Davidson Bobby Image 1 St Johnstone 1933

Description

Lochgelly, Fife born inside forward Bobby Davidson started his football career with junior clubs Prinlaws United in 1929 and Bowhill Rovers in 1930 before joining St Bernard’s in 1931. He moved to St Johnstone for £250 in March 1933 and enjoyed success there, being selected to represent The Scottish League against The Irish League in a 3-2 victory at Firhill in October 1934. He was then signed by First Division high flyers Arsenal for a then record fee of £4,000 in February 1935, scoring on his Football League debut against Stoke City the same month, playing 11 matches in Arsenal’s 1935 League Championship run in.

He appeared only 11 times in the following season and didn’t appear in their 1936 FA Cup final line up, but won back his place in the team in 1936-37 and scored four goals in a 5-1 victory over Portsmouth in December of that year. He did however play in both the 1935 and 1936 FA Charity Shield matches, but Arsenal lost both games. Davidson played a fringe role at the beginning of the following season before transferring to Coventry City in exchange for Leslie Jones in November 1937. He played 63 times for Arsenal and scored 15 goals.

At Coventry he played both sides of the Second World War, during which he served in the Army and played many wartime games for Coventry as well as guesting frequently for Bradford City, Darlington, Halifax Town, and Notts County. Additionally, Davidson played representative football for the Northern Command Army team during the latter war period and transitional 1945-46 season, although he only featured 4 times in post war matches for Coventry City, his last appearance coming in an FA Cup tie at Luton Town in January 1948. He scored 9 goals in 50 appearances before joining non league Hinckley Town in 1948, subsequently playing for Redditch Town in 1949 and Rugby Town in 1950 before his eventual retirement.