George Davies

OVERALL STATISTICS

BIRTHAGESIGNED ONFROM
28-01-1908
N/A
28-01-1939
Liverpool Stanley
DEBUTLAST MATCHLEFT
28-01-1939 v Huddersfield
Featherstone Rovers
1947- when he Retired
CAREERAPPEARANCES (SUBS)
1938-1946
184 (0)
TRIESGOALSDGOALSPTS
7
0
0
21

Biography of George Davies



HERITAGE NO : 495
George Trevor Davies by Dave Dooley:

Born in Sutton, where his father had a butcher`s shop - hence the nickname Porky - this powerful prop-forward, with good scrimmaging technique signed for Wigan Highfield in 1931. He followed them down south as London Highfield and scored the first-ever try at the White City Stadium. A spell at Liverpool Stanley was followed by a move to St.Helens in 1939, where he helped to develop local talent during the war years. In 1945, playing against Wigan at Knowsley Road, George received a sine die ban for allegedly striking the referee after being sent off. Alas, it was later revealed that a spectator threw the punch and he was duly cleared! Former Manchester United centre half Bill Foulkes clearly remembers George`s aggressive style when he was a regular on the terraces at Knowsley Road as a youngster!

His final match for the Club was against Featherstone Rovers on the 18th of January 1947 as part of a 11 points to 7 victory at Post Office Road. Like so many fine players his career was blighted by the outbreak of the Second World War.



Alex Service also gives some details of match reports from George`s first few matches at the Saints: I remember asking the former Manchester United centre half Bill Foulkes who was his favourite player when he used to watch his home town team, the Saints and he replied immediately: Porky Davies! Of course, Bill was certainly an un-compromising footballer who took no prisoners on the field and, therefore, his choice of hero could be explained. George Davies was exactly the same. He was given the nickname 'Porky' after the family's pork butchers in Sutton and this tended to disguise the fact that he was a real strongman, who could effortlessly bend six inch nails! The Knowsley Road crowd used to portray him as a pantomime villain at times, but he was a real stalwart. He was best summed up in the local press by 'Secundus' after the game at Castleford on 29th November 1941: "Davies, one of the best forwards in the Rugby League scored Saints try. I can imagine the ribald scoff at the genial Porky but that won't alter my opinion. He can run, he can sidestep as well as any other player in the pack; he can take a pass, he can give one, he doesn't know what fear means, and he never falters, however fierce the going". His debut was like a breath of fresh air to the local correspondent in the St. Helens Reporter, after a bit of a disaster at Huddersfield, when Saints lost 5-33. 'St. Helens humbled at Huddersfield', barked the headline. Success of new prop forward. Ah yes, bad news and good news.

The match report continued: "St. Helens backs got a greater share of the ball than did their opponents. This was due to the inclusion of the new prop forward, George Davies, signed on from Liverpool Stanley for a figure in the region of £300. He made an instantaneous and smashing success. Whatever else happened to the side, Davies triumphed over the opposition. Huddersfield had a new front row man out, Taylor from Newcastle, but the amazing thing was that St. Helens dominated the scrums nearly three to one. But St. Helens lost and the reason was that the back division couldn't do anything with the ball when they had it". There is a rider to this as well. Saints' winger Alf Ellaby, who had re-joined the club after a spell at Wigan, announced his retirement shortly after. But this is about front-rowers and George made another big impression when he made his home debut at Knowsley Road in a 17-2 victory against Barrow. Recorder in the Reporter was full of praise: "The whole foundation of victory came from the 'stone wall' of the front row. I coined this phrase from a word or two with a St. Helens player, and it is likely to be, I think, as historic as the Incomparable Alf I coined years ago. A front row that can beat Salford with the Welsh international hooker Day in it, after beating a front row with a Welsh rugby union honours hooker at Huddersfield, and then go on further to beat a burly front row with an English international hooker, McKeating, in it, is doing a real job of work. Share the glory between the three, for they are all part and parcel of the success, but save a special word for 'Porky' Davies, who like [Frank] Tracey, was making an impressive debut before the home spectators. These men got the ball for the backs, handsomely beating Barrow for it, and the backs being on their toes, there was never the slightest doubt of the ultimate victory".

So it obvious that in the days when scrums were scrums and a vital means of keeping possession for your team, George was a real specialist. One interesting fact is that George and Frank Tracey`s transfer to St. Helens was paid for partly by the Saints` Supporters Club, an unusual occurrence at the time.

