Roger Davies
Born in Wolverhampton on 25th October 1950. Roger has had a very varied career that took him to Bridgnorth Town, stopping along the way at Bruges, Tulsa Roughnecks, Gresley Rovers and manager of Rolls Royce, plus of course Derby County.
At 6ft 4inches tall Davies was an imposing sight for opposing defenders. However he had all the grace of an ice-skating Giraffe. I don't mean that unkindly but I think even Roger will admit he was ungainly to say the least. This didn't stop the Rams giant centre-forward from scoring 44 goals for the club in 166 appearances.
Roger appeared and had leading roles in several of the Rams most important games in the 70's. Being sent of in the infamous European Cup semi-final against Juventus was one of those games, although Davies was subjected to sever provocation during the match that even now has the foul taste of corruption hanging over it.
A happier game to remember of Rogers was the 1973 FA Cup 4th round replay against Tottenham Hotspur. The game looked lost as Spurs took a 3-1 lead with just over ten minutes of the game remaining. Davies had other ideas and scored two goal in them ten minutes to silence a disbelieving 52,000 Spurs crowd. More was to follow as Davies completed his hatrick in extra time. Kevin Hector contributed with another goal to make the final score an unbelievable 3-5 to the Rams. A night I will never forget!
Roger spent time in the newly emerging American league following his Rams career. Seattle Sounders, Fort Lauderdale being the clubs to benefit from the big man.
Today Roger Davies can be heard giving commentary on Rams games for the new Rampage Radio that broadcasts out of Pride Park Stadium. Thanks once again Roger you gave me some very good memories during your time with Derby County.