Calum Davenport Bio Send To Friend  

Much was expected of Davenport when he made a £3million move from Tottenham Hotspur to West Ham United in January 2007 but he has turned out to be an expensive mistake.

Unable to break into the side on a regular basis - he made just six appearances for the Hammers before being ruled out injured for the rest of 2006/07 - he was loaned out to Watford in January 2008 with a view to a permanent move after failing to play a single minute that campaign.

And his hopes of kick-starting his career were then dashed when, following a collision with team-mate Darius Henderson, he suffered a fractured bone in his neck just before half-time on his debut against Charlton Athletic.

Davenport has since revealed he could have been left paralyzed by the injury and he faced a long road back to fitness.

Beginning his career with Coventry City, he made his debut for the Sky Blues in their final Premiership game before being relegated in 2000/01.

It was not until the 2002/03 season that he broke into the first team on a regular basis and emerged as a defender of great potential, going on to be named Young Player of the Year.

And he really shone in the 2003/04 campaign, winning the overall Player of the Year award for the Sky Blues.

That form led to England Under-21 honours, he'd previously played at Under-17, Under-19 and Under-20 level.

And at the end of August 2004 Tottenham Hotspur paid £1.1million to take him to White Hart Lane. Davenport played 84 games for Coventry, scoring three times.

Davenport was loaned out to Football League club West Ham for three-months within a fortnight of moving to White Hart Lane. He played ten games for the Hammers before being recalled to the Lane.

He was then handed his debut as a substitute at Aston Villa - but played as an extra striker with Spurs trailing.

Unable to break into the Tottenham side, he was loaned to Southampton for the remainder of the season when the transfer window opened again in January 2005. Davenport was unable to stop the Saints slipping out of the Premiership in his 12 appearances for the club.

After failing to figure at all at the start of the 2005/06 campaign, he was loaned to Norwich City in September.

Coming back to Spurs, Davenport made his first start in their 2-1 home defeat to Manchester United on April 17, 2006, but couldn't keep down a first-team slot.

He returned to West Ham permanently in January 2007 and he made his first start in his second spell for the club two days later in a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United.

But Davenport has never managed to make an impression at West Ham, partly down to injury.

It now seems a long time since Davenport was hailed as one of the best defenders in the Football League in 2003/04 before moving up to the Premier League. You can certainly say his career has stalled.

After featuring sporadically in the first half of the 2008/09 season he was loaned to Sunderland in February 2009.