George missed just one match out of 31 during the 1939-40 campaign and was an ever-present, together with his hooker Jimmy Phillips in 1943-44. George continued to play on throughout the war years and his final appearance [his 184th] was at Featherstone, on 18th January 1947, where Saints ground out an 11-7 victory. Incidentally, Saints' full-back that day was Duggie Greenall!

Jimmy Goodier played for Saints during the war years and can give first-hand accounts of the forwards he packed down with and, of course, George is no exception. "George worked down Sutton Manor pit and he was a really decent bloke when you got to know him, he recalls. Mind you, there were two sides of George on and off the field. On it, he was what I would call a 'quiet' front-rower, in that he would never give me to many instructions as such in the scrum, only when he felt he really needed to. This was unusual, as he was an open sided prop. He didn't go barking out orders on the pitch either. I suppose he was a quiet enforcer, really. He would sort anybody out if they were giving him or any of the other lads any bother. Occasionally, you would see somebody lying there on the pitch and the odds were that George had belted him! But like I said, he was a really nice bloke off the pitch". [see Jimmy`s biography for more!]

As for George, he passed away at the age of 90 on 10th December 1998 and, as far as we know, is the only St. Helens player buried in the Highlands of Scotland, facing the Isle of Skye!


SEASON STATISTICS

Season (Official Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1938~39 0 0 0 8
1939~40 1 0 0 30
1940~41 0 0 0 15
1941~42 2 0 0 21
1942~43 1 0 0 18
1943~44 0 0 0 24
1944~45 0 0 0 15
1945~46 2 0 0 40
1946~471 0 0 13
TOTALS:7 0 0 184
Season (Other Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
TOTALS:

