Peter Davenport

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24/03/2011 16:47 - ManUtd.com, Tony Begby
Ex-Reds: Peter Davenport



We caught up with Peter Davenport, a former United striker who's just celebrated his 50th birthday. He joined from Nottingham Forest in 1986 and was top scorer in his first full season at Old Trafford.

So, Peter, what are you doing these days?
I have worked as a cover supervisor at my son's school, St Anselm's College, Wirral, for the last six months. If a teacher is off ill or on a course, I take the class. I have a sports science degree and am studying to get my teaching qualification. Previously, I had been a classroom assistant at a local primary school, which whetted my appetite for teaching, though I see myself in a secondary school.

What about your current sporting interests?
I also help out with PE at St Anselm's, which is a rugby school, and coach my youngest son's year seven team. I am also a level-two angling coach, and, five years ago, helped set up Birkenhead Park Junior Angling Club, and that also takes up a lot of my time. I got into angling towards the end of my football career.

What was it like to play for United?
Even though I was from Birkenhead, I was a United fan as a boy. I got awful stick at school as in my class there were 15 Evertonians, 15 Liverpool fans and me. It wasn't great when United were relegated to the Second Division (1973/74). But I came from a family of United fans. It was a boyhood dream to play for United, and the first time I pulled on the shirt was special. My debut was away to QPR on their plastic pitch, which was hardly ideal as the ball bounced miles into the air. I had a goal disallowed for offside.

Your first goal for United was scored in front of the Stretford End...
It was a penalty in a 4-0 win against Leicester, and what made it even more memorable is that I had family standing on the Stretford End.

What was the most important goal you scored for United?
I loved scoring against Liverpool, and got a late winner as we beat them 1-0 at Old Trafford over Easter in 1987. Our victory meant Liverpool couldn¹t win the league and, to add insult to injury for them, Everton were crowned champions the following week. I also remember an overhead kick against Sheffield Wednesday and a couple of good ones against Aston Villa and Tottenham.

You've played under Brian Clough and Alex Ferguson. Did these two great men have anything in common?
They were two cracking managers who were similar in many ways, though Clough had the edge with his unique style. I was fortunate to play for Clough when he was at the peak of his power, not long after Forest had twice won the European Cup. Ferguson was still learning his trade, and his best years were still to come.

We gather you¹re helping bridge the Manchester-Merseyside divide...
I play in a six-a-side league on Wednesdays at Pensby, Wirral, and we are top of the league. Our side includes Lee Martin and myself, both ex-United. along with former Liverpool pair Jan Molby and Michael Thomas. I also play for United old boys alongside David May, Arthur Albiston, Clayton Blackmore and others. It helps me stay in touch with former team-mates.

Peter Davenport

United
Apps: 83 (23)
Goals: 26


England
Apps: 1
Goals: 0

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Menambahkan sedikit info dari Wikipedia :

Peter Davenport

Peter Davenport (born 24 March 1961 in Birkenhead, Cheshir) is an English former professional footballer. He won one full cap for England, against the Republic of Ireland in 1985.

Early career

Davenport was born in Birkenhead and was spotted by scouts from Nottingham Forest while playing for Cammell Laird F.C. in the West Cheshire league. Forest offered Cammel Lairds F.C a brand new football kit if they could sign Davenport, to which they reluctantly agreed. In the 1983-84 and 84-85 seasons, Davenport was Forest's leading goalscorer.

Davenport also played in the controversial UEFA Cup semi-final clash with Anderlecht F.C in 1984, which Forest lost 3-2 on aggregate. More than a decade later, it was revealed on a Belgian T.V documentary that the referee had taken a bribe from Anderlecht F.C to ensure that they progressed through to the next round.

Manchester United

Peter Davenport completed his transfer to Manchester United on 12 March 1986 for a fee of £750,000. By this stage of the season, United were falling behind Everton and Liverpool in the league title race which they had looked so certain to win after a 10-match winning start to the season. A hectic fixture schedule followed, with 10 games being played between Davenport's arrival on 12 March leading up to his first goal in a 4-0 win over Leicester City on 26 April. By then, however, the impressive win was too late to revive United's title challenge as it had become a three-horse race between Everton, Liverpool and West Ham United, with Liverpool eventually winning.

United manager Ron Atkinson had signed him as a successor to Mark Hughes, who would be signing for FC Barcelona at the end of the season.

