbian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Club career Čukarički At a young age, Ninković joined FK Čukarički's youth academy and la ...

Macarthur FC

On 17 May it was announced that Dávila 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 season. On 24 June 2024, the club announced that they agreed a mutual termination of contract with Dávila. At the same time, Dávila was arrested for allegedly being involved in

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...

International career

Youth

Dávila was part of the under-20 side that played the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, in which Mexico finished as champions. He also participated in the 2011 Toulon Tournament in France, where Mexico finished as fourth place losing to Italy in a penalty shoot-out. Dávila scored two goals during the 2011 Toulon Tournament, scoring against France and Hungary. Dávila was part of the 20-man squad 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 national under-20 football team, Brazil w ...

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 association football, football tournament for national ...

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

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

, Ecuador. 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. Lily died on 30 May 2022.

Match fixing scandal

On 17 May 2024, Dávila along with two Macarthur FC teammates,

Kearyn Baccus Kearyn Byron Baccus (born 5 September 1991) is a footballer who most recently played as a central midfielder for Macarthur FC in the A-League Men. Born in South Africa, he played as a youth international for Australia. Club career Baccus joine ...

and Clayton Lewis, were arrested by

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force is a law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in 1862. With more than 17,000 police officers, it is the largest police organisation in Australia, policing an area of 801,60 ...

over an alleged match fixing scandal.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Guadalajara *

runner-up:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Santos Laguna *

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

: Clausura 2018 Macarthur FC *

Australia Cup The Australia Cup (currently known as the Hahn Australia Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the national association football, soccer single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Fo ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Mexico U20 * CONCACAF U-20 Championship:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Individual *

Player of the Month: December 2019 *

PFA Team of the Season: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22 * Johnny Warren Medal: 2020–21 *

Mark Viduka Medal The Mark Viduka Medal is an association football award that recognises the Player of the match, best adjudged player/s from the final of the Australia Cup (formally the FFA Cup) each year. Introduced in the first edition of the competition in 2014 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davila, Ulises 1991 births Living people Mexican men's footballers Footballers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Men's association football midfielders Mexico men's under-20 international footballers Mexico men's youth international footballers 2011 Copa América players Liga MX players Eredivisie players Segunda División players Primeira Liga players Indian Super League players A-League Men players 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 Odisha FC players Wellington Phoenix FC players Macarthur FC players Mexican expatriate men's footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Mexican expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Mexican expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate men's footballers in India 21st-century Mexican sportsmen Sportspeople involved in betting scandals Expatriate men's footballers in England