🔗 Share this article

The job is tough, it’s stressful, it’s completely draining … yet I am passionate about my role,” remarks the Slough Town boss, sitting in an empty dressing room awaiting his squad to come to training. For the past two years, Davies has been the player-manager of Slough Town who, positioned third bottom of the table, are the lowest-ranked team left in this season's famous competition.

A Dual Role: Coaching and Outreach

A few squad members are stuck in traffic; training was moved forward to teatime to accommodate a local team’s match. When the session commences in torrential downpour, the non-league outfit are sharing the 3G surface with a junior team. “I always thought I’d love to be a manager of a non-league football club and have a job on the side,” notes Davies. The veteran has opted out, instead observing from inside, with a tactics board propped up in front of him.

“We always stress the significance that our role extends beyond coaching: we are mentors, we’re counsellors, role models,” he says.

On the previous day, he is at Aylesbury grammar school for his other job. During 45 minutes, he quietens a classroom of students with a harsh presentation on how a gambling addiction ruined his professional journey as a footballer, damaged his connections and took him to the verge of ending his own life.

A Career Derailed: The Downward Spiral

Following treatment 10 years ago, Davies has been bet-free since and is now an educator on the dangers of gambling. He recounts to students how, when he scored a set-piece against a top goalkeeper in a pre-season friendly, he thought he had succeeded. But by then, at age 21, his gambling was out of control.

The skilled player, then featuring in the second tier, was sneaking out of training at the earliest chance to visit the betting shop, often making up excuses to leave. When asked by his manager to verify the story, Davies was unable to. He was not picked by Reading again.

While on loan at Wycombe, Davies was convinced he was headed to a bigger team. When he saw they had signed someone else, he went to the betting shop and lost £7,000 in one day. Later on, at Crawley, he started betting on his own matches and would sneak off into a restroom at the interval to place bets. Then, at Oxford United, he would remain awake all night to gamble.

A Moment of Clarity

By the age of 26, Davies’s career was in freefall. He dropped three divisions to play for a minor club. His debut was an road trip that passed his old stadium. “It was a moment of realisation,” Davies says. “I remember seeing the ground from the bus and thinking: ‘What has happened?’ I will always remember that moment.”

His mentor from that time is now his assistant at Slough and the pair have fostered an environment where players can speak openly about their issues, dismantling the barriers of macho culture that were prevalent when Davies was a youth and was too scared to discuss his addiction.

The Perfect Customer: Why Young Footballers

Each person's story is unique, Davies argues young footballers are vulnerable to becoming addicted. Financial means, idle hours, the competitive nature, and the supposed ‘edge’ in sports betting were all factors in his addiction. “When you put all of these factors together, you create the perfect customer for a bookmaker.”

In the week leading up to Sunday’s second-round tie, Davies is speaking to two elite teams’ under-21 teams. “I believe like there is a duty of care to protect the next generation, aspiring players, and that’s why I do the work that I do,” he explains.

Future Ambitions and A Historic Run

Currently content, married and the father to a young child, Davies is has not yet hang up his playing boots and is aiming to start on his advanced coaching badge. “There’s a lot of regret but the beauty of coming out the other side and moving on to management is that I’m going to correct the mistakes of my time as a player.”

Slough have already made it through four rounds but have never reached the third round of the Cup. Given the money involved, drawing a top-flight giant in the subsequent stage could bring a financial boost in millions for a team whose squad includes builders, fitness coaches and teaching assistants.

The prospect of facing coaches such as Pep Guardiola is a curious one for Davies. “It's unlikely we would use any complex plans. It would be a game you’d be happy to be defeated just for the occasion.

“It’s incredible to see the small clubs that get paired with some of these giants. Witnessing it and you think: ‘Someday, can it be you?’”