World Soccer - UK (2020-12)

coming in for particular attention.

Bossio also was instrumental in Davies’

switch to the Vancouver Whitecaps

academy at the age of14, setting the

recruitment ball rolling with a phone call

to technical director Craig Dalrymple.

Naturally the Whitecaps would not

just take Bossio at his word. They

insisted on checking and double-

checking, twice inviting Alphonso to

Vancouver for trials and travelling to

Edmonton on several occasions to

watch him in action. They even arranged

for Davies to attend a Canadian Soccer

Under-15 camp, where they would

subject him to further scrutiny.

After jumping through every hoop put

in front of him, he finally was accepted,

only for his mother Victoria to voice her

doubts. She thought he was too young

to fly the family nest, too raw to begin

a new life 720 miles away from home.

Alphonso, however, managed to talk her

round, promising to make her proud. As

a compromise, the Whitecaps and the

Davies family agreed to let him finish

the school year in Edmonton and move

to Vancouver in August 2015.

He would not take long to spark into

life at his new place of work. Almost as

soon as he arrived, rumours began

to circulate that that he already

had the tools to compete in

MLS. Certain grizzled characters

in the media thought it was all

hype. Not so. By early 2016,

’Caps head coach Carl Robinson

APR3,2016

Makes his

professional debut

for Whitecaps II

in the United

Soccer League

Championship,

aged15.

MAY 15, 2016

Becomes the

youngest goalscorer

in USL history, aged

15 years and six

months, after

netting against

LA Galaxy II.

JUL 17, 2016

Having been

promoted to

the Vancouver

Whitecaps first

team, Davies makes

his MLS debut v

Orlando City.

JUN6,2017

Receives Canadian

citizenship and is

immediately called

into the squad for a

friendly v Curacao,

becoming Canada’s

youngest debutant.

JUL8,2017

Scores against

French Guiana

to become the

youngest goalscorer

in the history of

both Canada and

the Gold Cup.

BIOGRAPHY

was regularly

deploying him

Speed merchant...

Davies flying up the

wing for Bayern

Shooting...Canada reached the quarter-
finals at last year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup

Timeline