Davies spent the first 11 years of his career at Molineux, having arrived at the club as a trialist before going on to make more than 170 appearances between the sticks throughout the 1960s.
Born in Liverpool, Davies began his Wolves career in 1957, aged just 17, when he was invited for a trial after impressing for Welsh side Llandudno Junction.
Having signed for Stan Cullis’ men, Davies had to bide his time with the reserves, as Wolves won successive First Division titles and an FA Cup trophy with Bert Williams and then Malcolm Finlayson as their first-choice goalkeepers.
Davies’ senior debut came in an FA Cup tie against Black Country rivals West Bromwich Albion in January 1962, before he made 12 appearances during the subsequent season, where he made the position his own, winning promotion with Wolves from the Second Division in 1966/67.
Davies was also a member of the Wolves team which represented Los Angeles in the 1967 United Soccer Association championship, with ‘Los Angeles Wolves’ taking the inaugural title.
The following season, Davies left Wolves for Cardiff City, playing more than 100 games for the Bluebirds and winning the Welsh Cup on three occasions. He finished his playing career at Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic, winning promotion to the Third Division.
Following his retirement as a player, Davies turned to coaching, working at Norwich City and Swansea City, before taking on the manager’s job at Shrewsbury Town in 1993, where he guided the team to the Division Three title.
He also took the Shrews to Wembley for the first time in the club’s history for the final of the 1996 EFL Trophy, but his side would lose 2-1 to Rotherham United. Following four years in Shropshire, Davies moved back to Dorset, managing non-league Weymouth to promotion to the Southern Premier League in his first season.
In his later life, Davies retired to Telford, where he lived with his partner Allison, but continued to show his support for Wolves and took part in several events with the club’s Former Players Association, while staying in contact with fellow goalkeepers and close friends Bert Williams and Phil Parkes.
Davies continued to be very active into his later years and was a keen traveller but was sadly diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis 18 months ago, eventually succumbing to the disease at hospital on Wednesday, surrounded by his family.
The thoughts of everyone at Wolves are with Fred’s his family and friends at this sad time.
