Teddy Davison
Davison saves from Billy Lacey on 4 October 1913 in a 4–1 Wednesday victory over Liverpool
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Edward Davison | ||
| Date of birth | 2 September 1887 | ||
| Place of birth | Gateshead, England | ||
| Date of death | 1 February 1971 (aged 83) | ||
| Place of death | Sheffield, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1903–1908 | Gateshead Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1908–1926 | Sheffield Wednesday | 397 | (0) |
| 1926–1927 | Mansfield Town (Non-League) | ||
| Total | 397 | (0) | |
| National team | |||
| 1922 | England | 1 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1926–1928 | Mansfield Town (Player-Manager) | ||
| 1928–1932 | Chesterfield | ||
| 1932–1952 | Sheffield United | ||
| 1952–1958 | Chesterfield | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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John Edward "Teddy" Davison (2 September 1887 – 1 February 1971) was an English footballer and manager who had a long and successful association with the football clubs of Sheffield, playing for Sheffield Wednesday for 18 years and later managing Sheffield United for 20 years. His fairness and diplomacy earned him the nicknames of "The George Washington of Sheffield football" and "Honest Ted". Davison played as a goalkeeper in a career, which lasted between 1908 and 1926, he made 424 appearances in all competitions for Sheffield Wednesday (his only league club). Davison was only 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) tall, very small for a goalkeeper but he made up for this with lightning reflexes and top class anticipation. He has gone down in football records as the smallest goalkeeper ever to play for England, making just one appearance for the national team in March 1922.
Davison was born in Gateshead, County Durham, the seventh of nine children. On leaving school he worked as a typesetter for a Newcastle newspaper and played football for Gateshead Town where he was spotted by Sheffield Wednesday’s assistant manager Robert Brown who invited him to Hillsborough for a trial. Davison impressed in the trial, saving a penalty in a practice match and was signed in April 1908 as understudy to long standing Wednesday keeper Jack Lyall for a fee of £300.
The 21-year-old Davison made his Wednesday debut on 10 October 1908, however he only made eight appearances in that first season, being unable to dislodge Lyall. The summer of 1909 saw Lyall leave for Manchester City and Davison became first choice keeper for the 1909–10 season. Davison was to remain first choice for the next 12 seasons, a remarkable achievement bearing in mind that he lost four years of his career to World War I when official football was suspended. Throughout his career Davison kept a record of every match he played in, this showed he played in 618 games, conceding 810 goals, it also revealed he was a specialist at keeping out penalties, saving 24 out of 77 faced.
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