Biography
Experienced striker Bobby Davison joined Terry Dolan’s Tigers on loan in November 1995 and spent four months attempting to spearhead a recovery in City’s foot-of-the-table misfortunes. He scored four goals, including the third of three in a February 1996 win against Burnley that was to be his last game in black and amber, but the slump remained resolutely un-arrested as City lost six and drew three of the 11 league games Bobby started. Relegation to the third tier beckoned that May.
Robert “Bobby” Davison was born in South Shields, in his younger days he worked in a Tyneside shipyard while playing in the Wearside League for Seaham Colliery Welfare Red Star, an amalgamated team that he joined in January 1978. In March 1980 Bobby commenced a one month trial at Division Three side Huddersfield Town, a move that turned into his first professional contract in August 1980. He made his first team debut for the Terriers later that month against Rotherham United and ended his first season as a professional footballer with 2 appearances for the Leeds Road club.
In August 1981 Davison moved a few miles along the A629 and joined Division Four side Halifax Town. In his first season at The Shay Davison started every league game and netted 21 goals as the Shaymen eased clear of the re-election places. His goalscoring exploits accelerated in the first half of the 1982/83 season, scoring sixteen goals in 23 appearances including hattricks in August 1982 against Hartlepool United and in November 1982 against Wimbledon. By the end of November 1982 Bobby had scored 37 goals in 72 appearances for Halifax Town and was attracting a phalanx of scouts to The Shay.
In December 1982 Davison joined Division Two side Derby County the club he slammed three goals past three months earlier in a two-legged League Cup tie. The Rams parted with a £60,000 fee for Bobby’s signature and he quickly made his Division Two debut from the bench, starting games after Christmas 1982 and scoring his first Rams goals when he struck a brace against Shrewsbury Town at the end of December 1982. Davison remained in the Derby first team for most of the second half of the 1982/83 season and ended his first season at the Baseball Ground with eight goals. Bobby was a first team regular during the 1983/84 season and scored eighteen goals as Derby slipped out of Division Two after reaching the Sixth Round of the FA Cup – Davison netted his first Derby hattrick in February 1984 against Telford United, earlier in that Cup campaign. For the next two seasons Davison was a potent striker in Division Three as The Rams narrowly missed out on promotion in the first season before returning to Division Two at the end of the 1985/86 season – Bobby netted another hattrick in November 1984 against Doncaster Rovers. In the 1986/87 season Davison added 22 goals, including a December 1986 hattrick against Reading, as The Rams won a second straight promotion and returned to Division One after a seven year absence. In August 1987, at the age of 28, Davison made his first career appearance in a top flight match against Luton Town and scored his first Division One goal a month later against Norwich City. But his fine scoring form had finally come to an end and in November 1987 Bobby left The Rams after scoring 98 goals in 239 senior appearances for the club during a five year spell.
In November 1987 Davison returned to Division Two and signed for fallen Yorkshire giants Leeds United in return for a £350,000 fee. He was an important part of the Whites’ first team as they jostled for promotion places at the top of the Division Two table, eventually succeeding at the end of the 1989/90 season when they were promoted to Division One as champions – though by the latter stages of that season Davison’s first team shirt was being challenged by new signing Imre Varadi. Leeds strengthened their forward line at the start of the 1990/91 season by signing Lee Chapman and Davison was unable to break back into the first team until two February 1991 FA Cup ties against Arsenal. He returned to Division One football in March and April 1991 and scored the second top flight goal of his career in March 1991 against Coventry City.
In September 1991 Bobby returned to Derby County, now back in Division Two, on a month’s loan that was eventually extended to two months and featured eight goals in just 10 appearances. After returning to Leeds United in December 1992 he made three further appearances for the Whites in January 1993, taking his Leeds United tally to 35 goals in 110 appearances. As Leeds United powered to the Division One title in May 1992, Bobby joined Division One rivals Sheffield United on a two month loan in March 1992 and scored four goals in 11 appearances including a crowd-pleasing brace on his Blades debut against arch rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
In August 1992 Davison, now 33 years of age, signed for League Division 1 side Leicester City, a £50,000 fee being paid to Leeds United for his services. He scored six league goals for the Foxes during the 1992/93 season as they fought to win promotion to the newly formed Premier League, but as Leicester looked to kick on in the 1993/94 season Bobby was deemed surplus to requirements and in September 1993 he was allowed to leave having scored nine goals in 31 appearances for The Foxes.
In September 1993 Davison returned to Premier League side Sheffield United, initially on a loan deal that became a permanent move weeks later. Davison struggled for game time as the Blades were marooned at the bottom of the Premier League table and suffered relegation in May 1994. Davison spent the early weeks of the 1994/95 season on the fringes of the Sheffield United first team squad and took his tally for his second spell at Bramall Lane to two goals in 16 appearances before leaving the club in October 1994 and signing for League Division 2 side Rotherham United. Bobby was a first team starter for Rotherham in much of what remained of the 1994/95 season but was out of the first team squad when he was loaned to Hull City in November 1995. He returned to Millmoor at the end of February 1996 and made the last of his 530 senior appearances in April 1996 for Rotherham United against Stockport County, taking his tally for the Millers to seven goals in 27 appearances. Davison netted 204 goals in his 16 year senior career, a fine return for a man who didn’t join the professional ranks until the age of 21.
Davison continued playing in the lower leagues, joining Conference National side Halifax Town in July 1996 and spending the early part of the 1996/97 season at the club where he first made his reputation as a Football League goalscorer fifteen years earlier. He scored only one goal in 11 appearances for The Shaymen and was loaned to Northern Premier League side Guiseley in November 1996, then was appointed player-coach at Guiseley in May 1997 following his release by Halifax Town. He served Guiseley for another three years, becoming first team manager in October 1997 before hanging up his boots in 2000.
In October 2000 Davison resigned from his post as manager at Guiseley and joined the coaching setup at Bradford City, where he remained for seven years. After a short spell on the coaching staff at Sheffield United, Davison was appointed the manager of Hungarian side Ferencvaros In April 2008 largely as a result of the Blades’ partnership with the Budapest side. He lasted eighteen months in the role before leaving in October 2009 – despite returning Ferencvaros to the Hungarian top flight, it was a time fans’ unrest and Bobby, plus his assistant Craig Short, suffered threats of physical violence.
In November 2010 Davison joined the youth coaching setup at Leeds United, months later he joined i2i Soccer Academy, which trained overseas football prospects while they also studied for a sports management qualification at York St Johns and Northumbria Universities. In December 2012 he was appointed manager at lower league side Eccleshill United for the remainder of the 2012/13 season, between July 2011 and July 2014 Bobby also served the England Under-19 setup as a coach and an international scout, Between 2015 and 2016 he obtained a degree in football management at the University of Liverpool before coaching the Under-18s at Southampton between February 2016 and June 2017.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 17 July 1959, South Shields
Hull City First Game: 25 November 1995, Peterborough United H (Division Two), 36 years, 131 days old
Hull City Final Game: 24 February 1996, Burnley H (Division Two), 36 years, 222 days old
Clubs
Seaham Colliery Welfare, Huddersfield Town (1980-1981), Halifax Town (1981-1982), Derby County (1982-1987), Leeds United (1987-1992), Derby County (1991, loan), Sheffield United (1992, loan), Leicester City (1992-1993), Sheffield United (1993-1994), Rotherham United (1994-1996), Hull City (1995-1996, loan), Halifax Town (1996-1997), Guiseley (1996-1997, loan), Guiseley (1997-2000)
Hull City Record
Career: 12 apps, 4 goals
Bobby Davison| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995/96 | 11 (0) | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 (0) | 0 |