Joe Davies (footballer, born 1866)

Joseph "Joe" Davies (1866 – 7 October 1943) was a Welsh international footballer who played as an inside right.

Club career

Born in Chirk in Wales, Davies worked as a miner whilst playing for his hometown club of Chirk. He moved to Everton in October 1888 where he made his Football League debut against West Bromwich Albion in December of that year. His spell on Merseyside was a brief one, and he returned to Chirk in 1889, remaining there for two further years. A three-year spell at Ardwick followed before he was transferred to Sheffield United in January 1894.

The Blades were playing in the Football League First Division by this stage and Davies never cemented himself as a first team player, making only 18 appearances despite seven goals during them. He was suspended by United in September 1895 for "lodging in a public house" (the club was run on strict Methodist lines at the time), before being transferred back to Ardwick, now renamed Manchester City, in the following November along with Hugh Morris and Bob Hill.

Davies subsequently became a much travelled player with spells at Millwall Athletic (1896–98), Reading (1898–1900), a third spell at Manchester City (1900–1901), Stockport County (1901–1902) where he made the majority of his career Football League appearances, before finally returning to Chirk for a third time in 1902 where he played until retiring in 1905.

International career

Davies made his international debut for Wales on 15 April 1889, playing in a 0–0 draw with Scotland in Wrexham. He went on to play eleven times in total for his country without scoring a goal.