| Davis, Stephen |
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| Written by Warren | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Name: Stephen Mark Davis
D.O.B: 30th October 1968
Previous Clubs:Southampton, Burnley, Notts County ( Previous Clubs Managed:Burnley(Caretaker)
Signed by Frank Casper on loan 1989 Burnley Debut: 25th November 1989, Lincoln City (A) Lost 1-0 (Substitute) Last game for Burnley:4th May 2003, Wimbledon (A) lOST 2-1
Claret Stats: 387(7) Appearances, 47 Goals PFA Fourth Division Team of the Year 1992, Supporters Club Player of the year 1992
Back when Burnley had just turned the corner, the darkest of days of 1987 a not too distant past, a run out at Wembley and with the late Great manager Brian Miller once again handing over the reigns to Frank Casper and Burnley slowly attracting players who the fans could rely on, one such player would be Steve Davis (MKII). Burnley had on their books one Steve Davis a capture from Crewe in 1987/88, who himself was the Captain and winner of Player of the season awards, in 1989 Burnley had two center halves called Steve Davis, this one (MKII) would go on to surpass his namesake. The two Steve Davis made seven appearances together winning four and drawing once, losing just twice in a season where Burnley finished just sixteenth. In February 1990 Southampton recalled Davis putting him into the first team, against Norwich City a game the Saints won 4-1 with the great Le-Tisser scoring a hat-trick, this was the first game in a run of four for Davis in the top league, Davis would just make two more appearances for the team from the Dell, before a loan spell at Gay Meadow an Notts County.
Somehow Southampton didn't rate Davis as high as the Burnley fans who had seen him play, and in 1991 Frank Casper made a coupe signing Davis for a bargain £60.000 even back in 1991 when that was a lot of Davis, eighteen months after returning to Southampton, he made his bow as a Claret forming a formidable partnership with John Pender the partnership was special Pender 'the defender' and Stevie Davis played together thirty nine times in Burnley's Championship, scoring nine times between them, Pender missing three while Davis missed just two when Burnley and Jimmy Mullen lifted the Fourth Division title after seven years in the basement. Burnley have had quite a few fantastic number fours in the past, Steve Davis fits in well within that list, Dereck Scott, Peter Noble and Martin Dobson to name just a few of Burnley's recent number fours. Davis with his classy style, who was a fantastic reader of the game he perfectly balanced out power and style. Life in the newly named second division after the birth of the Premier League, wasn't all rosey but Burnley held there own, 13th in the 1992/93 season, Davis starting 37 league games notching twice, but the year after Davis was insparational missing just four games scoring seven goals when Burnley finished the season in sixth, earning a place in the Play-Offs and a two legged affair with Peter Shilton's Plymouth Argyle, a match up Burnley won 3-1 on aggregate. Stockport County were the opponents at Wembley on the 29th May 1994, a bad tempered affair with two County players seeing red. Davis and Pender had Kevin Francis to keep an eye on, a 6'7 bean pole, Peter Crouch with braids, but keep an eye on him they did, Burnley running out 2-1 winners with gaols from David Eyers and Gary Parkinson. Late in that game, Steve Davis made a run, a run of legedary status! snuffing out a late County attack, Davis won the ball in Burnley's eighteen yard box and set off on a run, not a run like Winston White may have made more a Steve Kindon like run, beating player after player with ease ariving seventy yards down the field at Stockports six yard box, and after side stepping the keeper Davis sliced his shot, it went so far wide it went out for a throw in! If the ball had have hit the net, it would have been up there with the greatest goals scored on Wembleys hallowed turf. So many players were not up to the first division, Davis wasn't one of those, to be fair the whole back four although Burnley conceded seventy four goals, was pretty solid Beresford, Winstanley, Vinnicome, Parkinson and new captain Davis were all first choice. Relegation was confirmed in late April when Portsmouth took the spoils at Turf Moor. Seven goals in fourty three games was Steve's return, Adrian Heath netted the same in the league with only David Eyres outscoring the pair with just eight! Burnleys lack of fire power was our undoing. With Burnley making an instant return to the second division, and Davis being linked with a move away from Turf Moor, it was almost inevitable that the Clarets linchpin