Kevin Davies

At 47 years old, Kevin Davies has this physical status:

Club career

Davies, a born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, was a schoolboy with his boyhood team Sheffield United, but he was released at the age of 15. He appeared on court at Chesterfield and spent his time with the club as a trainee. Davies joined the club's first squad after a lengthy wait. He was Chesterfield's second youngest ever first-team player when he played against West Ham United in a League Cup match on September 22, 1993. In April 1994, he began his first professional contract with the club.

Davies' goalscoring form at Chesterfield was unspectacular, playing mostly wide in midfield and scoring his highest total of 11 goals in the Third Division's play-offs. He scored only three goals from 34 Second Division games in his final season, but he made a huge contribution to the Spireites' best-ever FA Cup run, including a hat-trick against Burnden Park in a fourth round tie against Bolton Wanderers and an earlier attack against Scarborough in the 2nd round. Despite his relative inability, his sharp play was still receiving notice from Premier League and First Division clubs during his time with Chesterfield's FA Cup exploits, which culminated in a semi-final loss to Middlesbrough.

Davies, as a youngster, was far from the brutic center-forward he later became at Bolton. Despite being well-built and strong for a boy, Chesterfield's Graeme Souness attracted his attention, and intelligence was evident, and it was these attributes that attracted Southampton manager Graeme Souness's interest.

Davies joined Southampton in May 1997 and scored nine league goals, one of which was a crucial solo goal in a 2–0 victory over Everton at Goodison Park. He also scored the equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool, a lone win over Manchester United and Chelsea, and the equalizer in a historic 1–0 draw with Liverpool.

Blackburn Rovers paid him £7.5 million in July 1998, ten times more than Southampton had paid for him a year earlier and even a club record. Chesterfield did not profit from the transfer because they failed to reach a sell-on contract. James Beattie went the other way as part of the contract. However, Davies was the winner in a victory over Charlton Athletic in 21 appearances for the club in 21 games. He scored a second goal in the FA Cup, as well as against Charlton Athletic, and appeared in a UEFA Cup match that season. Blackburn was relegated a year after finishing second in the league and a mere four years after winning the league for a year.

Southampton re-signed their former striker in exchange for Egil stenstad, who was born in August 1999. Davies, who had appeared in just two league games since returning to Southampton as a substitute for Mark Hughes, was banned from playing against Liverpool. He had trouble finding a first-team spot over the next four years, and he was more often than not a substitute. Davies played for Millwall in the First Division from 2002-03, where he scored three goals on loan.

He joined Bolton in summer 2003 after Southampton had been released. He scored ten times and started every league match in a season where he rediscovered his best form. He ended the season by winning the club's Player of the Year award and his team's consolation goal at the Millennium Stadium in 2004.

Davies is often referred to as the Premier League player with the most fouls, committing more offences than any other Premier League player in three seasons from 2004 to 2007. Davies was marginally better behaved in the 2003–04 and 2007–08 seasons, racking the second most fouls per season. Davies has made over 1,000 fouls in his Bolton career, more than any other Premier League player in the sport's history. Davies has also appeared near the top of the list of the most fouled players at the same time.

During a match against Arsenal in January 2009, he confessed to intentionally aiming to hurt Gal Clichy in a challenge. "A few of them let out a scream, which is a little surprising considering that it is a man's game, but you still have to get to the game." On September 10, 2011, he earned his 100th yellow card in the Premier League for a foul on Manchester United's Patrice Evra, and when he received another booking against Wigan Athletic on February 11, 2012, he became the joint holder of the Premier League's most yellow cards, alongside Lee Bowyer. Paul Scholes has equaled his Premier League yellow card record, while Gareth Barry has beaten this record.

Davies scored a goal at the Allianz Arena in Frankfurt, Germany, on November 8, 2007. Bolton secured a vital away point from a 2–2 draw in the UEFA Cup group stage thanks to Davies' late contribution.

Davies scored his 100th goal in a 1–0 victory over West Ham at the Reebok Stadium on April 12, 2008, despite dislocating a finger during the match and getting it back to its socket, allowing him to play.

He returned from a broken hand to assist Bolton in retaining their Premier League status on Saturday 3 May 2008.

Hull City attempted to sign Kevin Davies from Bolton over the summer of 2008, but the club turned down their bid. Davies later agreed to a new deal with Bolton, which will keep him at the club until 2011.

Following the sell of Kevin Nolan to Newcastle United, Bolton's captain, Davies became captain of Bolton on January 31, 2009. Davies' first game as captain, as well as equaling his highest goals in a Premier League season, was held on the same day. In the following match, he scored his 50th goal for Bolton and his 10th of the season.

Davies said in August 2009 that he would like to stay at Bolton for the remainder of his career. Davies scored his first penalty of his career on March 13, 2010, netting his second from the spot in a 4–0 home victory over Wigan.

Davies set a Premier League record for the most fouls in a season between 2009 and 2010, committing 120 criminal charges. He went on to break his own record of 121 fouls in the 2010-11 season.

Davies was relegated to Bolton at the end of the 2011–12 season, but the fans were assured that he would return to the Premier League shortly after. On February 2, 2013, he made his 400th appearance for the club at Watford.

Bolton announced on March 26 that they would not be giving Davies a new deal, which would make this season his final for the club. Davies played no further games this season, being first dropped to the bench but then being left out of match day squads completely, with reserve-team strikers taking their place instead.

Davies signed a two-year deal with Preston North End, a League One club. He made his Preston debut on August in a 0–0 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers and was lauded by his manager for his efforts. Preston's first goal, a penalty, was a win over Oldham Athletic on September 9, 2013. In a 1–0 victory over Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup on December 9, he scored his only goal.

He scored his 150th career goal and first of the season on Sunday in a home match against Coventry City on February 7, 2015, before he put in Paul Gallagher's cross to win a home match against Coventry City. Preston defeated Swindon Town 4–0 in the play-off final against Wembley Stadium on May 24. He spent 22 minutes as a replacement for hat-trick scorer Jermaine Beckford on May 24.

Davies resigned from football after 22 years in the sport on September 4th, 2015.

International career

Davies was asked by the end of the 2009-10 season if he was eligible to play for Scotland. Davies is, to his own knowledge, ineligible to represent Scotland, but he would not give up any call-up to the Scottish or Welsh teams even if it was likely.

Davies, 33, was called up to the England squad for the first time in his career against Montenegro on October 12, 2010. He made his debut as a 69th-minute replacement for Peter Crouch and was issued a yellow card. He became the first England debutant since Leslie Compton, 38, in 1950. He was 33 years and 200 days old.

Managerial career

Davies was appointed boss of National League North team Southport on October 18, 2017 on a two-and-a-half year deal.

Davies had been suspended from his managerial duties on April 30, 2018, according to Southport.

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