Callum Davidson

Callum Davidson

Personal information
Full name	Callum Iain Davidson
Date of birth	(1976-06-25) 25 June 1976
Place of birth	Stirling, Scotland
Height
Position(s)	Left back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1998	St Johnstone	43	(4)
1998–2000	Blackburn Rovers	66	(1)
2000–2004	Leicester City	101	(2)
2004–2011	Preston North End	166	(21)
2011–2014	St Johnstone	47	(1)
Total		423	(29)
International career
1998–2009	Scotland	19	(0)
Managerial career
2014	St Johnstone (caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Callum Iain Davidson (born 25 June 1976 in Stirling, Scotland) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played for St Johnstone, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City and Preston North End. He began his career at St Johnstone in 1994, before retiring from senior football in 2014. Since retiring, Davidson is currently assistant manager to manager Tommy Wright at St Johnstone, winning his first match 0-1 away to Rosenborg in the Europa League.

At international level, Davidson represented Scotland on 19 occasions between 1998 and 2009.

Early years

Davidson grew up in Dunblane and attended Dunblane High School from 1988-1994 where he captained the School football team. Impressive performances for the School team led to being scouted and watched. Davidson also played Basketball, Golf, Tennis and Athletics at Dunblane. He was part of the Tennis team that won the Scottish Schools Championship where he was coached under Judy Murray and also represented Scotland in Golf.

Club career

He was soon scouted and subsequently signed by St Johnstone. His impressive performances for the Perth club attracted interest from Premiership clubs, resulting in a move to Blackburn Rovers in February 1998 for £1.75m, a St Johnstone club record. He spent two years at Ewood Park, making 66 League appearances and scoring once against West Ham United.

Davidson joined Leicester City in July 2000, for a fee of £2.75m, and he remained with the Foxes for four years, making over 100 appearances. He was signed by Preston North End in 2004 on a free transfer and was later appointed club captain. His time at Deepdale was dominated by recurring injury problems, but he still managed to make over 160 appearances for Preston.

On 26 May 2011, Davidson rejoined his first professional club St Johnstone on a one-year deal on a free transfer after being released from Preston North End earlier in the year. He made his debut on 23 July against Aberdeen. He scored his first goal for St Johnstone in a 3-1 win over Dunfermline on 25 February 2012. St Johnstone chairman Steve Brown had initially indicated the club would not be offering Davidson a new contract due to his age, with Davidson's form forcing him into a rethink. Davidson extended his contract with St Johnstone for another season in March 2012.

Davidson was appointed assistant manager of St Johnstone in June 2013, while retaining his registration as a player. He did not make any playing appearances in the 2013–14 season, during which St Johnstone won the 2013–14 Scottish Cup. Davidson temporarily took charge of the team in March 2014, while manager Tommy Wright was in hospital having a gall bladder operation.

International career

Davidson won a total of 17 caps for Scotland between 1998 and 2002. After six years out of the national team, he was included in George Burley's squad to face Northern Ireland in August 2008, but did not play. Davidson's international career was resurrected when he started the 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Norway to win his 18th cap.

External links

• Callum Davidson player profile at pnefc.net
• Callum Davidson player profile at lcfc.co.uk
• Callum Davidson career statistics at Soccerbase
• Callum Davidson appointed Preston North End Club Captain at www.pne.com