Davis was born in Smethwick and played as a wing-half for local clubs, including Soho Villa and Birmingham Street George"s before in 1893 signing for Woolwich Arsenal, who had just become the first club from the south of England to join the Football League.
He made his league debut for the side in their second-ever league match, a 3-2 defeat away to N ottinghamshire County on 9 September 1893. He was a near ever-present for the 1893-1894 season (missing only one more game) and continued to do so for the four seasons after that. With Davis in the side Woolwich Arsenal mainly occupied mid-table of the Second Division, reaching as high as 5th in 1897-1898.
After the end of the 1898-1899 season Davis left Arsenal to join First Division Nottingham Forest.
He had played exactly 150 games for Arsenal in six seasons, scoring ten goals. However, at Forest he never played a single match and appears to have left football entirely by the year 1900.