Davenport himself didn't have a bad start to the 1986-87 season, but United's performances in the league were some of their worst since relegation in the 1973-74 season. By the beginning of November, Davenport had scored five goals in the league and another goal in the Football League Cup, but United were second from bottom in the league and battling against relegation when just months earlier they had been title contenders. Davenport scored his seventh goal of the season on 4 November 1986, but it came as United were thrashed 4-1 by Southampton in the fourth round replay of the League Cup. Ron Atkinson was then sacked and replaced by Alex Ferguson.

Ferguson was intent on building a new side, but there were few changes to the line-up while the 1986-87 season wore on and Davenport was undoubtedly one of the best players in the side that season. In December, he scored twice in successive 3-3 draws with title challengers Tottenham Hotspur and fellow strugglers Aston Villa. On 20 April 1987 he scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over deadly rivals Liverpool which helped end Liverpool's defence of the league title, which was won by Everton. By now, United's relegation worries had long gone and they finished a healthy 11th in the final table. Davenport finished the season as United's top goalscorer with 16 goals (14 in the league and 2 in the League Cup) and for the 1987-88 season he would have a new strike partner in the shape of Brian McClair following the departure of Frank Stapleton.

McClair's arrival took the pressure off Davenport as the Scotsman was top scorer for a United side who finished second behind Liverpool in the league in 1987-88, scoring 24 goals in the league and 31 in all competitions. Davenport played in 34 out of 40 league games (13 as a substitute) and scored five league goals. In all competitions he made 40 appearances and scored six goals, vying with Norman Whiteside (normally a midfielder) for the role of United's second striker.

However, the 1988 close season saw the return of Mark Hughes to Old Trafford after two years away and it was widely expected that Davenport would leave, but he began the 1988-89 season still a United player. He scored in successive league games in September and was also on the scoresheet in a League Cup tie, but it was soon clear that he would never be a regular fixture in the United team again and he was sold to newly promoted Middlesbrough in November 1988.

Middlesbrough

Davenport walked straight into the Ayresome Park first team under manager Bruce Rioch but managed just four goals from 24 games in 1988-89 as Boro slipped back into the Football League Second Division just one season after promotion. 1989-90 was even tougher as Boro narrowly avoided a second successive relegation and Davenport managed a mere three goals from 35 league games. In July 1990, he signed for their local rivals Sunderland who had just been promoted to the First Division.

Sunderland

Davenport signed for nearby Sunderland in the summer of 1990, and formed an effective strike partnership with Marco Gabbiadini in the first half of the season. Despite this, Sunderland were relegated at the end of the season. In the 1991/92 season Davenport continued to be a prominent player for Sunderland, scoring the only goal in the Wear-Tees Derby at Roker Park on 20 April 1992 with a first time volley from outside the 18 yard box, a goal that has been regarded as being one of the best scored at Roker Park in recent memory. In the same season, he played in the 1992 FA Cup Final at Wembley against Liverpool. Davenport scored the first goal in a famous 2-1 Quarter Final victory over Chelsea during the road to Wembley and formed a partnership with striker John Byrne (who scored in every round bar the final itself.)

Despite the fact that he had played for Manchester United and Nottingham Forest in the 1980s, both teams who fairly regularly won trophies around that time, this was Davenport's first and only appearance in a major cup final.

End of playing career

He finished his playing career with spells at several lower division and Scottish League clubs including Airdrieonians, St. Johnstone, Stockport County and Southport where he also held post as Caretaker manager, during which time Southport were unbeaten.

After leaving Southport he joined Macclesfield as a player scoring his 100th league goal at Exeter City F.C in May 1998

Management

After progressing as a coach and assistant manager he was appointed as manager after Sammy McIlroy left to become Northern Ireland manager in January 2000. However, he was sacked in December 2000 after refusing to work alongside newly appointed joint manager Gil Prescott.

In June 2001, Davenport was appointed as manager of Bangor City in the Welsh Premiership, where he took the team to three third place finishes in four years qualifying for European competition 3 times. Bangor City memorably beat FK Sartid(Yugoslavia) in the UEFA cup first round in 2002. Davenport resigned from his post in December 2005 citing a lack of progress in the Welsh premier league and Bangor's unsuccessful application to build a new stadium as his reasons.

He was appointed manager of Colwyn Bay on 24 May 2006, resigning on 15 January 2007 to once again become manager of Southport. However in April 2008 he was sacked as manager despite vying for a place in the Blue Square North playoff positions. His sacking an acremonious one, blaming the Chief Executive, Haydn Preece, personally for his demise quoting that he felt he was “stabbed in the back”.

On 11 May 2010 he found himself back in management as he was appointed as the assistant manager at Bradford Park Avenue.

Honours

Zenith Data Systems Cup: Runner up 1989/90 with Middlesbrough

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org

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Foto-foto Peter Davenport saat masih membela Manchester United :