Full name Leonard Stephen Davies Playing position Place of death Prescot, England | Date of death 1945 Name Len Davies | |
Date of birth (1899-04-28)28 April 1899 | ||
Place of birth Splott, Cardiff, Wales | ||
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Leonard Stephen "Len" Davies (28 April 1899 – 1945) was a Welsh professional footballer. He remains the record goalscorer for Cardiff City in both league and all competitions having scored 179 goals for the club between 1919 and 1931. His involvement with the club coincided with their greatest period, a term in which Cardiff consolidated their position in the First Division and in which they regularly did well in the FA Cup. He also represented Wales at international level.
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Early life
Born in the Splott district of Cardiff, Davies trained as a marine engineer in his teens. He also played cricket at youth level for Glamorgan County Cricket Club.
Career
Davies began his career with Victoria Athletic before joining Cardiff City in 1919, making his debut in the 1919–20 season in a 2–2 draw with Luton Town on 13 September 1919 in the Southern Football League. The following season, he played for Cardiff in their first ever season in the Football League. He scored 17 times in the 1921–22 season, including Cardiff's first hat-trick in the Football League on 21 January 1922 during a 6–3 victory over Bradford City. Davies made a goalscoring debut for Wales on 4 February 1922 in a 2–1 win over Scotland.
Davies scored 19 league goals the following season, with 23 in 1923–24 and 19 in 1924–25, going on to score 128 goals for the Bluebirds in 305 league matches for the club (115 in the First Division between 1921 and 1928) Unfortunately, Davies' place in history is for his part in the closest League Championship finish in history. On the final day of the 1923–24 season with Cardiff City needing to win to take the title, Davies missed a late penalty kick against Birmingham City as the match finished 0–0, ensuring that Herbert Chapman's Huddersfield Town won the title by 0.024 of a goal.
Davies missed out on a place in the team for the 1925 FA Cup final defeat against Sheffield United but, in 1927, was part of the Cardiff side that beat Arsenal to take the FA Cup out of England for the first, and so far, only time. The only goal of the game coming as the opposition goalkeeper was unable to control a shot from Hughie Ferguson as Davies advanced on him.
Davies played 23 times for the Welsh national side, scoring six times and helping Wales to Home Championship titles in 1924 and 1928. His last game for Wales came on 20 November 1929 against England.
Davies left Cardiff in 1931, one year after finishing as the club's top scorer for the fifth time in The Football League, joining Thames. Thames finished bottom of the Third Division South in the 1931–32 season and the club was wound up at the end of the season. Davies became manager of Bangor City for the 1932-33 season, staying with the club until 1935.
Later life
He eventually became a school sports coach at Mostyn House School, Parkgate and later worked on an aircraft production line during World War II. He died of pneumonia in Prescot in 1945.