Peter Davenport (born 24 March 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager who has managed teams in both the Welsh and English leagues. Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, he won one full cap for England, against the Republic of Ireland in 1985. Most recently, he was assistant manager at Bradford Park Avenue.
Davenport was born in Birkenhead and was spotted by scouts from Nottingham Forest while playing for Cammell Laird in the West Cheshire league. Forest offered Cammell Laird a brand new football kit if they could sign Davenport, to which they reluctantly agreed.[citation needed] In the 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons, Davenport was Forest's leading goalscorer. Davenport also played in the UEFA Cup semi-final clash with Anderlecht in 1984, which Forest lost 3–2 on aggregate.
While a Forest player, Davenport won his only senior cap for England in a 2–1 friendly win over the Republic of Ireland on 26 March 1985.[2]
Andy Cole in his biography claimed whilst a trainee, Davenport then a star player racially abused Cole.
Manchester United
Davenport completed a transfer to Manchester United on 12 March 1986 for a fee of £750,000.[3] By this stage of the season, United were falling behind Everton and Liverpool in the league title race which they had looked so certain to win after a 10-match winning start to the season. A hectic fixture schedule followed, with 10 games being played between Davenport's arrival on 12 March leading up to his first goal in a 4–0 win over Leicester City on 26 April. By then, however, the impressive win was too late to revive United's title challenge as it had become a three-horse race between Everton, Liverpool and West Ham United, with Liverpool eventually winning.
United manager Ron Atkinson had signed him as a successor to Mark Hughes, who would be signing for Barcelona at the end of the season. He started 11 league games for United at the end of the 1985–86 season, but only scored once and United finished fourth.
Davenport himself did not have a bad start to the 1986–87 season, but United's performances in the league were some of their worst since relegation in the 1973–74 season. By the beginning of November, Davenport had scored five goals in the league and another goal in the Football League Cup, but United were second from bottom in the league and battling against relegation when just months earlier they had been title contenders. Davenport scored his seventh goal of the season on 4 November 1986, but it came as United were thrashed 4–1 by Southampton in the fourth round replay of the League Cup. Ron Atkinson was then sacked and replaced by Alex Ferguson.
Ferguson was intent on building a new side, but there were few changes to the line-up while the 1986–87 season wore on and Davenport was undoubtedly one of the best players in the side that season. In December, he scored twice in successive 3–3 draws with title challengers Tottenham Hotspur and fellow strugglers Aston Villa. On 20 April 1987 he scored the only goal in a 1–0 home win over deadly rivals Liverpool which helped end Liverpool's defence of the league title, which was won by Everton. By now, United's relegation worries had long gone and they finished a healthy 11th in the final table. Davenport finished the season as United's top goalscorer with 16 goals (14 in the league and two in the League Cup) and for the 1987–88 season he would have a new strike partner in the shape of Brian McClair following the departure of Frank Stapleton.
McClair's arrival took the pressure off Davenport as the Scotsman was top scorer for a United side who finished second behind Liverpool in the league in 1987–88, scoring 24 goals in the league and 31 in all competitions. Davenport played in 34 out of 40 league games (13 as a substitute) and scored five league goals. In all competitions he made 40 appearances and scored six goals, vying with Norman Whiteside (normally a midfielder) for the role of United's second striker.
However, the 1988 close season saw the return of Mark Hughes to Old Trafford after two years away and it was widely expected that Davenport would leave, but he began the 1988–89 season still a United player, and with a regular place in the first team. He scored in successive league games in September and was also on the scoresheet in a League Cup tie but he was then sold to newly promoted Middlesbrough in November 1988 for a fee of £750,000.[4] He had scored his last goal for United on 28 September 1988, finding the net in a 1–0 Football League Cup second round first leg win over Rotherham United at Millmoor.[5]
Middlesbrough
Davenport walked straight into the Ayresome Park first team under manager Bruce Rioch but it took him 11 games to get off the mark, netting in a 1–0 victory against his previous employers Manchester United at Ayresome Park on 2 January 1989. However, he managed just four goals from 24 games in 1988–89 as Boro slipped back into the Football League Second Division just one season after promotion. 1989–90 was even tougher as Boro narrowly avoided a second successive relegation and Davenport managed a mere three goals from 35 league games, and by the end of the season Rioch had gone and Boro were now managed by Colin Todd.
In July 1990, he signed for their local rivals Sunderland who had just been promoted to the First Division.[6]
Sunderland
Davenport signed for nearby Sunderland in the summer of 1990, and formed an effective strike partnership with Marco Gabbiadini in the first half of the season. Despite this, Sunderland were relegated at the end of the season. In the 1991–92 season, Davenport continued to be a prominent player for Sunderland, scoring in the Wear-Tees Derby at Roker Park on 20 April 1992 with a first time volley from outside the 18-yard box, a goal that has been regarded as being one of the best scored at Roker Park in recent memory. In the same season, he played in the 1992 FA Cup final at Wembley against Liverpool. Davenport scored the first goal in a famous 2–1 quarter-final victory over Chelsea during the road to Wembley and formed a partnership with striker John Byrne (who scored in every round bar the final itself).
