David Davis

David Lowell Davis (born 20 February 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Forest Green Rovers.

Having trained with Walsall's Centre of Excellence as a boy, and then played local football for Tividale, Davis began a scholarship in Wolverhampton Wanderers' youth academy in 2007.

Spotted by Wolverhampton Wanderers as a 15-year-old, he had trials with the club and was given "a year to try and impress" before beginning a two-year scholarship in 2007.

According to his first-year academy profile, he was a midfielder who "shows good versatility and all round game" and was "adept in possession."

He turned professional in 2009, and made his senior debut the same year while on loan to Darlington of League Two.

In 2009, Davis was one of seven academy players to sign professional contracts.

Davis joined League Two club Darlington on 22 October 2009 on a month's loan (later extended to January 2010 ) to gain experience of first-team football.

According to manager Steve Staunton, who had watched him play against Arsenal Reserves, "he's combative, he's excellent on the ball, he's strong and he's a good passer".

He made his senior debut in the starting eleven at Barnet two days later; the Northern Echo reported that he "showed some promise" but "wasted a great scoring chance" when he beat the offside trap only for his lobbed shot to go over the bar.

In a 5–2 defeat at Chesterfield, he was used as the defensive organiser in a five-man midfield: the Echo reporter described how he "sat in front of the back four and barked out orders" but thought his passing "left a lot to be desired".

After a 4–0 home defeat by Morecambe, Davis was one of five players left out.

He remained out of the side for three matches, then bad weather left Darlington without a match for several weeks, so he returned to his parent club.

He had played five league matches and once in the FA Cup.

In September 2010 he went out on another month's loan, this time to League One club Walsall, where he had spent time as a junior.

The Birmingham Mail reported that on his debut, in a defeat at Rochdale, he had "a quiet first half but showed some impressive touches in the second period and fitted well into Walsall's 4–3–3 formation."

His captain, Darren Byfield, "thought David was superb. Usually when you have players who love to tackle and get in your face, they can't use the ball – but he was playing balls around the corners and off the strikers. You can see already he's not one of those who come from the Premiership thinking 'what am I doing here?' He's listening to people and his attitude is superb."

He played the whole of Walsall's six matches during his initial month, apart from the last 15 minutes against Swindon Town when he was stretchered off with an injured ankle.

He spent time on loan at three other clubs in the lower leagues – Walsall and Chesterfield of League One and League Two Shrewsbury Town – as well as at Scottish Premier League side Inverness Caledonian Thistle, before making seven appearances for Wolves in the Premier League at the end of the 2011–12 season during their unsuccessful fight against relegation.

Although playing fairly regularly in the Championship, he never established himself as a consistent member of the starting eleven as Wolves were again relegated.

After more appearances on the first-team bench, and a sending-off for a "reckless challenge" in a reserve-team local derby against West Bromwich Albion, Davis signed for League Two Shrewsbury Town on 31 January 2011 on loan for a month, later extended to the end of the campaign.

He went straight into the starting eleven and "combined a crispness in the tackle with an impressive range of passing" in what the Shropshire Star called "a highly intelligent display" as Shrewsbury beat Burton Albion 3–0.

He "rifled home a first time shot from just inside the box" for his first senior goal to equalise away to Northampton Town on 5 March; Shrewsbury won 3–2.

In all, Davis made 19 league appearances, all as a member of the starting eleven, and scored twice.

His second goal, on the final day of the regular season contributed to a 3–0 defeat of Oxford United, but Wycombe Wanderers' win meant Shrewsbury missed out on automatic promotion and went into the play-offs instead.

Davis played in both legs of the semi-final, in which his team lost on aggregate to Torquay United.

He made his debut for the club in the League Cup second-round tie away to Northampton Town on 23 August 2011, coming off the bench for the last few minutes as Wolves won 4–0.

A week later, he made yet another loan move, this time to Scottish Premier League (SPL) side Inverness Caledonian Thistle until January 2012.

Ahead of his debut, he said he felt the intensity of the training sessions had improved his fitness, and while admitting that the standard of the SPL would be rather higher than he was used to, he hoped to prove himself ready and able to play regularly.

The first five of those six – four losses and a draw – saw Walsall drop from 13th place to bottom of the table, and, again according to the Mail, Davis "did as well as can be expected from a 19-year-old pitched into a team in freefall".

The loan was extended for another month, but because Wolves had injury problems, manager Mick McCarthy included a clause allowing them to recall him at 24 hours notice if they needed him.

Davis played just once more for Walsall before he was recalled.

With three first-team midfielders unavailable, McCarthy included him on the bench for Wolves' Premier League visit to Chelsea; he remained unused.

During his time with Shrewsbury, Davis extended his contract with Wolves until 2013.

He fell out of favour the following season, and left for West Midlands neighbours Birmingham City in August 2014.

He spent six-and-a-half years with the club, during which he made nearly 200 appearances in all competitions and was voted Birmingham's Player of the Year for 2016–17 before falling out of favour and spending time on loan at Charlton Athletic.

He was released by mutual consent in January 2021 and joined Shrewsbury Town.

After 18 months, he was released and signed for Forest Green Rovers.

Davis was born in Smethwick, Sandwell.

His older brother, Dion Scott, played as a defender in the Football League for Walsall and Kidderminster Harriers.

Davis spent time in Walsall's Centre of Excellence as a boy, and then played local youth football for Tividale.