ALL MATCHES

DateMatchPosOpponentsCompVenueFTFTOTGDG
28th Jan 1939 1
L
 8 Huddersfield L A 5 33 VIEW
4th Feb 1939 2
L
 8 Salford CC1 A 0 11 VIEW
11th Feb 1939 3
W
 8 Barrow L H 17 2 VIEW
27th Feb 1939 4
L
 8 Keighley L A 5 8 VIEW
4th Mar 1939 5
W
 8 Bramley L H 13 7 VIEW
11th Mar 1939 6
L
 8 York L A 0 10 VIEW
18th Mar 1939 7
W
 8 Leigh L H 22 12 VIEW
25th Mar 1939 8
L
 8 Oldham L A 0 2 VIEW
26th Aug 1939 9
W
 8 Leigh L A 23 3 VIEW
29th Aug 1939 10
W
 8 Swinton L H 13 0 VIEW
2nd Sep 1939 11
L
 8 New Zealand Tour H 3 19 VIEW
29th Sep 1939 12
W
 8 Rochdale Hornets WEL H 28 9 VIEW
7th Oct 1939 13
W
 8 Liverpool Stanley WEL A 20 0 VIEW
14th Oct 1939 14
W
 8 Warrington WEL H 13 9 VIEW
21st Oct 1939 15
L
 8 Swinton WEL A 2 41 VIEW
28th Oct 1939 16
W
 8 Swinton WEL H 15 7 VIEW
4th Nov 1939 17
W
 8 Broughton Rangers WEL H 28 10 VIEW
11th Nov 1939 18
L
 8 Salford WEL H 10 15 VIEW
18th Nov 1939 19
L
 8 Oldham WEL A 3 7 VIEW
25th Nov 1939 20
W
 8 Barrow WEL H 23 3 VIEW
2nd Dec 1939 21
L
 8 Salford WEL A 5 10 VIEW
9th Dec 1939 22
W
 8 Broughton Rangers WEL H 27 9 1 VIEW
16th Dec 1939 23
L
 8 Warrington WEL A 6 8 VIEW
25th Dec 1939 24
D
 8 Widnes WEL A 6 6 VIEW
26th Dec 1939 25
L
 8 Wigan WEL H 9 12 VIEW
24th Feb 1940 26
W
 8 Liverpool Stanley WEL H 18 8 VIEW
2nd Mar 1940 27
W
 8 Broughton Rangers LC1 (1) H 26 7 VIEW
9th Mar 1940 28
L
 8 Broughton Rangers LC1 (2) A 3 10 VIEW
16th Mar 1940 29
L
 8 Wigan LC2 (1) A 0 5 VIEW
22nd Mar 1940 30
L
 8 Wigan WEL A 0 6 VIEW
23rd Mar 1940 31
W
 8 Leigh WEL H 11 5 VIEW
25th Mar 1940 32
L
 8 Rochdale Hornets WEL A 10 12 VIEW
29th Mar 1940 33
W
 8 Wigan LC2 (2) H 10 4 VIEW
6th Apr 1940 34
W
 8 Widnes LCSF (1) H 7 5 VIEW
13th Apr 1940 35
L
 8 Widnes LCSF (2) A 0 13 VIEW
27th Apr 1940 36
W
 8 Leigh WEL A 16 5 VIEW
4th May 1940 37
W
 8 Oldham WEL H 12 5 VIEW
18th May 1940 38
L
 8 Widnes WEL H 11 20 VIEW
7th Sep 1940 39
W
 8 Liverpool Stanley WEL H 32 15 VIEW
21st Sep 1940 40
W
 8 Swinton WEL H 41 0 VIEW
28th Sep 1940 41
W
 8 Oldham WEL A 16 5 VIEW
5th Oct 1940 42
W
 8 Leigh WEL H 44 8 VIEW
12th Oct 1940 43
W
 8 Liverpool Stanley WEL A 26 11 VIEW
19th Oct 1940 44
W
 8 Salford WEL H 6 0 VIEW
26th Oct 1940 45
L
 8 Salford WEL A 13 15 VIEW
2nd Nov 1940 46
L
 8 Warrington WEL H 0 13 VIEW
9th Nov 1940 47
W
 8 Warrington WEL A 2 0 VIEW
16th Nov 1940 48
D
 8 Wigan WEL A 5 5 VIEW
23rd Nov 1940 49
W
 8 Broughton Rangers WEL H 23 3 VIEW
30th Nov 1940 50
W
 8 Leigh WEL H 50 0 VIEW
14th Dec 1940 51
W
 8 Oldham WEL H 19 2 VIEW
11th Jan 1941 52
L
 8 Wigan WEL H 3 6 VIEW
19th Apr 1941 53
L
 8 Castleford CC2 A 13 21 VIEW
6th Sep 1941 54
W
 8 York WEL H 23 13 1 VIEW
20th Sep 1941 55
W
 8 Keighley WEL A 20 2 VIEW
27th Sep 1941 56
L
 8 Huddersfield WEL A 13 21 VIEW
4th Oct 1941 57
W
 8 Batley WEL H 26 16 VIEW
17th Oct 1941 58
W
 8 Castleford WEL H 16 2 VIEW
19th Oct 1941 59
L
 8 Hunslet WEL A 5 13 VIEW
8th Nov 1941 60
W
 8 Featherstone Rovers WEL H 24 10 VIEW
15th Nov 1941 61
L
 8 Featherstone Rovers WEL A 13 17 VIEW
22nd Nov 1941 62
W
 8 Keighley WEL H 17 11 VIEW
29th Nov 1941 63
L
 8 Castleford WEL A 5 12 1 VIEW