would depart, but with all the big teams sniffing around the only surprise was Davis' choice, Luton Town paid Burnley £750.000 for Burnley's captain, Luton were in the second tier of English football after relegation from the top league in 1991/92, but even with Davis and Michell Thomas at the back luton finished the 1995/96 season facing life in the third tier after relegation. Davis stayed with Luton for three and a half years, with rumours constantly making the rounds of a Davis return, whether it was rumoured due to hope or knowledge who knows, but Stan took that rumour and made many many Claret fans happy when in December 1998, the return of the prodgical son, Stan Ternent paid £750.000 for Davis (or as rumours went around the time, Luton hadn't paid in full so took Davis back to complete the deal? Who knows). On 2nd January 1999, Steve Davis made his third bow in a Claret shirt after his debut in 1989 while on loan, and his debut as a Burnley player in 1991, this time it was under Stan Ternent. Stan had a way of bringing rabbits out of hats when the supporters were concerned, or on this occasion Rabbits out of Hatters. And with Davis in the team Burnley finished the season ten games unbeaten, winning five the first of which Davis popped up with a 90th minute winner against Macclesfield. Davis who once again had the captains armband played fourty two league games as Burnley secured promotion back to the first division again Davis finishing second top scorer joint with forward Andy Cooke with the Padiham Predator outscoring everyone with 27 league goals. The following two season's read like a 'so near and yet so far' for Davis and the Clarets two seventh place finishes in 2000/01 just two points kept Burnley out of the play-offs Davis once again an inspiration only missing two games and yet again finishing the season as third top league goalscorer with five goals, joint with Graham Branch and One Million pound man Ian Moore, Payts yet again top scoring. If two points were hard to swallow, try one goal! Burnley and Davis missed out on a place in the first division play-offs by a single goal, goal difference being the decider even though Burnley scored 10 more goals than Norwich who took the last play-off place. Davis spent much of this season sidelined with a knee injury, he managed just 22 league games. After being so close the two seasons previous, this year Davis who was plaged by injury a thirty four year old Steve Davis managed just 28 league games, 3 from the bench scoring on 4 occasions his final game for Burnley was in front of just 1,972 fans at Wimbledon. His final game at Turf Moor was an absolute hammering, 2-7 to Sheffield Wednesday, seventeen and a half thousand people came through the turnstiles that day, how many were left to salute a legend? Steve Davis played in three decades for Burnley from his debut in the eighties and his swansong in two thousand an three, almost 400 games, nearly 50 goals from a center half with style and grace coupled with steel and power, Steve Davis as a player will always be named in 'best elevens' of all who had the pleasure of seeing him play. Blackpool and Chris Brass' York City are where his playing career came to an end playing another 50 plus games, before he hung up his playing boots in 2005. One year on from hanging his boots up, and in Burnley's unique style, the then Burnley manager offered Stevie a way back into football, by offering the former Claret captain a role on the coaching team at Turf Moor after Mark Yates was offered a managers job at Kidderminster Harriers, a job Davis took too 'like a fish to water'. One of Davis' former clubs Notts County would take a hand in Davis fate when in 2007 County offered Burnley's assistant manager Dave Kevan a job, leaving the assistant managers job at Burnley vacant Steve Davis was offered and duely accepted the role. Cotterill left by mutual consent in 2007, leaving Davis to take charge of one game against Leicester City a game Burnley won with a goal from Andy Gray. Owen Coyle was offered the job at Burnley and in doing so brought in his own number two Sandy Stewart, but Davis was not only kept on by Owen, he was rated so high that when Colye left in 2010 Davis who most of the Claret faithful wanted to succeed as manager, followed three days later. Barry Kilby said in the programme notes how the Team was safe in the hands of Steve Davis, Davis left, still only a young man who we would love to say had Claret and Blue blood, played coached or managed Burnley in four different decades. Playing legend! I would love to add 'one of the Greats', maybe one day he will return as 'unfinished buisness' who knows?
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