Born: Clapham, 20 September 1979
Nationality: English
Position: Defensive midfielder
Signed: YTS, 1996
Fulham debut: Fulham 3-0 Cambridge United, 15 October 1996
Fulham appearances: 198
Fulham goals: 20
Honours: Third Division (runners-up, promotion) 1996-97, Division Two title (1998-99), Division One title (1999-2000), UEFA InterToto Cup (2003).
Sold: 1 July 2004, Tottenham Hotspur (£2.5m).
Clapham-born Sean Davis is still the only player to have played in all four divisions for Fulham. He made his Fulham debut in the famous Micky Adams promotion season, coming on as a substitute aged only seventeen against Cambridge United in October 1996. He remained a member of the first-team squad but didn’t thrive until Jean Tigana, a defensive midfielder of real repute himself, recognised a kindred spirit and put him at the base of his Division One winning midfield.
A tenacious tackler, Davis also had the freedom to display his devastating range of passing and long-range shooting as he anchored a midfield that also included the likes of John Collins and Lee Clark. He scored a number of crucial goals at Craven Cottage – none more important than the stoppage-time strikes that beat Blackburn after Fulham were reduced to ten men against their promotion rivals and the equaliser against Wimbledon that clinched the Division One title. That long-range effort followed sensational strikes from distance at Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion earlier in the season.
Davis was unfortunate not to turn his regular under-21 international performances into a senior cap despite being called up by Sven Goran Eriksson for a friendly against Australia. He adapted seamlessly to life in the top flight, helping Fulham reach the FA Cup semi-final against his boyhood club Chelsea in 2002 as well as win the Intertoto Cup. He stunned the club by requesting a transfer ahead of Chris Coleman’s first full season in charge and, although the Welshman reintegrated Davis back into the first team before Christmas, he signed for Tottenham Hotspur for a cut price £2.5m in July 2004.
