Arron Rhys Davies (born 22 June 1984) is a Welsh former 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 played as a

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 made one appearance for the Wales national team.

Early life

Davies was brought up in

Llantwit Major Llantwit Major () is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales on the Bristol Channel coast. It is one of four towns in the Vale of Glamorgan, with the third largest population (13,366 in 2001) after Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Barry and ...

, where he attended Llantwit Major Comprehensive School.

Club career

Southampton

Davies joined

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

's Centre of Excellence at Bath before moving up to the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. He made his first appearance for the reserves in September 2001 and became a regular for the Saints reserves in the 2002–03 season after moving from the wing to a striking role. Between March and April 2003 he scored 4 times in 5 reserve games, which brought him to the attention of first team manager

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player who is currently Technical Director of Dundee. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Sc ...

. Strachan named Davies in his initial 20-man squad for the 2003 FA Cup final, however he failed to make the bench. Davies also travelled to

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for Saints'

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tie. Although seemingly on the verge of breaking into the senior team, Davies never made a first team appearance for Southampton. In February 2004, he went on loan to

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

side

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. On 14 February 2004 he made his debut for Barnsley in a 1–0 loss against

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 ...

. Davies was released by Southampton following the arrival of new manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

in December 2004.

Yeovil Town

On 16 December 2004, Davies moved to League Two side

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil, a town in Somerset, England, with a council named Yeovil Town * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town W.F.C., an English women's football team affiliated with Yeovil T ...

on a free transfer On 18 December 2004, Davies scored the winning goal on his debut in a 3–2 victory over

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

. On 29 January 2005, Davies scored in a 3–2 loss against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

in the fourth round of the

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 ...

. In February 2005, Davies scored in four consecutive matches against Chester City,

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

. Yeovil finished the 2004–05 season as champions of League Two and won promotion to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

. Davies blossomed during 2005–06, where he scored 8 goals in 39 appearances. On 4 March 2006, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against Chesterfield in a 3–0 victory. At the end of the season, Davies signed a new two-year contract with Yeovil, keeping him at the club until 2008. In 2006–07, Davies scored 6 league goals. On 18 May 2007, he scored twice in Yeovil's 5–2 Football League One Play-off semi-final win against

Nottingham Forest 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 league system, English football. Founde ...

at the

City Ground The City Ground is a association football, football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,455. ...

. His goals helped Yeovil to a 5–4 aggregate win. 27 May 2007, Yeovil lost 2–0 against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

on in the League One Play-off Final.

Nottingham Forest

6 July 2007, Davies moved to

side

in a combined £1.2m deal with teammate

Chris Cohen Christopher or Chris Cohen may refer to: * Christopher A. Cohen, American producer, stage manager and director * Christopher B. Cohen, Chicago politician * Chris Cohen (footballer) * Chris Cohen (musician) {{hndis, Cohen, Christopher ...

. On 6 July 2007, he signed a three-year contract. Davies missed the start of the 2007–08 season due to injury. 30 October 2007, He made his debut as a substitute in a 0–0 draw against

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

. Unfortunately, injuries limited the number of appearances Davies made for The Reds. Forest finished the season in second place and won gained promotion to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. Davies' appearances were again limited due to injury during the 2008–09 season. On 1 September 2009, Davies signed on loan with

side

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

until the end of the year. However, after only 7 appearances, Brighton terminated his loan on 2 December 2009. On 19 January 2010, Davies, along with James Reid, Aaron Mitchell and Joe Heath, had his contract terminated by mutual consent.

Return to Yeovil

In January 2010, a proposed move to join his former club,

, collapsed due to

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 ...

regulations which state that a player "may only play for two clubs in any one season where he has been on contract or a standard loan". This prevented Davies from signing for a third club during the season. To avoid these regulations, Davies signed on non-contract terms with

on 11 February 2010. Once signed, he was loaned to Yeovil for the remainder of the season.

Peterborough United

On 9 July 2010, Davies was signed by former boss

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

for

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

on a two-year contract. On 7 August 2010, Davies made his debut in a 3–0 win against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

. On 4 September 2010, Davies sustained a hamstring injury in a 1–0 loss against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

. He was sidelined for three weeks following the match. On 2 November 2010, Davies scored his first goal in over three years in a 3–1 win over against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

. Peterborough were promoted to the Championship at the end of the season after beating Huddersfield 3-0 in the play-off final. Davies was transfer listed and then had his contract terminated by mutual consent by new manager

Darren Ferguson Darren Ferguson (born 9 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of League One club Peterborough United, in his fourth stint as manager of the club. In between his stints with Peterborou ...

at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Northampton Town

On 30 June 2011, Davies was signed by Gary Johnson for a third time at League Two side

. On 6 August 2011, Davies made his debut for the club in a 0–0 draw against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

. On 20 August 2011, Davies scored his first goal in a 3–2 loss against

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

. Gary Johnson was sacked in mid-November 2011 and replaced by

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who was most recently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he ...

. Under Boothroyd, Davies' first team opportunities were limited. On 4 July 2012, Davies had his contract terminated with Northampton Town by mutual consent.

Exeter City

On 5 July 2012, Davies signed with League Two side

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. On 19 October 2013, Davies scored a spectacular dipping long range effort from the sideline against

in a 4–0 away victory. The goal was voted by Exeter supporters as the club's goal of the season. Davies left Exeter at the end of the 2015–16 season after the club could not afford to offer him a new contract.

Accrington Stanley

On 1 August 2016, Davies joined fellow League Two side

on a one-year contract. He scored his first goal for Accrington in a 2–1 loss to

on 20 August 2016.

International career

Davies has represented his country at all levels including captaining Wales at under-21 level. He earned his only senior international

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

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 ...

as a substitute in a 2–1 friendly victory against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Yeovil Town * League Two: 2004–05 Nottingham Forest *

runner-up: 2007–08 Peterborough United *

play-offs:

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 ...

References

External links

*
Photo gallery whilst with Wales under-21 team

Profile on Yeovil Town fansite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Arron 1984 births Living people Footballers from Cardiff Men's association football defenders Welsh men's footballers Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Wales men's international footballers Southampton F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players English Football League players 21st-century British sportsmen