Biography
Hull City appointed former Welsh international boss Mike Smith as club manager in January 1980. If the first thing Smith did was to sign promising Welsh goalkeeper Tony Norman, the second thing he tried to do was sign another promising Welsh goalkeeper in the form of Cardiff City’s reserve netminder John “Gunner” Davies, who had a two week trial at Boothferry Park in February 1980. However Smith did not finally manage to snare Davies until June 1980, in return for a £12,000 fee, by which time Norman had established himself as City’s number one choice in goal.
Davies made his Tigers’ in February 1981 and went on to spend seven seasons at Hull City, but remained in the shadow of Norman for practically all of that time. A dutiful and capable deputy, Davies had further first team outings over the next two years, however in August 1983 Norman began a consecutive run of League starts that extended for five years and outlived Davies’ professional career. John’s playing days came to an end in July 1987 after he spent a year trying and failing to recover fully from a serious cruciate ligament injury sustained during a loan spell with Division Three side Notts County at the closing weeks of the 1985/86 season – he made 10 senior appearances for the Magpies.
John Gerwyn Davies hailed from Llandysul, a small town of 1,500 souls located in rural Ceredigion, fifteen miles north of Carmarthen. Despite his proximity to Swansea it was Cardiff City who nurtured Davies through their youth system and onwards to a first team debut in an August 1978 Anglo Scottish Cup tie against Bristol Rovers. Davies added four League starts in the 1978/79 season to two games in the Anglo Scottish Cup, then added three more League starts during the 1979/80 season to take his tally to 9 senior appearances for the Bluebirds prior to joining the Tigers.
In March 1988 Davies was lured back to play non-league football for Bridlington Town, a role he fulfilled for three years across two spells until he retired once again in December 1991.
Following his retirement John Davies joined the Hull City coaching and administrative staff. He returned to Wales in the summer of 1989 then a year later in September 1990 he returned to the East Riding and began a lengthy second career leading Hull City AFC’s community outreach effort – in the early 1990s Davies also provided Welsh language television commentary for Wales international matches. For many years he was City’s Football in the Community Officer, a role that morphed over time into Manager of the Tigers Sport and Education Trust, a role he departed in December 2018.
Details
Nationality: Wales
Date/Place of Birth: 18 November 1959, Llandysul
Hull City First Game: 7 February 1981, Blackpool H (Division Three), 21 years, 81 days old
Hull City Final Game: 14 May 1983, Rochdale A (Division Four), 23 years, 177 days old
Clubs
Cardiff City (1977-1980), Hull City (1980-1987), Notts County (1986, loan), Bridlington Town (1988-1991)
Hull City Record
Career: 27 apps, 0 goals
John Davies| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980/81 | 4 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1981/82 | 10 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1982/83 | 10 (0) | 0 | – | – | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 1983/84 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1984/85 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1985/86 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1986/87 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |