View source for Teddy Davison

{{Short description|English footballer and manager}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name           = Teddy Davison
| image          = Teddy Davison in 1913.jpg
| image_size     = 230px
| caption        = Davison saves from [[Bill Lacey (footballer)|Billy Lacey]] on 4 October 1913 in a 4–1 Wednesday victory over Liverpool
| fullname       = John Edward Davison
| height         = {{height|ft=5|in=7}}<ref name=Betts/>
| birth_date     = {{birth date|1887|9|2|df=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Gateshead]], England
| death_date     = {{death date and age|1971|2|1|1887|9|2|df=y}}
| death_place    = [[Sheffield]], England
| position       = [[Goalkeeper (association football)|Goalkeeper]]
| youthyears1    = 1903–1908
| youthclubs1    = [[Gateshead F.C.|Gateshead Town]]
| years1         = 1908–1926
| years2         = 1926–1927
| clubs1         = [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|The Wednesday]]
| clubs2         = [[Mansfield Town F.C.|Mansfield Town]]
| caps1          = 397
| caps2          = 0
| goals1         = 0
| goals2         = 0
| totalcaps      = 397<!--LEAGUE APPEARANCES ONLY-->
| totalgoals     = 0
| nationalyears1 = 1922
| nationalteam1  = [[England national football team|England]]
| nationalcaps1  = 1
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| manageryears1  = 1926–1928
| manageryears2  = 1928–1932
| manageryears3  = 1932–1952
| manageryears4  = 1952–1958
| managerclubs1  = [[Mansfield Town F.C.|Mansfield Town]] (player-manager)
| managerclubs2  = [[Chesterfield F.C.|Chesterfield]]
| managerclubs3  = [[Sheffield United F.C.|Sheffield United]]
| managerclubs4  = Chesterfield
}}

'''John Edward Davison''' (2 September 1887 – 1 February 1971) was an English [[Association football|footballer]] and manager who had a long and successful association with the football clubs of [[Sheffield]], playing for [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|The Wednesday]] for 18 years and later managing [[Sheffield United F.C.|Sheffield United]] for 20 years. His fairness and diplomacy earned him the nicknames of "The [[George Washington]] of Sheffield football" and "Honest Ted". Davison played as a [[Goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]] in a career which lasted between 1908 and 1926, making 424 appearances in all competitions for The Wednesday, his only league club.<ref name="SWFC Archive">[http://www.adrianbullock.com/swfc/stats/play0149.htm SWFC Archive.] Gives statistics for Sheffield Wednesday career.</ref> Davison was only 5&nbsp;ft 7 in (1.70 m) tall, very small for a goalkeeper, but he made up for this with lightning reflexes and top class anticipation.<ref name="In praise of short">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/20/in-praise-of-shorter-goalkeepers-david-ospina-arsenal |title=In praise of short(er) goalkeepers |work=The Guardian|location=London |last1=Andrews |first1=Neil |date=20 May 2015 |accessdate=17 June 2020}}</ref> He has gone down in football records as the smallest goalkeeper ever to play for [[England national football team|England]],<ref name=Betts>{{cite book | author=Graham Betts| title=England: Player by player | publisher=Green Umbrella Publishing | year=2006| page=86|isbn=1-905009-63-1}} According to Betts, Davison "is believed to be the smallest goalkeeper to represent his country, standing just 5' 7" tall. What he lacked in height he more than made up for with his agility and positional sense".</ref> making just one appearance for the national team in March 1922.<ref name="thefa.com">[http://www.thefa.com/England/SeniorTeam/Archive/matchstats.html?m=128 www.thefa.com.] Davison's sole England international and further reference to being England's shortest goalkeeper.</ref>

==Playing career==
Davison was born in [[Gateshead]], [[County Durham]], the seventh of nine children. On leaving school he worked as a [[Typesetting|typesetter]] for a [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] newspaper and played football for [[Gateshead F.C.|Gateshead Town]], where he was spotted by The Wednesday's assistant manager [[Robert Brown (football manager)|Robert Brown]] who invited him to [[Hillsborough Stadium|Hillsborough]] for a trial. Davison impressed in the trial, saving a penalty in a practice match and was signed in April 1908 as understudy to long standing Wednesday keeper [[Jack Lyall]] for a fee of £300.

===Sheffield Wednesday===
The 21-year-old Davison made his Wednesday debut on 10 October 1908, however he only made eight appearances in that first season, being unable to dislodge Lyall. The summer of 1909 saw Lyall leave for [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] and Davison became first choice keeper for the 1909–10 season. Davison was to remain first choice for the next 12 seasons, a remarkable achievement bearing in mind that he lost four years of his career to [[World War I]] when professionial football was suspended. Throughout his career Davison kept a record of every match he played in, this showed he played in 618 games, conceding 810 goals, it also revealed he was a specialist at saving penalties, saving 24 out of 77 faced.

Davison volunteered for the army during World War I and was sent to France in July 1916, serving with the [[Royal Field Artillery]] for the rest of the war. He did make two wartime appearances for Wednesday when he was home on leave. He returned safely from the war to make 20 appearances in the 1919–20 season as Wednesday were relegated from the [[Football League First Division|First Division]], sharing goalkeeping duties with [[Arnold Birch]]. Davison became first choice keeper again the following season.

He was called up to the England team to face [[Wales national football team|Wales]] on 13 March 1922 in the [[1922 British Home Championship|British Home Championship]] at [[Anfield]] and kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 win. He was also picked eight times for Sheffield's representative side and toured Australia with the [[The Football Association|FA]] in 1925. Davison remained first choice keeper until the 1924–25 season when [[Jack Brown (footballer, born 1899)|Jack Brown]] threatened and eventually took over his place in the team. The 38-year-old Davison failed to make an appearance in Wednesday's [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]] championship winning side in 1925–26 and his days at Hillsborough were coming to an end.<ref name="SWFC Legends">[http://www.swfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/SWFCLegends/0,,10304~345810,00.html Official Sheffield Wednesday site, Legends.] Gives details of time at Sheffield Wednesday.</ref>

==Management==

===Mansfield Town===
In June 1926 he accepted the offer to become player/manager/secretary of [[Mansfield Town F.C.|Mansfield Town]] who at that time were a [[Non-League football|non-league]] side playing in the [[Midland Football League (1889)|Midland League]]. In his first season in charge Mansfield had a good season winning the Notts Senior Cup, he impressed as a manager with the way he went about his business and getting the team to play attacking football. He continued playing until January 1927 when a broken rib in a game against [[Newark Town F.C.|Newark Town]] forced him to end his playing career. Davidson's management style had impressed near neighbours [[Chesterfield F.C.|Chesterfield]] and when they were looking for a replacement for [[Alec Campbell (footballer)|Alec Campbell]] they approached Davison directly.

===Chesterfield===
Davison was appointed Chesterfield manager on 2 January 1928 at a wage of £6 a week. He immediately reorganised the club, making clear divisions between the administrative and playing sides, and bringing in experienced players such as [[Sid Binks]]. An improvement in results followed culminating in winning the [[Football League Third Division North|Third Division North]] championship in 1930–31 with the team securing the championship on the last day of the season, scoring eight goals against Gateshead, Davison's home town club. Davison consolidated Chesterfield's position in the Second Division the following season, continuing to bring in experienced players such as ex-England international [[George Ashmore]]. He also established a scouting network in his native north east to bring in young players. Davison had become one of the most talented and well organised managers around and it was no surprise when he was offered the newly created position of secretary/manager at Sheffield United in June 1932 as a replacement for the legendary John Nicholson, who had been killed in a traffic accident earlier in the year after being Blades secretary for 33 years.<ref name="Chesterfield F.C.">[http://www.chesterfield-fc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/PastPlayersDetail/0,,10435~1328674,00.html Official Chesterfield F.C. site.] Gives details of time as manager of Chesterfield.</ref>

===Sheffield United===
Davison's first season at United saw them finish a respectable 10th in the First Division, but the following season (1933–34) was a disaster as United were relegated for the first time in their history. The following season had The Blades in a mid-table finishing position in the Second Division, although Davison had made the excellent signing of [[Jock Dodds]] on a free transfer from [[Lincoln City F.C.|Lincoln City]]. United reached the [[1936 FA Cup Final]] losing to [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] 1–0, the cup run probably cost the team promotion as they finished three points behind runners up [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]]. United eventually returned to the First Division in the last full season before [[World War II]], finishing runners up and denying rivals Wednesday by one point. That 1938–39 season is notable for Davison as he made the purchase of [[Jimmy Hagan]] for £2,500 in November 1938, probably his best ever signing.

Davison remained in charge at [[Bramall Lane]] throughout the war years, with the team winning the [[Football League North and South|Football League North]] in 1945–46. The return to peace time football saw United relegated from the First Division in 1948–49 and then denied an immediate return the following season by city rivals Wednesday on goal average. Two mid table finishes and a failure to get a quick return to the First Division saw Davison resign as United manager in August 1952.<ref name="SUFC site">[http://www.sufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/FactsFigures/0,,10418~1081180,00.html Official Sheffield United F.C. site.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309025823/http://www.sufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/FactsFigures/0,,10418~1081180,00.html |date=9 March 2008 }} Gives details of time as Sheffield United manager.</ref>

===Return to Chesterfield===
Davison was not out of a job for long as he was immediately offered his old job as manager of Chesterfield, who had just parted company with [[Bobby Marshall (footballer, born 1903)|Bobby Marshall]]. Davison once again tried his formula of signing experienced players, with [[Dennis Westcott]] and [[Cyril Hatton]] arriving at [[Saltergate]] amongst others. He had to endure severe financial constraints with the club only being able to afford 14 full-time professionals. Despite this the team challenged for promotion, finishing sixth in the Third Division North four seasons in succession. Davison's youth policy also saw fruition when the youth team reached the final of the [[FA Youth Cup]] in 1956 with future [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] winner [[Gordon Banks]] one of the stars. He was asked to manage the [[Football League Third Division North vs. South Representative Games|Third Division North side]] against the South in April 1957. Davison stepped down as Chesterfield manager in May 1958, at the age of 70, however he did continue to do some scouting for the club.<ref name="Chesterfield F.C."/>

After finally retiring, Davison spent his latter years in Sheffield and died in February 1971 at the age of 83. His legacy is that he probably made the biggest individual impact on Sheffield football of any person in history.<ref name="Wednesday Boys">''"The Wednesday Boys"'', Jason Dickinson & John Brodie, {{ISBN|0-9547264-9-9}} Page 83 Gives biographical information and the quote: "...he had made the greatest ever impact on Sheffield soccer".</ref><ref name="Tony Matthews">''"The Men Who Made Sheffield Wednesday Football Club"'', Tony Matthews, {{ISBN|978-0-7524-4156-6}} Gives details of Sheffield Wednesday career and biographical information.</ref>

==Managerial statistics==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"			
|+ Managerial record by team and tenure
|-
!rowspan="2"|Team
!rowspan="2"|From
!rowspan="2"|To
!colspan="5"|Record	
|-
!{{Tooltip|G|Games managed}}
!{{Tooltip|W|Games won}}
!{{Tooltip|D|Games drawn}}
!{{Tooltip|L|Games lost}}
!{{Tooltip|Win %|Winning percentage}}	
|-
|align=left|[[Mansfield Town F.C.|Mansfield Town]]
|align=left|1926
|align=left|1928
{{WDL|2|1|0|1}}
|-
|align=left|[[Chesterfield F.C.|Chesterfield]]
|align=left|1 August 1928
|align=left|15 June 1932
{{WDL|179|84|29|66}}
|-
|align=left|[[Sheffield United F.C.|Sheffield United]]
|align=left|15 June 1932
|align=left|30 June 1952
{{WDL|592|248|139|205}}
|-
|align=left|[[Chesterfield F.C.|Chesterfield]]
|align=left|30 June 1952
|align=left|30 June 1958
{{WDL|287|133|61|93}}
|-
!colspan=3|Total
{{WDLtot|1060|466|229|365}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Englandstats}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080514090700/http://www.englandfc.com/Profiles/php/PlayerProfileByName.php?id=302 Profile at www.englandfc.com]

{{Mansfield Town F.C. managers}}
{{Chesterfield F.C. managers}}
{{Sheffield United F.C. managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davison, Teddy}}
[[Category:1887 births]]
[[Category:Footballers from Gateshead]]
[[Category:1971 deaths]]
[[Category:English men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football goalkeepers]]
[[Category:England men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players]]
[[Category:Mansfield Town F.C. players]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Tyne and Wear]]
[[Category:Gateshead F.C. players]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:English football managers]]
[[Category:Mansfield Town F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Chesterfield F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Sheffield United F.C. managers]]
[[Category:English Football League managers]]
[[Category:Newcastle United F.C. wartime guest players]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Field Artillery soldiers]]