Claude Davis
Personal information
Full name	Claude Davis[1]
Date of birth	6 March 1979 (1979-03-06) (age 30)
Place of birth	Kingston, Jamaica
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Crystal Palace
Number	24
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2000–2003 2003–2006 2006–2007 2007–2009 2009 2009-	Portmore United Preston North End Sheffield United Derby County → Crystal Palace (loan) Crystal Palace	0? (?) 94 (4) 21 (0) 27 (0) 07 (0) 09 (0)
National team2
1999–	Jamaica	63 (2)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:19, 19 December 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 9 November 2009. * Appearances (Goals)

Claude Davis (born 6 March 1979) is a Jamaican footballer who plays as a centre back. He is currently playing for Crystal Palace after having his contract terminated at Derby County. ^[2]

[edit] Club career

[edit] Portmore United

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Davis captained Portmore United to the Jamaican National Premier League title in 2002/03.^[3] He left Portmore for a trial with Preston North End in the summer of 2003.^[4]

[edit] Preston North End

He signed for Preston North End from Portmore United in July 2003, initially on loan for the 2003-04 season^[5] before concluding a permanent deal at Deepdale in March 2004.^[3] During the 2004/05 season he provided Chris Lucketti and Youl Mawene with real competition for centre half positions and made 38 appearances for Preston,^[6] including the Championship play-off final where Preston lost to West Ham.^[3] In the 2005-06 season, Davis established himself as the mainstay of the Preston defence, contributing to 24 clean sheets and swept the board at the club's Player of the Season awards, named both the Player's Player and fans Player of the Season, as Preston reached the play-offs again.^[3]

[edit] Sheffield United

On 14 June 14 2006, he signed on a four-year deal with Sheffield United for a club record £3 million, with up to £500,000 to follow based on his appearances for the Blades.^[7] However, he missed the start of the Premier League season after sustaining a knee cartilage injury in a friendly against Notts County in August 2006 at Meadow Lane.^[8] Later in the season, he hit the headlines for a disagreement with Ade Akinbiyi at the training ground, which was later resolved.^[9] In total he made 22 league and cup appearances for the Blades.^[6]

[edit] Derby County

On 6 July 2007, newly promoted Derby County agreed a £3million transfer for Davis with Sheffield United, subject to a medical and work permit, signed a four-year contract on the same day.^[10] Davis was not officially registered as a Derby County player until 25 July 2007, after a delay with his work permit, the reason behind this delay was that Davis had not played enough international games over the two years previous to his move to automatically get a permit, he missed a percentage of these games due to injury.^[10]

[edit] Crystal Palace

After struggling to get into the Derby team in his first 18 months at the club, during which the Rams suffered relegation, Davis reunited with former Sheffield United boss Neil Warnock by signing a loan deal to play for Crystal Palace. During a match against Cardiff City he was involved in a challenge with Roger Johnson that left the latter in hospital, resulting in a three match ban for violent conduct, ending his loan spell at the Eagles.^[11]

That summer, Davis was expected to move to Palace on a permanent basis, but unfortunately for both him and the club, The Football League placed a transfer embargo onto the club due to unpaid bonuses to former players, and Davis remained a Derby played until the end of August (when the embargo was lifted), joining the Eagles on a two-year contract on the final day of the transfer window.

[edit] Club career statistics

(correct as of 19 December 2009)

[edit] Honours

• 2002 Jamaican National Premier League
• 2005 Championship Play-Off Final Runner Up

[edit] International career

Davis has made 62 international appearances for Jamaica, scoring two goals.

[edit] References and notes

[edit] External links

• Claude Davis career stats at Soccerbase
• "It's all good now for Claude Davis in the EPL", an interview with Claude Davis, Daily Gleaner, 6 October 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
• The Reggae Boyz Supporterz Club (Official Site)

v • d • e Jamaica squad – 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1 S. Sawyers • 3 Stewart • 4 Taylor • 5 T. Sawyers • 6 Scarlett • 8 Palmer • 9 Williams • 10 Fuller • 11 Dean • 12 Johnson • 13 Murray • 14 Marshall • 16 Daley • 17 Hue • 18 Stephenson • 19 Reid • 20 Ralph • 21 Shelton • 22 Finlayson • 23 Bennett • 25 Davis • 30 Ricketts • Coach: Downswell

v • d • e Jamaica squad – 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1 Ricketts • 2 Vernon • 3 Stewart • 4 Davis • 5 Goodison • 7 Morrison • 8 Campbell-Ryce • 10 Fuller • 11 Shelton • 12 Phillips • 13 Kerr • 14 Marshall • 15 Gardner • 16 Johnson • 17 Austin • 18 Wolfe • 19 Addlery • 20 Thompson • 21 Miller • 22 Cummings • 23 Richards • 24 Thomas • Coach: Whitmore