Christopher Paul Davies (born 27 March 1985) is an English professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former player who is the manager of club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. Davies was a youth player for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

and

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 ...

before retiring in 2004, aged 19. He became a football coach, initially coaching youth teams in England and abroad, before becoming assistant to

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed until h ...

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. After a season at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

as the senior assistant coach to

Ange Postecoglou Angelos "Ange" Postecoglou ( ; ; born 27 August 1965) is a soccer manager and former player who was most recently manager of club Tottenham Hotspur. Born in Greece, Postecoglou grew up in Melbourne from the age of five. As a player, he spen ...

, Davies became manager of Birmingham City in 2024.

Early life and playing career

Christopher Paul Davies was born on 27 March 1985 in

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 ...

, England. He qualified to play football for

through his Welsh father. He was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

for the Wales Under-17, 18 and 19 teams. Davies signed with

, aged 16, where he captained the youth team coached by

. Despite appearing regularly for the Reading reserve team, Davies was forced to retire from professional football in 2004, aged 19, due to an

arthritic Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected jo ...

condition in his foot.

Coaching career

In 2004, Davies began studying for his

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

coaching licences while also attending

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

, where he obtained a first-class

honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, ...

in Sport Science. He worked as a youth coach at

and also coached in the United States and New Zealand. While in New Zealand, Davies was a youth coach at

Hawke's Bay United Hawke's Bay United was a professional Association football club based in Napier, New Zealand, Napier, New Zealand. HB United most recently played in the New Zealand Football Championship, ISPS Handa Premiership – a semi-professional franc ...

, where he worked under Jonathan and

Bobby Gould Robert Alfred Gould (born 12 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. Early life Robert Alfred Gould was born in Wyken, Coventry, Warwickshire on Wednesday, 12 June 1946. He is the son of Henry Gould and Helen McKellar Gould ...

. In 2010, aged 25, Davies was recruited as an assistant to

. During his time at Swansea, Davies specialised in opposition analysis and

tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics In chess, a tac ...

. In his first season, Swansea were promoted to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. After Swansea secured a second season in the Premier League, Davies was offered a coaching position with the club's reserve team. Davies moved with Rodgers to

in June 2012 as the club's head of opposition analysis. In his second season, Liverpool finished second in the Premier League behind champions

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 ...

. Davies left the club in October 2015 when Rodgers was replaced by

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

. During his time at Liverpool, Davies completed his

UEFA Pro Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of manager (association football), managers/ coach (sport), coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for association football, football in Europe mandates several licences, e ...

, earning the qualification in 2015. Following six months at

as a first-team coach in 2016, Davies joined Rodgers as his assistant manager at

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club

. In their first season, Celtic won the domestic treble for only the fourth time in the club's history. Under Rodgers and Davies, Celtic broke their 100-year-old record for successive domestic games unbeaten, going 69 matches without defeat. They won the treble again in Davies's second season. In February 2019, Davies moved with Rodgers to

, again as his assistant manager. They finished fifth in two consecutive seasons, missing out on

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

qualification on the last day of both seasons, but won the 2021 FA Cup and the Community Shield. Davies left the club with Rodgers in April 2023. On 27 June 2023, Davies was appointed senior assistant coach to

Managerial career

Birmingham City

On 6 June 2024, he departed Tottenham Hotspur in order to become the manager of

. He signed a four-year contract with the newly relegated

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club. Following an unbeaten month of thirteen points from five matches, Davies was named

EFL League One Manager of the Month EFL most commonly refers to English as a foreign language. EFL may also refer to: Sports * Eastern Football League (Australia), an Australian rules football league * Eastern Football League (Scotland), a defunct Scottish football competition ...

for February 2025 as Birmingham extended their lead at the top of the league. By the end of the 2024–25 season, he guided the club to promotion to the Championship, at their first time of asking, surpassing

's 2005–06 record of 106 for the highest points total. Birmingham later went on to amass the highest points total in world professional football, with 111. Due to his record-breaking debut season in football management, Davies won League 1 Manager of the Year.

Coaching style

During his early career as a youth coach, Davies used

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

coaching to improve the technical development of players, including their ball control and passing. He then developed his tactical knowledge at Swansea and Liverpool, having worked in opposition analysis roles at both clubs. At Celtic and Leicester, Davies's job was to "lead training on a day-to-day basis, managing the other coaches and working closely with the sports science department". His sessions included on-the-field training, as well as individual meetings with the players and video analysis. Davies's coaching style has primarily been influenced by

, having worked with Rodgers at several clubs throughout his career. He also cites the work of

Roberto Martínez Roberto Martínez Montoliu (; born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Portugal national team. Martínez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Re ...

and

Paulo Sousa Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current manager of UAE Pro League club Shabab Al Ahli. Starting his career ...

at Swansea, as well as the influence of

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Catalans, Catalan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player from Spain who has been the manager of club Manchester City F.C., Ma ...

on English football.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Birmingham City *

: 2024–25 *

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

runner-up: 2024–25 Individual *

: February 2025, April 2025 * EFL League One Manager of the Season: 2024–25

References

External links

Profile
at the Birmingham City F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Chris 1985 births Living people English men's footballers Welsh men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Reading F.C. players Wales men's youth international footballers English football managers Welsh football managers Birmingham City F.C. managers Association football coaches Reading F.C. non-playing staff Leicester City F.C. non-playing staff Swansea City A.F.C. non-playing staff Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff Celtic F.C. non-playing staff Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff English people of Welsh descent 21st-century English sportsmen