Rick Davis

For American soccer fans that grew up in the 1970’s and 80’s, Ricky Davis is American soccer. Born Richard Dean Davis in Denver, Colorado in November 1958, Davis started playing at his local American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) in Claremont, California at the age of 7. A stand-out and an All American in High School, Davis went to play soccer at Santa Clara University in 1977. After his freshman year, however, Davis was hand picked by the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL) and became a professional at the age of 19.

With the additions of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto, to name a few, the Cosmos were already well known globally as a team with a collection of aging international stars. Davis not only brought youth and hustle to the club but became the key marketing tool by the league to showcase the future of American talent. In 1978 Davis and the Cosmos won the NASL league title. In 1979, at 20 years of age, Davis was named the North American Player of the year. The Cosmos would go on to win two more league titles with the Cosmos (1980 & 1982) before the team and the league folded in 1985. Just prior to the collapse, in 1983, Davis moved on to play for the St. Louis Steamers of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He played there for three years before returning to play with many of his former Cosmos stars on the New York Express – a heavily marketed experiment by the owners of the Cosmos (Time Warner Communications). The last gasp money-making effort didn’t last long and the team folded halfway through the 1986/1987 season. Despite nagging knee injuries, Davis finished off the rest of his playing career with the Tacoma Stars (also in the MISL).

Unfortunately during the 1980’s, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) was unable to produce any additional homegrown talent to play aside Davis. Unlike with the Cosmos, his teammates on the national team were inexperienced and needed development and style. As a result, the national side did not have very much success and was never even able to qualify for a World Cup tournament during his international career. In 1980 the US did qualify for the Olympics in Moscow, but due to President Carter’s boycott, the US was unable to attend. In 1984, the US hosted the Olympic Games but despite Ricky’s two goals against Costa Rica, they could not get out of the first round. In 1988 for the Olympics in South Korea, Davis was named team captain but the US struggled again had an early exit in the first round.

Due to further damage to his knees, Davis was forced to retire in 1989. When he did, he was the all-time leader in CAPS (36) for a United States player. For his efforts and dedication he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2001 and was the first recipient of the US Soccer Athlete of the Year award in 1984. He has since returned to his original roots and is Director with the AYSO in California.

Personal information

Senior career*

National team