735 Aidan Davison

Biography

Goalkeeper Aidan Davison joined the Tigers on loan in November 1996 and stayed for two months to cover the absence with injury of Roy Carroll. City won three and drew three of those ten games as Terry Dolan’s denuded squad struggled to find a foothold on the fourth tier, though Aidan was not selected for 1-5 thumping in the FA Cup received at the hands of a Crewe Alexandra side that featured goals from future England player Danny Murphy and future Tigers Dele Adebola and Shaun Smith.

Aidan John Davison was born in Sedgefield, a market town on the southern fringe of County Durham near Darlington. He was developed in the Newcastle United youth system during the mid 1980s but failed to make any impression on the first team. He spent part of the 1986/87 season on loan at Northern League side Spennymoor United, playing in an FA Cup First Round tie against Tranmere Rovers. In July 1987 he left Newcastle and transferred to another Northern League side, Teesside-based ICI works team Billingham Synthonia where he started regularly, showed impressive form and attracted several Football League scouts.

In March 1988 Davison joined Division Three side Notts County and he was reserve keeper for the Magpies at the start of the 1988/89 season. However several events beset him that season – a one month absence due to a collapsed lung, the signing of Steve Cherry that relegated Davison to third choice, a persistent foot injury and, in April 1989, a GBH charge. The latter came the day before he made his Notts County debut, his only appearance for the club, in an April 1989 3-0 defeat at Preston that saw ex-Tigers Gary Swann and Warren Joyce both score. To cap a bad week, five days later Aidan conceded five goals against Hull City’s Reserves. He had a one month loan spell at Division Three rivals Leyton Orient in September 1989 that yielded no senior appearances, then in October 1989 he had a second loan spell with Bury, another Division Three side.

Before he could make his Bury debut Davison’s loan was converted to a permanent move in November 1989 with a £6,000 fee changing hands. Over the next two years Davison remained in reserve and his Shakers debut never came – two loan spells at Chester City (between March and May 1990) and Blackpool similarly did not yield further senior appearances.

In August 1991 Aidan joined Division Two side Millwall, where he finally held down a regular first team place. His Lions debut (his second career senior appearance) came in August 1991 against Middlesbrough and he was manager Bruce Rioch’s first choice throughout the season, despite missing two months of football in November and December 1991 due to broken ribs sustained in a match against Derby County. New manager Mick McCarthy used Davison sparingly in the 1992/93 season, preferring USA-born Kasey Keller between the posts. He left Millwall in the 1993 close season after 41 senior appearances.

Davison joined Bolton Wanderers in August 1993 to reunite with Bruce Rioch and he was again first choice goalie for the 1993/94 season. However Irish international keeper Keith Branagan was preferred for the next three seasons and Davison was once more a perpetual understudy – he had a month on loan at League Division 1 side Ipswich Town in November 1996 (no appearances) immediately before his loan spell at Hull City. He left Bolton in March 1997 having made 47 appearances, which included his Premier League debut in March 1996 against Tottenham Hotspur.

Aidan joined League Division 1 side Bradford City in March 1997, shortly after his return to Bolton from Hull, his 10 appearances during the remainder of the season helped the Bantams narrowly avoid relegation. However in July 1997 he moved again to Grimsby Town. At Blundell Park he found his feet, remaining first choice keeper for two seasons. He helped the Mariners lift the Football League Trophy in April 1998 against Bournemouth and win promotion via the play-off final in May 1988 against Northampton Town, both matches played at Wembley Stadium. In two seasons with the Mariners he made 103 appearances.

At the end of his Grimsby contract in June 1999 Davison chose to sign for League Division 1 rivals Sheffield United, where he was again an understudy keeper and made just 2 appearances. In January 2000 his former club Bradford City, now in the Premier League, signed him on loan, a move that was made permanent a few weeks later. Back at Bradford Aidan was third choice keeper behind Matt Clarke and Gary Walsh and made occasional appearances. In the 2002/03 season, with Bradford now relegated to League Division 1, Aidan was elevated to first choice once again – by the end of the season he had made 61 further appearances for Bradford City.

In August 2003 he returned to League Division 2 side Grimsby Town and made 36 appearances during the 2003/04 season. In July 2004 he signed for League 1 side Colchester United where he was first choice for two seasons as Phil Parkinson’s side won promotion to the Championship in May 2006, then was used more sparingly for the U’s two seasons in the second tier. Davison left Colchester United in the 2008 close season having made 109 appearances in four seasons, taking his career total to 423 appearances in a 20 year Football League career. In his latter days at Colchester Aidan was developed young goalkeepers as well as playing first team football, overseeing the career of youngster Dean Gerken.

In July 2008 Davison hung up his gloves and moved to Daytona Beach in Florida, USA to develop his coaching career, but in June 2009 he returned to the UK to work for Phil Brown as reserve team coach at Hull City. Brown’s tenure at City soon drew to a close and in July 2010 Davison returned to Florida to continue his coaching career. In July 2011 he was appointed head coach at the rather unsubtly-named FC JAX Destroyers, but when that club disbanded in 2012 he joined the IMG American soccer coaching school. He had further spells as head coach at FC Arizona (May 2015 to July 2017) and Sporting Arizona (January 2018 to August 2018). He then provided goalkeeper coaching to Indian Premier League sides Pune City (December 2018 to September 2019) and Hyderabad (September 2019 to January 2020). After two further years setting up a coaching school in Florida, in June 2022 Davison was appointed goalkeeping coach at high-flying Conference National side Wrexham, taking on the role previously filled by another ex-Tiger Lee Butler.

Davison was qualified to play for Northern Ireland and made his international debut against Sweden in April 1996. He won three senior international caps in all, adding further appearances against Thailand in May 1997 and Germany in August 1997. He also made a single Northern Ireland B appearance in 1996.

Details

Nationality: Northern Ireland
Date/Place of Birth: 11 May 1968, Sedgefield
Hull City First Game: 30 November 1996, Wigan Athletic H (League Division 3), 28 years, 203 days old
Hull City Final Game: 25 January 1997, Cardiff City A (League Division 3), 28 years, 259 days old

Clubs

Newcastle United (1985-1987), Spennymoor United (1986-1987, loan), Billingham Synthonia (1987-1988), Notts County (1988-1989), Leyton Orient (1989, loan), Bury (1989, loan), Bury (1989-1991), Chester City (1990, loan), Blackpool (1991, loan), Millwall (1991-1993), Bolton Wanderers (1993-1997), Ipswich Town (1996, loan), Hull City (1996-1997, loan), Bradford City (1997), Grimsby Town (1997-1999), Sheffield United (1999-2000), Bradford City (2000, loan), Bradford City (2000-2003), Grimsby Town (2003-2004), Colchester United (2004-2008)

Hull City Record

Career: 10 apps, 0 goals

Aidan Davison
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1996/979 (0)01 (0)0

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