West Brom allowed captain and centre half Curtis Davies to join Aston Villa in the summer of 2007, much to the bemusement of many
Curtis Davies has admitted that it was a ‘difficult’ move to complete when he left West Bromwich Albion for Aston Villa in the summer of 2007, but he reflects that, having been called up the England squad while in the Premier League, it was a local switch which was eventually justified.
Centre half Davies joined Albion from Luton Town in 2005 and, despite being highly thought of by existing Premier League clubs, remained at The Hawthorns following their relegation in his first season. The year later, Davies was confirmed as the captain of Albion, but he was injured in the run-in and had to watch from the sidelined as the Baggies were beaten in the play-off final at Wembley.
Davies was granted a move to Villa as a result; the short move from B71 to B6 was on an initial loan deal which would be made permanent the summer following, for around £8m. It wasn’t well received by the Albion supporters but it did undeniably further Davies’ career and earned him Three Lions recognition while he was playing under Martin O’Neill.
Speaking about the move, Davies was disappointed with how things ended at Albion. Admitting that the saga wasn’t the proudest aspect of his playing career, Davies spoke of ‘broken promises’ leading up to the move but he doesn’t regret his decision – although a mixture of stiff competition and injuries meant that his time at Villa Park didn’t run entirely smoothly.
“It was a difficult move [moving from West Brom to Aston Villa], simply because of the way it happened,” he said, via SkyBet. “It wasn’t my finest moment as a player, but I also had broken promises to me, so it was difficult, and I would have rather left with all the blessings, but it wasn’t to be.
“The actual move itself was a career move. Ultimately, I was able to move to a club that was still in Birmingham, so I wasn’t having to make new friends and start all over again, but I was also moving to a club that had a core of good, young English players. My move was justified in the fact that I was selected in Fabio Capello’s first England 30-man squad, having only played nine games for Villa. That vindicated my move and why I did it.”