6th Dec 1941 64
L
 8 Leeds WEL A 8 18 VIEW
25th Dec 1941 65
L
 8 Wigan WEL A 3 8 VIEW
3rd Jan 1942 66
L
 8 Wigan WEL H 0 18 VIEW
10th Jan 1942 67
L
 8 Dewsbury WEL A 8 37 VIEW
14th Jan 1942 68
W
 8 Halifax WEL H 13 9 VIEW
21st Jan 1942 69
L
 8 Oldham WEL A 5 8 VIEW
6th Apr 1942 70
L
 8 Dewsbury WEL H 2 9 VIEW
11th Apr 1942 71
W
 8 Featherstone Rovers CC1(1) A 21 11 VIEW
18th Apr 1942 72
W
 8 Featherstone Rovers CC1(2) H 8 3 VIEW
25th Apr 1942 73
L
 8 Hunslet CC2(1) A 3 16 VIEW
2nd May 1942 74
W
 8 Hunslet CC2(2) H 21 14 VIEW
5th Sep 1942 75
L
 8 Featherstone Rovers WEL H 2 4 VIEW
12th Sep 1942 76
L
 8 Keighley WEL A 0 12 VIEW
19th Sep 1942 77
L
 8 Halifax WEL H 13 25 VIEW
26th Sep 1942 78
L
 8 Dewsbury WEL A 17 26 VIEW
3rd Oct 1942 79
L
 8 Leeds WEL A 0 34 VIEW
10th Oct 1942 80
W
 8 Wakefield Trinity WEL H 15 7 VIEW
24th Oct 1942 81
W
 8 Wigan YC2(1) H 21 8 VIEW
31st Oct 1942 82
L
 8 Keighley WEL H 7 12 VIEW
7th Nov 1942 83
L
 8 Wigan YC2(2) A 11 32 VIEW
12th Dec 1942 84
L
 8 Dewsbury WEL A 7 19 VIEW
25th Dec 1942 85
L
 10 Wigan WEL A 3 10 VIEW
26th Dec 1942 86
L
 8 Wigan WEL H 8 20 VIEW
27th Feb 1943 87
L
 8 Oldham WEL A 6 12 1 VIEW
13th Mar 1943 88
W
 8 Barrow CC1(1) H 13 2 VIEW
20th Mar 1943 89
L
 8 Barrow CC1(2) A 0 4 VIEW
27th Mar 1943 90
L
 8 Oldham CC2(1) A 12 17 VIEW
3rd Apr 1943 91
L
 8 Oldham CC2(2) H 5 20 VIEW
17th Apr 1943 92
L
 8 Featherstone Rovers WEL A 3 9 VIEW
4th Sep 1943 93
L
 8 Keighley WEL H 17 23 VIEW
11th Sep 1943 94
L
 8 Leeds WEL H 5 28 VIEW
18th Sep 1943 95
L
 8 Dewsbury WEL A 16 48 VIEW
25th Sep 1943 96
L
 8 Barrow WEL H 5 24 VIEW
2nd Oct 1943 97
L
 8 Barrow WEL A 10 31 VIEW
9th Oct 1943 98
L
 8 Oldham WEL H 2 11 VIEW
16th Oct 1943 99
L
 8 Wigan YC1(1) H 9 14 VIEW
23rd Oct 1943 100
L
 8 Wigan YC1(2) A 10 20 VIEW
30th Oct 1943 101
L
 8 Oldham WEL A 8 10 VIEW
6th Nov 1943 102
L
 8 Batley WEL A 8 16 VIEW
13th Nov 1943 103
L
 8 Leeds WEL A 0 36 VIEW
20th Nov 1943 104
L
 8 Dewsbury WEL H 3 13 VIEW
27th Nov 1943 105
L
 8 Featherstone Rovers WEL A 0 15 VIEW
18th Dec 1943 106
L
 8 Wakefield Trinity WEL H 0 10 VIEW
25th Dec 1943 107
L
 8 Wigan WEL A 12 34 VIEW
27th Dec 1943 108
L
 8 Wigan WEL H 2 7 VIEW
1st Jan 1944 109
L
 8 Featherstone Rovers WEL H 0 30 VIEW
12th Feb 1944 110
W
 8 Batley WEL H 13 8 VIEW
19th Feb 1944 111
L
 8 Halifax WEL H 9 16 VIEW
26th Feb 1944 112
L
 8 Wakefield Trinity WEL A 5 21 VIEW
4th Mar 1944 113
L
 8 Huddersfield WEL H 6 19 VIEW
11th Mar 1944 114
L
 8 Dewsbury CC1(1) A 7 43 VIEW
18th Mar 1944 115
L
 8 Dewsbury CC1(2) H 15 33 VIEW
15th Apr 1944 116
L
 8 Halifax WEL A 4 46 VIEW
2nd Sep 1944 117
D
 8 Huddersfield WEL H 5 5 VIEW
23rd Sep 1944 118
W
 8 Oldham WEL A 27 6 VIEW
30th Sep 1944 119
L
 8 Halifax WEL H 7 21 VIEW
7th Oct 1944 120
L
 8 Dewsbury WEL A 2 31 VIEW
14th Oct 1944 121
W
 8 Featherstone Rovers WEL H 18 3 VIEW
21st Oct 1944 122
L
 8 Barrow YC1(1) H 8 22 VIEW
28th Oct 1944 123
L
 8 Barrow YC1(2) A 8 21 VIEW
11th Nov 1944 124
L
 8 Leeds WEL H 3 23 VIEW
18th Nov 1944 125
L
 8 Keighley WEL A 8 15 VIEW
25th Nov 1944 126
L
