Happy 40th birthday to the legendary Les Davies

Happy 40th birthday to Les Davies, one of North Wales football’s most famous names of the past 20 years.

Born on October 29, 1984, the father-of-four who hails from Maesgeirchen, Bangor, has played for 12 clubs in his senior career.

After beginning at Beaumaris Town, Davies first featured in the Welsh Premier in 2002-03, making six substitute appearances for Caernarfon Town.

He then moved to Anglesey side Glantraeth of the Cymru Alliance before being signed up in 2003-04 by Bangor City.

At the end of 2004/05 he departed Farrar Road and spent two seasons at Porthmadog, netting 18 Welsh Premier goals in 62 starts.

In the summer of 2007, Neville Powell took over as Bangor City manager and Davies was one of his first signings.

Then followed the most successful period of The Truck’s career.

In eight seasons with the Citizens, he scored 76 goals in 209 starts, winning three Welsh Cups, the Welsh Premier League title and made several appearances in Europe for the all-blues.

In 2012, Davies was named in the elite 32-man list for the Best Player in Europe award, alongside the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

At the start of 2015/16, Davies left Bangor and switched to Connah’s Quay Nomads, where he featured for two seasons, scoring 16 times in 58 WPL starts, then in 2017-18 he made Bala Town his fifth WPL club.

After a season at Maes Tegid, he rejoined Bangor City – now relegated to the Cymru Alliance for the first time in their history – but returned to the national league in January 2019 when he put pen to paper for Llandudno.

Davies had signed for Aberystwyth Town in summer 2019, but before a ball was kicked he joined newly-formed Bangor 1876.

In the shortened 2019-20 season, he netted 23 goals for the undefeated Gwynedd League title-winners.

He was voted Player of the Decade by viewers of S4C football programme Sgorio during that campaign.

Les switched to Flint Town United for a short spell in 2020, but was back at 1876 in 2021-22.

Before his departure from Bangor 1876 in September 2023, he had scored 72 goals and been part of three successive promotions as well as lifting the Tier 4 Premier Division Cup.

Davies made Trearddur Bay the 12th club of his career in October 2023, scoring on his debut in a 6-0 NWCFA Intermediate Challenge Cup victory over Penmaenmawr Phoenix.

His debut season with Trearddur was a great success as he netted 10 goals in 29 games and won the North Wales Coast West Premier Division title in a side which went undefeated all campaign.

In his 40th year, Davies has made a fabulous start to 2024-25, scoring 12 goals in 16 appearances for Bay.

The striker’s WPL career saw him make 403 starts across six clubs, chalk up 41 substitute appearances, and net 128 goals.

He has also represented Wales at under-18 and U21 level, and played for the U23 semi-professional side.

Davies’ official career goals total is not known, but is thought to be close to the 300 mark.

CONFIRMED GOALS (all competitions)

Bangor City 123
Bangor 1876 72
Porthmadog 25
Connah’s Quay Nomads 22
Trearddur Bay 22 (up to October 26, 2024)
Bala Town 5
Llandudno 1
TOTAL = 270

WELSH PREMIER GOALS ONLY

Bangor City 88
Porthmadog 18
Connah’s Quay Nomads 16
Bala Town 5
Llandudno 1
TOTAL = 128

Have a fantastic birthday Les! Thanks for all the entertainment.