Charlie Davies

Born in New Hampshire, as a child Davies was encouraged to play soccer and coached by his father Kofi Davies, an immigrant from the Gambia. He attended the Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts and graduated in 2004 alongside fellow professional Mike Fucito. While there he set many Brooks scoring records, scoring twenty-nine and thirty goals in his junior and senior seasons, respectively. In his senior campaign, Davies led Brooks School to a 15–0 league record, and New England Class-A Championship. Davies also starred in wrestling at Brooks, a 3x New England Prep School Champion while earning National Prep All-American status his sophomore & senior seasons. After prep school Davies attended Boston College, where he starred for the Eagles for three seasons. His sophomore season was cut short due a knee injury suffered in the first half of the season opener. During his college years he also played with Westchester Flames of the USL Premier Development League, scoring six goals in nine appearances. He was a finalist for the Hermann Trophy in 2006, capping his comeback season. He finished his college career with twenty-four goals and ten assists in thirty-seven games, including fifteen goals in sixteen games his final season. == Professional career ==

Rather than finishing his degree at Boston College, Davies decided to turn pro after three years of college. He was a well-established professional prospect, and was expected to be a very high MLS draft pick had he chosen to accept the Generation Adidas contract that he was offered. Ultimately, Davies decided to sign with Nike and try his luck in Europe rather than signing with Major League Soccer. Hammarby After an unsuccessful trial at Dutch club Ajax, Davies signed his first professional contract with Allsvenskan club Hammarby IF in December 2006. As a result of his strong performance in 2008 there were many rumors regarding his transfer to a larger club elsewhere in Europe, but ultimately nothing materialized, and Davies returned to Hammarby. The 2009 season began well for Davies, who scored four goals in the first nine league games. He also scored two extra time goals in a 2009 Swedish Cup match against Åtvidaberg, a ninety-ninth-minute equalizer and the winning goal just before extra time expired, to propel his club to a 3–2 victory in the third round of the tournament. In the ninth league match of the season, however, he was issued a five match suspension after he elbowed one of his opponents, Örebro defender Michael Almebäck in the face, resulting in a bloody mouth. Davies subsequently left Sweden to join up with the U.S. national team, marking his last appearance with Hammarby. Sochaux On July 10, 2009, before returning from his suspension in Sweden, it was announced that Davies would sign with Ligue 1 club Sochaux. On August 15, in his second game with Sochaux, Davies came on as a second-half substitute and scored twice; Sochaux ultimately lost the game to Bordeaux, 3–2. However, after only eight appearances with the club, Davies was seriously injured in a car crash while in the United States. and was finally placed in the gameday roster for the December 19 match against Bordeaux. After having spent 2011 on loan to D.C. United, Davies returned to Sochaux. He made his first appearance since his accident in a 1–0 loss against Rennes on February 11, 2012. D.C. United After a ten-day evaluation period with the club during their pre-season, Davies signed on loan with D.C. United for the 2011 MLS season. Davies made his debut as a substitute in the 52nd minute, against the Columbus Crew on March 19, 2011, scoring two goals. A week later he scored his third goal in a 2–1 loss against New England, and, as of May 4, led MLS in scoring with six goals scored. On June 24, Davies was fined $1000 for diving. On September 11, Davies scored a hat-trick off of three assists from Chris Pontius to beat Chivas USA 3–0 in California. The win put United into tenth place in the standings, the final playoff spot, just above the New York Red Bulls. United announced on December 1, 2011, that they would not exercise its December 1 option to secure his permanent transfer from Sochaux. After his loan spell at D.C. United, Davies spoke out about the club's disappointing season and said he was involved in a disagreement with the club's coaching staff. Randers At the end of the season, Davies was on the verge of leaving Sochaux after reaching an agreement to terminate the contract with rumors spreading that he was on his way to join AZ and American team-mate Jozy Altidore but this was denied by technical director Earnie Stewart, who insisted that the club had no interest in Davies. Eventually, Davies signed for Danish side Randers on a two-year deal. Davies made his debut for the club, coming on as a substitute, in a 1–0 win over OB on July 22, 2012. He finished his time at the club without making a start or scoring a goal. New England Revolution On August 8, 2013, Davies was loaned to the New England Revolution for the remainder of the 2013 MLS season. Davies made his Revolution debut, and home debut, on August 17, 2013, coming on as a 79th minute substitute for Chad Barrett in a 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire. On January 9, 2014 Davies and Randers agreed to terminate his contract, allowing him to join New England on a permanent basis. Davies made his first start for the Revolution on July 19, 2014 in a 1-0 loss to FC Dallas. He scored his first Revolution goal on August 2 in a 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls. In the Revolution's 5 playoff matches, Davies notched a total of 4 goals and additionally recorded a game-winning assist. In the 2015 New England Revolution season, Davies led the Revolution in scoring, winning the club's golden boot award with 10 goals and 4 assists. Davies made 9 appearances for the Revolution in 2016, recording one goal, on March 6 against the Houston Dynamo in the season opener. Davies was waived from the Union at the conclusion of the 2017 season. Davies announced his retirement from playing soccer on March 2, 2018. == International ==

