Billy Davies

Did You Know?

• Billy Davies is the elder brother of John Davies and the brother-in-law of John Spencer.
• Davies signed both his brother and Spencer when he was manager of Motherwell.
• Davies frequently refers to himself in the third person during interviews as a running gag.

Playing career

As a schoolboy, Davies was associated with Manchester United and was offered a contract by manager Dave Sexton. He began his professional career at Rangers, debuting against Brechin City on 23 September 1981, but rarely featured for the first team in six years. He later played for Swedish clubs Jönköping and Elfsborg, then St Mirren, Leicester City, Dunfermline Athletic, and finished at Motherwell.

Managerial career

Davies began as player-coach and then manager of Motherwell, helping them avoid relegation in his first season with few games remaining. The next season he took them close to European football, but the following season was less successful due to the club's financial situation; after nine first-team players were sold in the off-season, he resigned on 18 September 2001 with only three points from seven matches. He moved to England as assistant manager to Craig Brown at Preston North End, and after Brown's departure on 29 August 2004, Davies became caretaker then permanent manager on 27 September.

He took Preston to the Championship play-off final in May 2005, losing, and then to the play-offs again in 2005–06 after a 25-game unbeaten run, but they lost in the semi-finals to Leeds United after he had said "Job done" following the first leg. He was interviewed for the Charlton Athletic job when Alan Curbishley stepped down but was unsuccessful; Iain Dowie got the position. Davies accepted an offer to manage Derby County on 2 June 2006.