clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Will Kevin Davies' Bolton Wanderers testimonial go ahead?

A chance meeting with the former Whites skipper put some doubts in Tom's mind.

Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Ah Super Kevin Davies. What we wouldn't give for a player like him in his prime in our current situation.

Not many would begrudge him the title of legend after his ten year spell at the club, playing a pivotal role in our Premier League glory days.

However, things got quite sour when he left. Mostly due to Dougie Freedman's handling of the situation and the farce regarding his apparent lack of testimonial. It was poorly handled by everyone involved but after making his feelings quite clear through many mediums, SKD was eventually granted the testimonial he so desired (and deserved).

Plans were put in motion and former greats such as Jay-Jay Okocha, Youri Djorkaeff, Ivan Campo, Stelios, Ricardo Gardner and El-Hadji Diouf all expressed an interest. I really was salivating at the thought of seeing all these players again and bringing the good times back to the Macron, even if just for a day.

A date of 31st July 2015 was pencilled in and it all started to feel quite real. Alas, in March 2015, Super Kev made the decision to try and extend his playing career with Preston North End on the brink of promotion to the Championship. Upon Preston's promotion, they decided that he didn't really have the legs for the Championship and he was released. This clearly hit Davo hard and he retired.

I've not really seen or heard much of Kevin Davies since retiring despite following on Twitter but funnily enough I saw him after the Preston game

Ignoring the smile, he didn't seem too impressed when I stopped him and spoke to him. Hardly surprising to be fair after watching the dirge that had just been served up by two of his former teams.

The first thing I thought to ask him (apart from what he thought about the match) was whether his testimonial was going ahead next year.

His reply was a slightly ambiguous and unconvincing:

"We'll see"

I didn't press him further as he was clearly in a rush to get out of there but it begs the question what's happened in the past year to make him so unenthusiastic about the whole thing?

When he postponed his testimonial, he still seemed very excited saying:

"When Bolton Wanderers Football Club granted me a testimonial at the end of last year I could not wait to start planning the event, involving my old ‘Reebok-days' team mates and the fans."

Maybe, his retirement has made him fall out of love with playing football... Perhaps something has gone on behind the scenes... Surely though if its for charity then everyone involved should be able to come to an agreement about it.

I'm probably reading too much into it but come on Kevin, do the right thing.