Alan Edward Davidson (born 1 June 1960) is an Australian former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a defender or

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He represented the Australia national team, earning over 50 caps, and played club football for teams including

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

and

Melbourne Croatia Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

. Davidson also had a successful stint in Malaysia, playing for

Pahang FA Sri Pahang Football Club () is a Malaysian professional football club based in Kuantan, Pahang. They currently play in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football. Founded in 1959, it has traditionally worn a yellow home kit s ...

, where he won multiple domestic titles. Known for his strong tackling and leadership, he was a key figure in Australian soccer during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Club career

Davidson made his senior debut in the Victorian State League in 1976 at the age of 15 playing for

Altona City SC Altona City SC is an Australian all-inclusive association football (soccer) club from Altona, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club was formed in 1965 with four fundamental countries contributing it its establishment and growth - ...

which had been his junior club. He transferred to

in 1978, where he played until the end of the 1984 season, making 155 appearances and scoring 13 goals. He moved to England for the 1984–85 season for

Nottingham Forest F.C. Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1865, Nottingham Forest h ...

and a promising start where he broke into the first team as a right-back was curtailed by illness after suffering a blow to the head and having a seizure during a reserve game on a very cold night which side lined him till the end of the season. He resumed training and played for the first team before suffering a serious back injury which sidelined him for over a year, forcing him into early retirement at the age of 25. He returned home to Melbourne. He resumed playing in Australia at the end of 1986 for South Melbourne and in 1987 transferred to

, making 133 appearances and scoring 10 goals from 1987 to the end of the 1991–92 season and transferred to

M-League The Malaysian League, also known as the M-League ( Malay: ''Liga Malaysia'' or ''Liga-M''), is a terminology used to describe the professional football league in Malaysia. The terminology was mainly used to describe the league and its divisions ...

club

in Malaysia during 1992 where he was voted the League's best player, guiding the team to the

Championship and

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup (), formerly known as Malaya Cup, is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the country's oldest cup tournament, i ...

double. He was the only foreign player ever to be honored and received an AMP awarded by the Sultan of

Pahang {{Infobox political division , name = Pahang , official_name = Pahang Darul Makmur , native_name = , settlement_type = States and federal territories of Malaysia, State , image_skyline = , imagesize ...

in 1996. During 1989 Davidson led the Australia National Futsal Team to the first ever

FIFA Futsal World Cup The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherla ...

in the Netherlands where he played in all three round one games against Zimbabwe, Italy and United States. Brazil were crowned FIFA Futsal World Champions beating the Netherlands 2–1 in the final. Near the end of his playing career, he guested for

South Melbourne FC South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional Association football, soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, Victoria, Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The club currently competes in the National P ...

for two seasons (1994 and 1995), while with the Malaysian club

between (1992 and 1996). His penultimate season (1996–97) he guested with the

Collingwood Warriors Collingwood Warriors Soccer Club was an Australian semi-professional association football (soccer) club based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford. It participated in the National Soccer League in 1996–97, lasting only a solitary sea ...

, and his last season (1997–98) was back with the

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

. He finally retired in 1998 at the age of 38 after three

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

campaigns, one

1989 FIFA Futsal World Cup The 1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship was the first FIFA Futsal World Cup, FIFA Futsal World Championship, the quadrennial international futsal championship contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was held b ...

and an

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were repres ...

, 79 Socceroo appearances, 51 FIFA full A internationals and was number #32 official Socceroo Captain and Socceroo Cap No-292. He was inducted to the

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...

Football Hall of Fame Football Hall of Fame may refer to: American football *College Football Hall of Fame *Pro Football Hall of Fame, located in Canton, Ohio Association football *Asian Football Hall of Fame *English Football Hall of Fame *Football Federation Austral ...

– in the Hall of Champions category – in 2001. Davidson was appointed the head coach of his former team Pahang in January 1999, however he parted ways with Pahang in April the same year. In 2006 Former 1974 Socceroo World Cup Coach Rale Rasic named Davidson in his greatest ever Socceroo team. Davidson also sits on Football Federation Australia A-Leagues Independent Match Review Panel and is one of two of the original three founding members of the current Match Review Panel formed in 2008–09 A-League season. Davidson's footballing career was honoured on 12 July 2012 at the "Australia's Greatest Ever Footballers Gala" ceremony at the Sydney Convention Center being named in Australia's Best 11 ever "Socceroo Team" of all time. The team selected was –

Mark Schwarzer Mark Schwarzer ( , ; born 6 October 1972) is an Australian former professional football player who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He represented Australia men's national soccer team, Australia at international level ...