Youth Davies played ten games, mostly as a substitute, for the United States U-20 men's national soccer team, but did not make the roster for the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. He was the last player cut from the Youth Championship roster. However, the U-20 team would include him in the roster for the Elite Milk Cup competition a month later. He led the team to the final where he scored a hat trick, making him the MVP of the competition and giving the U.S. its first Milk Cup success. Davies next focused on the under-23 national team as his next target for international play. As a member of the United States men's Olympic team he made only one appearance in the three games the United States team played at the Olympics. He came on as a substitute in the team's last match against Nigeria, where he nearly tied the match when his header rang off the crossbar in the waning moments, which would have sent the team through to the knockout rounds had it gone into the net. Senior He made his debut for the senior national team on June 2, 2007, as a substitute in a 4–1 friendly victory over China in San Jose, California. Later that summer he was a part of the squad that took part in the 2007 Copa América in Venezuela. On October 15, 2008, he scored his first national team goal in a 2–1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago during the third round of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He added his second national team goal against Egypt in the final group stage game of the 2009 Confederations Cup. In the following game against Spain, Davies was involved in his strike partner Jozy Altidore's opening goal. On August 12, 2009, Davies scored the opening goal in a 2–1 loss to Mexico in Mexico City, becoming only the fourth American to score against Mexico in the Azteca Stadium. Davies was left off the U.S. roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup after he was not cleared medically by his French club team, Sochaux. Davies had sustained serious injuries in an October 2009 automobile crash. == Personal life ==

Automobile crash On October 13, 2009, Davies, who was in Washington, D.C. for a World Cup Qualifier game against Costa Rica, was a passenger in an SUV that went out of control on the George Washington Parkway and struck a metal railing at about 3:15 a.m., tearing the vehicle in half. The crash was due to the driver being distracted while trying to plug in a GPS. The crash killed a 22-year-old woman who was in the car with Davies, while Davies himself suffered a lacerated bladder, fractured right tibia and femur, a fractured elbow, multiple facial fractures, and bleeding on the brain. In an interview with ESPN's Jeremy Schaap on December 4, Davies said that he expected to be running by March and would be fit to play at the World Cup. On January 25, 2010, ESPNsoccernet reported Davies was jogging and hoped to return to Sochaux by April. Davies returned to France to complete his rehabilitation with his club on February 17, 2010, with plans to commence full team training within a month. He resumed light training with the club on March 22. On May 11, it was announced by coach Bob Bradley that Davies would not be on the preliminary national team roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as Sochaux had not cleared him medically. Two years after the crash Davies filed a $20 million lawsuit against Das Enterprises, which operates the Shadow Room, and Red Bull North America, which hosted the private event at which alcohol was served. The parents of the woman killed in the crash also filed suit against the nightclub owner and Red Bull in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. Davies reached an undisclosed settlement in October 2012. Cancer diagnosis In the Spring of 2016, Davies was diagnosed with liposarcoma. ==Career statistics==

Club Statistics accurate as of December 22, 2021. International International goals == References ==