Walter Davis (footballer)
Encyclopedia
Walter Otto Davis was a Welsh
professional footballer who played at centre forward for Millwall
for ten years in the 1910s. He also made five appearances for the Welsh national team
.
, and was one of six brothers. His second name came from a German soldier who was a friend of his father.
When he was still a child, his family moved to London
, where his father, W.J. Davis, became an alderman
in West Ham
and chairman of the governors of the Municipal Central Secondary School in Tennyson Road before serving as the mayor in 1920–21.
When one of his brothers died whilst playing in a junior football match at Leytonstone
, his parents ordered Walter to stop playing football. After he joined the army, he joined the 2nd Bedfordshire Regiment and was stationed in Gibraltar
where he played football for the Army. On leaving the army in 1911, he joined Metrogas, but turned professional with Millwall
of the Southern League
shortly afterwards. In January 1912, he scored Millwall's only goal in their FA Cup
First Round match at First Division Bury
.
Davis was a deadly finisher, with exceptional speed and ball control and in the 1912–13 season, he emerged as a "goalscoring sensation" and soon attracted "fabulous offers" from Football League clubs. He was the Lions' leading goalscorer in each season he played, and he holds the record as Millwall's leading goalscorer in the Southern League
. Davis was a wonderful dribbler with a fine body swerve, but also had a fierce shot from almost any distance.
In 1914, Millwall again came up against First Division opposition in the FA Cup, with Davis scoring the only goal against Chelsea
in the First Round replay. He scored again against Bradford City in Round Two, before going out to yet another club from the First Division, Sheffield United
. The goal he scored against Bradford was considered by many to be the best ever scored at The Den and was described by the national papers as a "wonder goal"; he received the ball from a throw-in around the half-way line, side-stepped his marker, beat both full-backs and then slipped the ball past the keeper into the net. The following season, Davis again scored against opponents from the Football League First Division
, but Bolton Wanderers
went through after a second replay.
Davis was called up by Wales
, making his debut in a 1–0 victory against Ireland on 18 January 1913. He retained his place for the next four matches, scoring a goal from 30 yards against England
at Bristol on 17 March.
He also represented the Southern League several times and won a London Challenge Cup and two Kent Senior Shield medals in his time at Millwall.
, Davis served in Italy where he incurred injuries to his legs. During the war he occasionally turned out for Millwall, including in a match against Clapton Orient in which he scored a hat-trick
wearing army boots.
Davis was forced to retire from football early in 1919 as a result of an injury to his knee and took up employment as a groundsman with Chelmsford, before working as a labourer in the London Docks
. He was found drowned in Bow Creek
on 20 May 1937 in mysterious circumstances as he was a strong swimmer. The coroner
's jury recorded an open verdict
.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
professional footballer who played at centre forward for Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
for ten years in the 1910s. He also made five appearances for the Welsh national team
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
.
Football career
Davis was born in Mold, FlintshireMold, Flintshire
Mold is a town in Flintshire, North Wales, on the River Alyn. It is the administrative seat of Flintshire County Council, and was also the county town of Clwyd from 1974 to 1996...
, and was one of six brothers. His second name came from a German soldier who was a friend of his father.
When he was still a child, his family moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where his father, W.J. Davis, became an alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
in West Ham
County Borough of West Ham
West Ham was a local government district in the extreme south west of Essex from 1886 to 1965, forming part of the built-up area of London, although outside the County of London...
and chairman of the governors of the Municipal Central Secondary School in Tennyson Road before serving as the mayor in 1920–21.
When one of his brothers died whilst playing in a junior football match at Leytonstone
Leytonstone
Leytonstone is an area of east London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is a high density suburban area, located seven miles north east of Charing Cross in the ceremonial county of Greater London and the historic county of Essex...
, his parents ordered Walter to stop playing football. After he joined the army, he joined the 2nd Bedfordshire Regiment and was stationed in Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
where he played football for the Army. On leaving the army in 1911, he joined Metrogas, but turned professional with Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
of the Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
shortly afterwards. In January 1912, he scored Millwall's only goal in their FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
First Round match at First Division Bury
Bury F.C.
Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...
.
Davis was a deadly finisher, with exceptional speed and ball control and in the 1912–13 season, he emerged as a "goalscoring sensation" and soon attracted "fabulous offers" from Football League clubs. He was the Lions' leading goalscorer in each season he played, and he holds the record as Millwall's leading goalscorer in the Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
. Davis was a wonderful dribbler with a fine body swerve, but also had a fierce shot from almost any distance.
In 1914, Millwall again came up against First Division opposition in the FA Cup, with Davis scoring the only goal against Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in the First Round replay. He scored again against Bradford City in Round Two, before going out to yet another club from the First Division, Sheffield United
Sheffield United F.C.
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...
. The goal he scored against Bradford was considered by many to be the best ever scored at The Den and was described by the national papers as a "wonder goal"; he received the ball from a throw-in around the half-way line, side-stepped his marker, beat both full-backs and then slipped the ball past the keeper into the net. The following season, Davis again scored against opponents from the Football League First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
, but Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
went through after a second replay.
Davis was called up by Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
, making his debut in a 1–0 victory against Ireland on 18 January 1913. He retained his place for the next four matches, scoring a goal from 30 yards against England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
at Bristol on 17 March.
He also represented the Southern League several times and won a London Challenge Cup and two Kent Senior Shield medals in his time at Millwall.
Later career and death
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Davis served in Italy where he incurred injuries to his legs. During the war he occasionally turned out for Millwall, including in a match against Clapton Orient in which he scored a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
wearing army boots.
Davis was forced to retire from football early in 1919 as a result of an injury to his knee and took up employment as a groundsman with Chelmsford, before working as a labourer in the London Docks
London Docks
The London Docks were one of several sets of docks in the historic Port of London. They were constructed in Wapping downstream from the City of London between 1799 and 1815, at a cost exceeding £5½ million. Traditionally ships had docked at wharves on the River Thames, but by this time, more...
. He was found drowned in Bow Creek
Bow Creek
Bow Creek is a long tidal estuary of the River Lea and is part of the Bow Back Rivers. Below Bow Locks the creek forms the boundary between the London Boroughs of Newham and Tower Hamlets, in east London....
on 20 May 1937 in mysterious circumstances as he was a strong swimmer. The coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
's jury recorded an open verdict
Open verdict
The Open verdict is an option open to a Coroner's jury at an Inquest in the legal system of England and Wales. The verdict strictly means that the jury confirms that the death is suspicious but is unable to reach any of the other verdicts open to them...
.
International appearances
Davis made 5 appearances for Wales in international matches, as follows:| Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Goals | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 January 1913 | Grosvenor Park, Belfast | 1–0 | 0 | British Home Championship 1913 British Home Championship The 1913 British Home Championship was an international football tournament between the British Home Nations. An evenly matched tournament, all four sides won at least one game and the competition could have gone any way, as Ireland showed the following year when they won their first undisputed... |
|
| 3 March 1913 | Racecourse Ground Racecourse Ground The Glyndŵr University Racecourse Stadium AKA The Racecourse Ground is a stadium located in Wrexham, North Wales. It is the home of Wrexham F.C. and, since 2010, the Crusaders Rugby League team who play in the engage Super League... , Wrexham Wrexham Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England... |
0–0 | 0 | British Home Championship | |
| 17 March 1913 | Ashton Gate, Bristol Bristol Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007... |
3–4 | 1 | British Home Championship | |
| 19 January 1914 | Racecourse Ground, Wrexham | 1–2 | 0 | British Home Championship 1914 British Home Championship The 1914 British Home Championship was the last British Home Championship played before the First World War. The competition was played between January and April 1914 and won by Ireland with a team that included Patrick O’Connell, Billy Gillespie, Val Harris, Louis Bookman, Samuel Young and Bill... |
|
| 28 February 1914 | Celtic Park Celtic Park Celtic Park is a football stadium in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which is the home ground of Celtic FC. Celtic Park, an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 60,832, is the largest football stadium in Scotland and the sixth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom, after Murrayfield, Old Trafford,... , Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... |
0–0 | 0 | British Home Championship | |