Lucas Neil Lucas Edward Neill (born 9 March 1978) is an Australian former soccer player. Neill played as a defender, often playing as a centre back as well as a full-back. Neill spent almost 15 years of his career playing in England. He represented Austr ...

Joe Marston James Edward "Joe" Marston (7 January 1926 – 29 November 2015) was an Australian association footballer who played as a defender. He became the first Australian to appear in a FA Cup Final when he turned out for Preston North End in their 1 ...

Craig Moore Craig Andrew Moore (born 12 December 1975) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. His 2006 FIFA World Cup profile describes him as being "tough-tackling and uncompromising but also calm and composed under p ...

, Alan Davidson,

Johnny Warren John Norman Warren, MBE, OAM (17 May 1943 – 6 November 2004) was an Australian soccer player, coach, administrator, writer and broadcaster. He was known as ''Captain Socceroo'' for his passionate work to promote the game in Australia. The a ...

Ned Zelic Nedjeljko Zelic (born 4 July 1971), commonly known as Ned Zelic, is an Australian former footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. Club career Zelic started his career in the old Australian National Soccer League, where he ...

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "hi ...

, Ray Baartz,

Mark Viduka Mark Antony Viduka ( ; born 9 October 1975) is an Australian former Association football, football player who played as a centre forward. Viduka captained the Australia men's national soccer team, Australia national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup ...

and

Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian soccer coach, manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Yokohama F. Marinos in the J1 League. As a player, Kewell represented Leeds United F.C., Leeds United, Liverpool ...

. Alan has been an honorary playing member of Victoria Police Soccer Club (VPSC) for a number of years (his father was a Victoria Police member), representing the Club at a number of local and National events. In June, 2013, Alan was honoured by accepting the title of Community Patron of VPSC. Alan travelled with VPSC in July, 2013, to Hong Kong, playing for VPSC in a tournament with the Hong Kong Police Force, Hong Kong Celebrity All Stars and Victoria Asian Football Federation. VPSC went through the tournament unbeaten to win the title. Davidson was honoured by

Football Federation Victoria Football Victoria is the state governing body for association football, soccer in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated with Football Australia, the sport's national governing body. History Football Victoria began operation in 1884 under the n ...

at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne on 14 October 2013 in recognition of outstanding contribution to football in the state of Victoria and inducted to the FFV Hall of Fame. On Tuesday 17 December 2013, Davidson was again honoured by Football Federation Australia and selected in the FFA Team of the Decade between 1980 – 1989 at The Crown Towers in Melbourne. The FFA Team of the Decade for the 1980s Terry Greedy, Alan Davidson, Tony Henderson,

Charlie Yankos Charlie Yankos (born 29 May 1961) is an Australian former footballer who played for the Australian national team 49 times and scored 7 international goals. He captained the national team on 30 occasions between 1986 and 1989. Charlie Yankos s ...

Graham Jennings Graham Jennings (born 18 January 1960) is a former Australian association footballer, who played predominantly as a defender and was renowned for his speed, earning him the nickname ''flash''. After a distinguished club and international caree ...

, Joe Watson, Murray Barnes,

Oscar Crino Oscar Crino (born 9 August 1962) is a former Australian international soccer player who played as a central midfielder for the Australian national side. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder. Early life Crino was born in ...

Zarko Odzakov Zarko (Greek: Ζάρκο, also: ''Zarkos'') is a village in the Farkadona municipality, Trikala regional unit, Greece. Zarko had a population of 957 in 2021. Zarko is located on the edge of the Thessalian Plain, 5 km east of Farkadona proper ...

John Kosmina Alexander John Kosmina (born 17 August 1956), known as John Kosmina, is an Australian former football (soccer) player and manager, most recently being the Senior Head Coach of Brisbane Strikers. He is a member of the Football Federation Austra ...

Eddie Krncevic Eduvard "Eddie" Krncevic ( ; ; born 14 August 1960) is an Australian retired 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 ...

. Wednesday 19 March 2014, Davidson was again honoured by Football Federation Victoria by Awarding him a Life Member of FFV in recognition of his outstanding meritorious service to football in Victoria.

International career

His first Australian representative honours were in 1978–79 during the Under 19

World Youth Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

, qualifiers in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

and made 10 youth appearances. Davidson made his senior debut for Australia on 9 February 1980 at the age of 19 against

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in Melbourne drawing the game 2–2. Davidson retired as Socceroos #32 official Socceroo Captain and Socceroo Cap No-292 after 79 international

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

(51 in official

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

matches) between 1980 and 1991 with the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

team, scoring 2 goals in those appearances.