 8 Wakefield Trinity WEL H 6 14 VIEW
2nd Dec 1944 127
L
 8 Featherstone Rovers WEL A 2 8 VIEW
25th Dec 1944 128
L
 8 Wigan WEL A 5 20 VIEW
26th Dec 1944 129
L
 8 Wigan WEL AB H 3 12 VIEW
30th Dec 1944 130
W
 8 Keighley WEL H 10 0 VIEW
13th Jan 1945 131
L
 8 Barrow WEL A 6 22 VIEW
25th Aug 1945 132
L
 8 Widnes L A 8 20 VIEW
1st Sep 1945 133
L
 8 Widnes L H 2 7 VIEW
3rd Sep 1945 134
W
 8 Broughton Rangers L A 11 5 VIEW
15th Sep 1945 135
W
 8 Wakefield Trinity L H 15 3 VIEW
22nd Sep 1945 136
L
 8 Workington Town LC1(1) A 8 9 VIEW
29th Sep 1945 137
W
 8 Workington Town LC1(2) H 21 11 VIEW
6th Oct 1945 138
W
 8 Rochdale Hornets L A 11 4 VIEW
13th Oct 1945 139
W
 8 Rochdale Hornets L H 21 0 VIEW
17th Oct 1945 140
L
 8 Wigan LCSF A 5 18 VIEW
20th Oct 1945 141
W
 8 Hunslet L H 15 12 1 VIEW
27th Oct 1945 142
L
 8 Barrow L A 13 23 VIEW
3rd Nov 1945 143
D
 8 Swinton L A 5 5 VIEW
10th Nov 1945 144
L
 8 Broughton Rangers L H 8 10 VIEW
17th Nov 1945 145
L
 8 Dewsbury L H 7 13 VIEW
24th Nov 1945 146
L
 8 Dewsbury L A 0 9 VIEW
1st Dec 1945 147
L
 8 Hunslet L A 5 38 VIEW
8th Dec 1945 148
W
 8 York L H 22 7 VIEW
15th Dec 1945 149
L
 8 Warrington L A 7 38 VIEW
22nd Dec 1945 150
L
 8 Workington Town L H 5 20 VIEW
25th Dec 1945 151
W
 8 Liverpool Stanley L A 26 3 VIEW
26th Dec 1945 152
L
 8 Wigan L H 3 38 VIEW
29th Dec 1945 153
L
 8 Workington Town L A 8 9 VIEW
1st Jan 1946 154
W
 8 Liverpool Stanley L H 16 8 VIEW
5th Jan 1946 155
L
 8 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 7 26 VIEW
26th Jan 1946 156
L
 8 Batley L A 0 15 VIEW
2nd Feb 1946 157
W
 8 Swinton L H 7 5 VIEW
9th Feb 1946 158
L
 8 Castleford CC1(1) A 4 10 VIEW
16th Feb 1946 159
W
 8 Castleford CC1(2) H 14 5 VIEW
23rd Feb 1946 160
L
 8 Warrington L H 10 17 VIEW
2nd Mar 1946 161
L
 8 Workington Town CC2 H 6 13 VIEW
9th Mar 1946 162
W
 8 Halifax L H 13 0 VIEW
23rd Mar 1946 163
L
 8 Halifax L A 11 21 VIEW
30th Mar 1946 164
L
 8 Barrow L H 22 30 VIEW
6th Apr 1946 165
L
 8 York L A 14 33 VIEW
10th Apr 1946 166
L
 8 Salford L A 5 6 1 VIEW
13th Apr 1946 167
L
 8 Oldham L H 9 14 VIEW
19th Apr 1946 168
L
 8 Wigan L A 9 15 VIEW
20th Apr 1946 169
L
 8 Wakefield Trinity L A 10 32 VIEW
22nd Apr 1946 170
W
 8 Batley L H 15 7 VIEW
27th Apr 1946 171
W
 8 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 29 6 VIEW
31st Aug 1946 172
L
 8 Widnes L H 2 10 VIEW
7th Sep 1946 173
L
 9 Leigh LC1(1) H 5 14 VIEW
14th Sep 1946 174
L
 9 Leigh LC1(2) A 4 17 VIEW
16th Nov 1946 175
D
 8 Belle Vue Rangers L A 10 10 VIEW
23rd Nov 1946 176
L
 8 Bramley L A 0 10 VIEW
30th Nov 1946 177
W
 8 Huddersfield L H 18 10 1 VIEW
7th Dec 1946 178
L
 8 Leigh L A 3 10 VIEW
14th Dec 1946 179
W
 8 Salford L H 9 8 VIEW
25th Dec 1946 180
L
 8 Liverpool Stanley L H 16 17 VIEW
26th Dec 1946 181
L
 8 Wigan L H 9 11 VIEW
1st Jan 1947 182
L
 8 Liverpool Stanley L A 7 8 VIEW
4th Jan 1947 183
L
 8 Leeds L A 5 20 VIEW
18th Jan 1947 184
W
 8 Featherstone Rovers L A 11 7 VIEW
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub.
WINS : 63 | LOSSES : 116 | DRAWS : 5

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