Kelvin Geoffrey Davis (born 29 September 1976) is an English footballer, who plays as a goalkeeper. He is currently playing for Southampton. He has been capped by England at Under-21 level^[2].

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Davis was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire and started his career as a trainee with Luton Town, turning professional in July 1994. He joined Torquay United on loan in September 1994 as cover for the injured Ashley Bayes, making his debut in the 3-3 draw at home to Colchester United on 17 September^[3]. He also played in the 2-1 defeat at home to Barnet the following week before returning to Luton. He had a further loan spell, with Hartlepool United in August 1997.

He joined Wimbledon in July 1999 for a fee of £600,000. He joined Ipswich Town on a free transfer in July 2003^[4], where he enjoyed the acclaim of Championship Goalkeeper of the year, helping steer Ipswich to third in the table.

[edit] Sunderland

Davis joined Sunderland in June 2005 for a fee of £1.25m^[2] and played in most of their Premier League games in the 2005–06 season, as Sunderland were relegated. Davis had a difficult time at Sunderland, being criticised by fans for some errors made during important games culminating in an angry fan invading the pitch and abusing him. One of the most obvious was when he let in a 45 yard effort from Matthew Taylor of Portsmouth in October 2005.^[5]

[edit] Southampton

In an attempt to rebuild his career after his difficult spell at Sunderland, Davis joined Southampton in July 2006 for a fee reported to be around £1m. He linked up with former goalkeeping coach Malcolm Webster, who coached him during his spell at Ipswich. At Southampton, he was first choice goalkeeper for most of the 2006–07 season until a three-match ban relegated him to the bench where he remained after the return of Bartosz Białkowski. He was suspended for three games after kicking out at Stoke City's striker Jon Parkin on 10 March 2007^[6]. His current contract with Southampton runs out in 2009. His form for Saints in the first half of the 2008-09 season has been impressive, despite the club's poor form. Southampton fans have voted Davis player of the month three times in the first five months of the season on the club's official website.

On 9 July 2009, Davis turned down the opportunity to sign for Premier League side West Ham United, instead signing a new three year contract with Southampton.^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Kelvin Davis player profile
• Kelvin Davis career stats at Soccerbase