Personal life

Davidson was born in Altona North, a suburb of Melbourne, in 1960 to Keith, an Australian, and Kazuko, who was born in Japan. His parents had met when his father was posted to Japan with the

British Commonwealth Occupation Force The British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) was the British Commonwealth taskforce consisting of Australian, British, Indian, and New Zealander military forces in occupied Japan, from 1946 until the end of occupation in 1952. At its pe ...

. His son

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

is also a professional football player, currently playing for the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

club

K.A.S. Eupen K.A.S. Eupen (short for Königliche Allgemeine Sportvereinigung Eupen, English: ''Royal General Sports Association Eupen'', simply referred to as Eupen) is a Belgian professional association football club located in Eupen, Liège (province), Prov ...

and the Socceroos.

Honours

South Melbourne * NSL Championship: 1984 *

NSL Cup The National Soccer League Cup (known most commonly as the NSL Cup) was an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Australian soccer organised by the Australian Soccer Federation between 1977 and 1997. History The NSL Cup was or ...

: 1995–96 *

Hellenic Cup The Hellenic Cup () is an Australian football (soccer) tournament contested by Greek Australian clubs, mostly from Melbourne, Victoria . Starting in 1983, it was an attempt to formalise the previously scattered approach to holding such tournament ...

: 1984 Nottingham Forest *Saudi Arabia Cup: Winners 1984 Melbourne Knights * NSL Championship Runners Up: 1990–91, 1991–92 * Ansett Challenge Shield: 1987 * Buffalo Cup: 1987 Pahang FA *

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League () was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. It replaced the Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier League was contested by 12 clubs. The season usually ra ...

: 1992, 1995 *

: 1992: Runners Up 1994, 1995 *

Malaysia Charity Shield The Malaysian Charity Shield (English: Charity Cup), also known as Piala Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah () or Piala Sumbangsih, is a Malaysian football super cup competition. It is the curtain raiser match to the new Malaysian football season, pittin ...

: 1992, 1993 Runners Up 1995 *

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup () is an annual association football, football competition in Malaysia, established in 1990. It was previously managed by the Football Association of Malaysia, before being transferred to the Football Malaysia LLP, Malaysian ...

: Runners Up 1995 Collingwood Warriors *

: 1996–97 Australia *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Trans-Tasman Cup The Trans-Tasman Cup was an association football competition played between Australia and New Zealand. Six editions were played between 1983 and 1995 after the OFC Nations Cup was discontinued. It was considered the most important Oceanian tourn ...

: Winners 1988, Runners Up 1983, 1987 *

Merlion Cup The Merlion Cup is an invitational association football, football tournament that was held in Singapore annually from 1982–1986, in 1992, 2009 and 2019 and 2023. Participants included full national sides, Olympic sides, Invitational XI's and ...

: Winners 1982, 1983 *

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

: Runners Up 1987 * Bicentennial Gold Cup 1988 Runners up

Individual

* Alan Davidson – Field 18 (Albert Park Lake) – 1996 * Ahli Mahkota Pahang

: – 1996 *

Team of the Century – 2000 * FFA Hall of Champions Inductee – 2001 *

Hall of Champions: Inductee – 2002 * Greatest Ever Socceroos XI Team – 2012 *

Hall of Fame – 2013 *

Team of the Decade 1980–89 – 2013 *Football Federation Victoria Life Member – 2014

References

* http://www.goal.com/en-au/news/4020/australia/2012/07/13/3238568/exclusive-humbled-alan-davidson-hails-greatest-ever-gala * http://au.fourfourtwo.com/Gallery/308555,greatest-ever-socceroos-xi.aspx/1 * http://greatesteveraustralianfootballer.com/

External links

Nostalgia Liga Malaysia: Alan Davidson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Alan 1960 births Living people Australian men's soccer players Soccer players from Melbourne Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australia men's under-20 international soccer players Australia men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players for Australia National Soccer League (Australia) players South Melbourne FC players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Melbourne Knights FC players Sri Pahang FC players Collingwood Warriors SC players Australian soccer managers Sri Pahang FC managers Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Australian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia 1980 Oceania Cup players OFC Nations Cup–winning players Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Australian people of Japanese descent Sportspeople of Japanese descent Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders People from Altona, Victoria Expatriate men's footballers in England English Football League players Australian expatriate soccer managers Expatriate football managers in Malaysia 20th-century Australian sportsmen