Charlie Davies

Charles Desmond Davies (born June 25, 1986) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward.

Davies set several soccer records at his high school, the Brooks School, before appearing for the Boston College Eagles and the Westchester Flames in college. Davies signed his first professional contract with Swedish Allsvenskan club Hammarby IF in December 2006 before joining Sochaux in July 2009.

Davies was capped seventeen times for the United States national team between 2007 and 2009, and scored four international goals.

On October 13, 2009, Davies was involved in a serious car crash on the George Washington Parkway that killed a fellow passenger and left Davies with severe injuries that kept him out of the 2010 World Cup, and effectively ended his international career.

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.

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.

After an unsuccessful trial at Dutch club Ajax, Davies signed his first professional contract with Allsvenskan club Hammarby IF in December 2006. Although he initially was placed in the starting lineup, he had trouble finishing and spent his first year with the club alternating between being a starter and a substitute. On June 24, 2007, Davies netted his first goal for the club, which was the decisive goal in Hammarby's match against Faroese club Klaksvik in the first round of the 2007 Intertoto Cup, but he was still unable to score in the Allsvenskan. Davies credits both his coach, Tony Gustavsson, and Uruguayan star and former Hammarby teammate Sebastián Eguren with guiding his work ethic and attitude through his struggles. In the final match of the 2007 season Davies broke through and scored a hat-trick against GAIS.