Solomon Sebastian Davis (born 4 September 1979) is an English

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 ...

who plays for Arlesey Town.

Career

Born in

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, Davis is a left-back who played over 130 times for

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

before being transferred to Luton Town in August 2002, bought by then manager

Joe Kinnear Joseph Patrick Kinnear (born 27 December 1946) is an Irish former football manager and player. Kinnear played as a defender, spending the majority of his career—ten seasons—with Tottenham Hotspur. With Tottenham he won the FA Cup, the EF ...

. Davis was named Players' Player of the Year following the club's League One winning campaign in 2004–05 in which Davis scored twice – his first ever goals in professional football. At the beginning of the 2007–08 season, Davis found himself out of favour with new Luton boss

Kevin Blackwell Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English former professional football goalkeeper who since retiring as a player has worked as a coach and a manager. He is currently the manager of Thai League 1 club Nakhon Ratchasima. ...

and was subsequently placed on the transfer list. Davis joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

side

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standin ...

on a two-month loan on 24 September 2007, but returned to Luton in early October due to injury. After Blackwell's departure, Davis was immediately recalled to the side by new manager

Mick Harford Michael Gordon Harford (born 12 February 1959) is an English football manager and former professional player. He is the chief recruitment officer at Luton Town, a club where he has spent a large portion of both his playing and non-playing caree ...

, but could not prevent Luton's relegation to League Two. In the 2008–09 season, Davis made 24 league appearances for Luton as the Hatters were relegated out of

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. He was not offered a new contract at the end of the year, and was released on 27 May 2009. Davis played a total of 229 games in all competitions for Luton over the course of seven seasons, and was a highly popular player with the fans at Kenilworth Road. On 17 July 2009, Davis joined

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

on trial. Later that day he played in the club's 3–2 South West Challenge Cup victory over Yeovil Town. In August 2009 he signed short-term contract with Milton Keynes Dons. Following that, in November 2009, he joined

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts ...

on loan by appointment of manager-player

Lee Harper Lee Charles Philip Harper (born 30 October 1971) is an English former footballer, and manager who played as a goalkeeper. He notably played for Queens Park Rangers. Although he spent 3 years at Arsenal, he only played 1 game for that club. Aft ...

, alongside MK Dons midfielder Ritchie Partridge. Along with 3 other players he was released by MK Dons at the end of his contract on 30 June 2010. One day later, Davis signed permanently on a two-year contract for Kettering. In the summer of 2012, Davis spent pre-season training with

Hinckley United Hinckley United Football Club was an English football club, from Hinckley, Leicestershire which last played in the Southern Football League Premier Division during the 2013–14 season. They were formed in 1997 as the result of a merger between ...

playing in several friendly games. Davis joined up with former teammates

Shane Blackett Shane may refer to: People * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946) * iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer * Shane (name), a masculine given name and a sur ...

and Nathan Abbey at Southern League side Arlesey Town in 2012.

Stroke

On 28 October 2006, it was revealed that Davis had suffered a stroke whilst travelling to his team's match at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

on the next day. He was taken into the specialist unit at Addenbrookes Hospital in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

. The squad had been on their way to the Belstead Brook hotel in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

on Saturday when Davis lost feeling in his left side and this was affecting his speech. Davis however returned to action and started in the game against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

on 1 January 2007.

Honours

* 2004–05:

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Lea ...

Champions – Luton Town * 2008–09:

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

– Luton Town

References

External links

*
BBC report on Sol Davis' stroke
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Sol 1979 births Footballers from Bath, Somerset Living people English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Swindon Town F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Arlesey Town F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Warminster Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players