by Brian Jones
David “Dai” Davies, Goalkeeper, was born in Glanaman, spoke Welsh, capped 52 times for Wales and passed away on 10 February 2021 at the age of 72 years. It is a little known that he made one appearance for the Merthyr Welsh League team before starting his illustrious footballing career. Now read on….
In the summer of 1968 football was then a mix of amateur and professional players. Pre-season training for Southern and Welsh League players was held at the Hoovers sports ground under the leadership of Cyril Beech whilst the club manager was Ken Tucker. Dai had just qualified as a P.E. teacher from Cardiff College of Education and he attended pre-season training in the company of Ron Jones (Treharris). Ron went on to gain fame as a BBC T.V. and Radio 5 live sports commentator.
Dai played one game for the Welsh League team for Merthyr as an amateur, in a pre-season friendly against the Swans at the Vetch. Merthyr lost heavily but Dai put on an immense display and his talent was so obvious that the Swans signed him up as a professional. He played just a few games before he transferred to Everton for £40,000 making 82 appearances for that club. He later played for Wrexham, Tranmere Rovers and had further spells at Swansea. He gained his first cap for Wales in 1975 against Hungary and his last appearance for Wales came against France in 1982.
Dai made frequent visits to Penydarren Park, now the Met Coaches Stadium, after his retirement combining his S4C Sports commentating before moving to North Wales where he established a natural healing centre in Llangollen.