Much-travelled Portsmouth title winner and Coventry promotion hero handed Tranmere exit
The central defender won the League Two title under Pompey boss Paul Cook
A Pompey League Two title-winner is searching for another club following his Tranmere departure.
Tom Davies made 148 appearances for Rovers and was also club captain, yet his contract hasn’t been renewed and he leaves Prenton Park.
Now aged 33, he started 31 of their League Two matches in 2024-25 as they finished 20th under interim manager Andy Crosby, who has since been given the job permanently.
The aggressive central defender has the distinction of winning promotion from League Two in successive seasons earlier in his career, firstly with Pompey and then Coventry.
Signed from Accrington by Blues boss Paul Cook in July 2016, Davies would capture the title in his first Fratton Park season following a dramatic finale.
Partnering Christian Burgess for Portsmouth
He made 15 appearances in that 2016-17 campaign and, for a time, was the preferred centre-half partner for Christian Burgess, albeit while Matt Clarke was recovering from a groin injury which carried over from the previous campaign.
Indeed, the ex-Manchester United youngster started 10 of the opening 20 games in all competitions as Pompey established themselves in the top five to remain part of the automatic promotion pack.
That changed in November 2016, when Clarke was deemed ready to resume first-team duties on a regular basis - and the former Ipswich prospect subsequently missed just one match for the rest of the season.
Davies’ appearances dried up as the Burgess/Clarke double act flourished, although he was part of a back three alongside both for the March 2017 trip to Stevenage as Cook surprisingly switched his formation.
Pompey lost 3-0, while Burgess was dismissed in the second half. It represented their only defeat in the final 12 matches as the Blues charged to the League Two title.
With Burgess suspended for the following game at Newport County, Davies kept his place as Cook reverted to a back four for a 2-1 victory to bounce straight back.
Sold to Coventry by Kenny Jackett
Pompey subsequently clinched the league crown with a 6-1 victory over Cheltenham, having topped the table for the final 32 minutes of the campaign, yet Davies didn’t make the squad.
Following Kenny Jackett’s arrival as manager in June 2017, Davies was named on the bench in the opening five matches back in League One, although didn’t feature.
That proved to be Davies’ 16th - and last - Blues outing, before being sold to Coventry for an undisclosed fee in August 2017.
Banned from Wembley final for violent conduct
Reuniting with his former Pompey skipper Michael Doyle, he was part of the Sky Blues side which won promotion through the League Two play-offs that same season.
However, Davies received a three-match ban for violent conduct following the first leg semi-final against Notts County, ruling him out of the remainder of their play-off campaign, including the Wembley victory over Exeter in May 2018.
He later featured for Bristol Rovers, Barrow and, since June 2021, Tranmere, where he featured 148 times and scored five goals before being handed a free transfer.
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