Everyone at Stockport County are deeply saddened to report the passing of former player Mike Davock, who died at the age of 82 on Monday evening, following a short illness.
Hailing from St Helens, Mike was an amateur player with Everton FC before joining his home town club. A tricky outside left, Davock was soon attracting scouts from a number of clubs including First Division Burnley. The former England international and World Cup winner John Connelly explained the luck in how he came to be signed “The Burnley scouts were there to watch another player, Micky Davock, who went to my school. But he went to Stockport”. It seems that County were fast off the mark on this occasion and were to be well rewarded.
Davock signed in January 1957 and went into the reserves before making his County debut at Derby County in front of a crowd of 22,916 in April of that year. He was to play in the last five games of the season. The following season saw him share the outside left position with Alan “Digger” Daley. He scored the first of his 46 goals for The Hatters in an FA Cup game at Edgeley Park versus Barrow in November 1957. This season is memorable for the FA Cup run which saw County register their first win over a First Division side since 1910 when County beat Luton Town 3-0 in the Third Round. At the end of the season County had secured a position in the newly formed Third Division. He failed to establish a regular position in the following season as County struggled to adapt to the higher standards of the national league. Despite this he managed to make 18 appearances scoring 4 goals, thus maintaining his career long record of a goal every five games. He scored County’s final goal of the season in an impressive 4-0 victory over Southampton.
Over the following five seasons Davock became a firm favourite amongst the County faithful, as an almost ever present player. He was the Clubs highest goal scorer with 12 goals in 1959/60 and continued to regularly contribute throughout the early 1960’s. He featured in notable fixtures such as the first season of the League Cup against Manchester City and the FA Cup game at Newcastle United before the largest crowd (48,715) County have ever played in front of.
In 1962 he shared a testimonial with fellow County legends Ken Hodder, Trevor Porteous and Bob Murray. When he left Edgeley Park in May 1964 he moved south to play for Southern League First Division Poole Town. In his first season he helped them to promotion alongside Hereford United, Wimbledon and Corby Town.
On retiring from football due to an achilles injury, Davock settled in Poole, where he remained for the rest of his life. He became a hospital theatre porter for many years until retiring at 65, only to return to his job where he continued until he was 76!
Mike Davock was a hugely popular player who made 252 League and Cup appearances, scoring an impressive 46 goals. We send our deepest condolences to all of his family and friends at this sad time.
