Davis: I Get Asked This a Lot!
Thursday, 15th Sep 2022 17:03

It’s the question Leif Davis has been asked more than any other in his lifetime. His Christian name, where did that come from?

There are plenty of different names in football but it appears Davis stands alone with the moniker his parents decided upon after he was born in Newcastle on New Year’s Eve just hours before the new millennium.

He laughed: “I get asked this a lot and I know it’s unusual. Years ago, there was an American singer and actor called Leif Garrett and my mum liked his name. That’s all there is to it and I’ve never heard of anyone else called Leif.”

The Town new boy would far rather talk football and he will always be grateful that his burning ambition to play the game professionally became reality. He undoubtedly wasn’t the first to have his flames of desire fanned by the unforgettable memory of attending his first match at St James’ Park, home of the team he was born to support.

“I’m from a Newcastle family, so I’m a Newcastle football fan,” said. “I had a season ticket but before then I went to my very first game with my dad and my cousin. You never forget something like that — the memory will live with me forever.

“It was a derby game against Sunderland. I can’t remember the exact year but one thing I recall is thinking to myself ‘I’ve got to keep coming here’. I was completely won over by the atmosphere. It was incredible and I wanted more.

“The fans up there are so passionate about their club. Even when they’re losing, they don’t stop chanting and supporting their team. I used to imagine playing out on that pitch, not just that one but at any big stadium, with the fans singing their heads off. It really got me going.”

Asked about even earlier football memories, Davis turned the clock back 18 years and recalled: “I started going to a training class back home when I was about four years old and ever since then I’ve been in love with the game.

“When I was growing up, I always wanted to be a footballer but I honestly thought the opportunity had passed me by.

“A lot of my friends had joined different academies and I was still playing Sunday League and I just thought to myself ‘I’ve lost it’.

“My mates were playing against the likes of Manchester City and the other big clubs but for me it was just playing against local sides. But it’s all worked out well for me in my career.

“I put it down to a lot of hard work. I never gave up and I always listened to my parents, who encouraged me all the time.

“They said ‘You never know what might happen, you’ve just got to keep going’ and that’s what I did. My big break came when I was 16 and I got a scholarship at Morecambe and since then things have worked out well for me.

After two years with the Shrimps the promising teenager was lured to Leeds United in July 2018 for an undisclosed fee and he began to build a reputation for himself in the Elland Road academy.

He added: “As a kid I went through stages of playing in different positions. I had a spell as a left-winger and when it was a small-sided game I can remember being one of the two at the back, so I suppose that was a bit like playing centre-back.

“To be honest, I didn’t really enjoy that much. I was like most kids — they want to be strikers and I also wanted to go up the pitch and score goals.

“My favourite position was playing on the left wing because I was pretty quick, but when I was growing up and we were playing on full-size pitches, that was when I changed to being a left-back, which I enjoyed because I was still running up and down the wing anyway.”

He progressed well at Leeds, catching the attention of manager Marcelo Bielsa with the U23 squad, and he was called up as an unused substitute before finally making his senior debut in the starting line-up for a Championship clash at Aston Villa in December 2019, a game the visitors won 3-2.

Davis clocked up further first-team appearances over the next few weeks before being sidelined by a knee injury that required surgery, but he appeared again in the second tier in the 2019/20 campaign that was curtailed by the Covid pandemic but saw Leeds promoted to the Premier League as champions on a points-per-game basis.

His only two top-flight appearances came the following season, against both Manchester clubs, when he came off the bench on each occasion. The first time was in a 1-1 home draw with City and then in a 6-2 defeat at Old Trafford.

Davis remembered: “When I was stood on the touchline at Elland Road, ready to come on against City, I was thinking ‘Nah, this isn’t really happening, is it?’ Then when I ran on to the pitch and I was marking Bernardo Silva I was telling myself I had to switch on and stop dreaming. I knew that if I didn’t switch on, he would be running rings round me all the time I was on there.

“It was a big thing to go on in these games and play against world-class players. Against United I went on when we were losing 6-1 at Old Trafford and I was playing centre-back against Edinson Cavani, who came on just before I did.

“Obviously, that was a massive challenge, but I’m always up for that sort of thing and I can always say neither City nor United scored against me!”

Photo: ITFC

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statto72 added 17:11 - Sep 15 Yep. I'm old enough to remember Leif Garrett. My sister had a poster of him on her wall. His big hit was called I Was Made For Dancing.
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BotesdaleBlue added 17:23 - Sep 15 statto72 - a very catchy song from 1979 which I liked at the time. Music and the charts were fantastic back then. The football at Town wasn't too bad either!!
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