David Davidson

David Davidson was born in Aberdeen on 4th June 1905. He worked as an attendant in a mental institution as well as playing football for Forfar Athletic in the Scottish League.

In July 1928 he joined Liverpool in the Football League for a fee of £1,500. He made his debut against Bury in August 1928. A centre-half, he played in 58 games over the next two seasons. As Tony Matthews points out in his book, Who's Who of Liverpool: "Not the tallest of defenders, he was a real stopper centre-half who tackled fiercely and had a good attitude".

Davidson joined Newcastle United in January 1930 for a fee of £4,000. He made his debut the following month against Huddersfield Town. However, he did not become a regular in the side until the 1930-31 season.

Newcastle finished in 11th place in the 1931-32 season. However, they had a good FA Cup run and they beat Blackpool (1-0), Southport (9-0), Leicester City (3-1), Watford (5-0) and Chelsea (2-1) to reach the final against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium.

Arsenal scored first, eleven minutes after the start, when Bob John headed in a centre by Joe Hulme. Just before half-time Jimmy Richardson chased what appeared to be a lost cause, when Davidson sent a long ball up the right wing. When the ball appeared to bounce over the line, the Arsenal defence instinctively relaxed. Richardson managed to hook the ball into the middle and Jack Allen was able to head home. Despite the protests, the referee W. P. Harper, awarded the goal. David Jack missed an easy chance midway through the second-half and soon afterwards Allen scored again to win the game for Newcastle United 2-1 and Davidson had won his first FA Cup winners' medal.

Davidson lost his place in the first-team in the 1932-33 season. Although he stayed until June 1937 when he joined Gateshead, he was unable to make the centre-half position his own. In 1938 Davidson retired from playing football.

David Davidson, ran a masseur's business in Whitley Bay before his death in May 1969.