He played one more season for Sunderland, in the new Division One, before moving north of the border to sign for Airdrieonians, who had just been relegated from the Scottish Premier Division.
Despite the fact that he had played for Manchester United and Nottingham Forest in the 1980s, both teams who fairly regularly won trophies around that time, this was Davenport's first and only appearance in a major cup final.
End of playing career
He finished his playing career with spells at several lower division and Scottish League clubs including Airdrieonians, St Johnstone, Stockport County and Southport where he also held post as caretaker manager, during which time Southport were unbeaten. After leaving Southport he joined Macclesfield as a player scoring his 100th league goal at Exeter City F.C in May 1998. After his football career finished, Peter Davenport went on to coach rugby and teach at St Anselm's College in Birkenhead. He has since stayed on at St Anselm's and acted as a substitute teacher and general organiser and liaison for school trips and finance.
Management
After progressing as a coach and assistant manager he was appointed as manager after Sammy McIlroy left to become Northern Ireland manager in January 2000. However, he was sacked in December 2000 after refusing to work alongside newly appointed joint manager Gil Prescott.[7]
In June 2001, Davenport was appointed as manager of Bangor City in the Welsh Premiership, where he took the team to three third-place finishes in four years qualifying for European competition 3 times.[8] Bangor City memorably beat FK Sartid (Yugoslavia) in the UEFA cup first round in 2002. Davenport resigned from his post in December 2005 citing a lack of progress in the Welsh premier league and Bangor's unsuccessful application to build a new stadium as his reasons.[9]
He was appointed manager of Colwyn Bay on 24 May 2006,[10] resigning on 15 January 2007 to once again become manager of Southport.[11] However, in April 2008 he was sacked as manager despite vying for a place in the Conference North playoff positions.[12] His sacking an acrimonious one, blaming the chief executive, Haydn Preece, personally for his demise quoting that he felt he was "stabbed in the back".[13]
On 11 May 2010, he found himself back in management as he was appointed as the assistant manager at Bradford Park Avenue[14] only to find himself without a job by August the same year due to a change in personal circumstances.[15]
Related Research Articles
The 2002–03 season was the 123rd season of competitive football in England.
The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England.
Peter Barr Cormack is a Scottish former international football player and manager. His greatest success was with Liverpool in the early 1970s, for whom he played 178 times, winning two league championships, one FA Cup and two UEFA Cup medals.
The 1996–97 FA Premier League was the fifth season of the FA Premier League since its formation in 1992. The majority of the season was contested by the reigning champions, Manchester United, along with Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool. The title was eventually won by Manchester United, after Liverpool's and Newcastle's failure to win in their penultimate games of the season; at 75 points it is the lowest points total for a Premier League champion club and lowest since the 3-1-0 points system was introduced in the 1981–82 season.
The 1977–78 season was the 98th season of competitive football in England.
Antony Richard Cottee is an English former professional footballer and manager who now works as a television football commentator.
Graeme Marshall Sharp is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. Sharp played as a forward for Dumbarton, Everton, Oldham Athletic and Bangor City. He enjoyed great success with Everton, helping them win English league championships in 1985 and 1987, the FA Cup in 1984 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1985. He made 12 international appearances for Scotland, and was selected in their 1986 World Cup squad.
William Laurence Bingham was a Northern Ireland international footballer and manager.
The 1996–97 season was the 117th season of competitive football in England. Promotion to and relegation from the Football League returned after a three-season absence, with one relegation spot in Division Three.
The 1991–92 season was the 112th season of competitive football in England.
The 1981–82 season was the 102nd season of competitive football in England. It was also the first season that the three-points-for-a-win system was introduced.
The 1976–77 season was the 97th season of competitive football in England. This year The Football League revamped the tie-breaking criteria for teams level on points, replacing the traditional goal average tiebreaker with one based on goal difference to try to encourage more scoring. Coloured red and yellow cards were introduced for the first time in domestic English football.
The 1972–73 season was the 93rd season of competitive football in England.
The 1995–96 season was the 116th season of competitive football in England.
The 1997–98 season was the 118th season of competitive football in England.
The 1998–99 season was the 119th season of competitive football in England.
The 1972–73 season was the 74th completed season of The Football League.
The 1976–77 season was the 78th completed season of The Football League.
The 2013–14 season was the 134th season of competitive football in England.
References
↑ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p.234. ISBN978-0-356-14354-5.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
