The Transfer Record: Roger Davies

Heritage
02 Oct 2019
1 Minute
Striker Roger Davies signed for Frank McLintock’s Leicester City in December 1977, for a Club record fee of £250,000, and he arrived at Filbert Street with an excellent pedigree.

After playing non-league football for Bridgenorth Town and Worcester City, while completing his engineer apprenticeship, Davies signed for Brian Clough’s Derby County in September 1971.

He was also a key member of Dave Mackay’s Derby side which won the league title in 1974/75, missing only two games and memorably scoring five times in a game against Luton Town.

In July 1976, Roger moved to Club Brugge, managed by Austrian Ernst Happel, who over his managerial career, won the European Cup twice and took the Netherlands to the 1978 World Cup Final.

Over the course of Roger's first season in Belgium, Brugge won the league and cup double, and he was also voted Belgium’s Player of the Year.

He started the next season in Bruges before his surprise move, for personal reasons, to relegation-bound Leicester City in December 1977.

Roger had two spells with Derby County.

In the 14 games he played for Leicester until the end of the season, he was only in a winning side once. Roger was joint top goalscorer with four goals.

The following year, new manager Jock Wallace brought in Alan Young and Martin Henderson and, in March 1979, Roger left for Tulsa Roughnecks.

Apart from a brief return to Derby, he spent five years in the USA, also playing for Seattle Sounders and Fort Lauderdale Strikers.  

Returning to England in 1983, Roger finished his career at Darlington and at David Nish’s Gresley Rovers, before playing in local football.

He then spent 25 years working at Rolls Royce, as well as working for Heart Radio with City's Club Ambassador Alan 'The Birch' Birchenall. He is currently an ambassador at Derby County.