Australian international joins ‘The Yorkshire Club’
- Jason Davidson signs three year contract at Huddersfield Town
- Chris Powell: we've been tracking Jason for 18 months
- Terriers' second signing of the week after Dean Whitehead
Huddersfield Town has today completed the signing of Australian international left back Jason Davidson on a three year contract.
The 23 year-old, who has 18 caps for his country, joins as a free agent, having left Premier League West Bromwich Albion at the conclusion of the 2014/15 season after his existing two year deal with the Baggies was ended by mutual consent.
Although he is an Australian native, Jason qualifies for an EU passport through his Greek mother.
On welcoming Jason as the Club’s second signing of the summer 2015 transfer window, Town Manager Chris Powell explained:
“A lot of hard work has gone into bringing Jason to the Club, so it’s fantastic that he’s joined us ahead of the start of pre-season training on 1 July.
“Recruiting a top quality left back was a key priority in this transfer window and we believe we have achieved this in signing Jason.
“The Club’s scouting process started tracking Jason a full 18 months ago during his time in the Eredivisie and our team has watched him regularly ever since for Heracles, Australia and West Brom’s sides. We tried to recruit him in March, but could not reach a deal.
“He possesses the attributes that we were looking for in a left back; he is an athletic player who has attacking ability, but most importantly he is a good defender. As a left back in my playing days, I believe the latter is the strongest quality required.”
On top of his Australian and Greek heritage, Jason also has Japanese ancestry through his Grandmother on his famous footballing father Alan’s side.
Jason started his footballing development in Japan at the age of 14, spending three years at the Seiritsu Gakuen School in Tokyo.
Upon turning 17, he returned to Australia and signed for Victorian Premier League club Hume City in his hometown of Melbourne, where he played part-time whilst attending college.
After just two months, his form for Hume earned him a call-up to Australia’s Under-20 national side in March 2009 and at the conclusion of the season he was named the Victorian Premier League’s U21 Player of the Year.
Jason is wearing the new 2015/16 training range - click HERE to browse the range and buy now!
Jason left Australia to play football in Europe in the summer of 2009, signing for Portuguese Primeira Liga side Pacos de Ferreira.
He subsequently played for the Pacos de Ferreira’s First Team – making his debut as a substitute vs FC Porto in January 2010 – as well as spending time on loan at Segunda Liga side SC Covilha in 2010/11 upon a return from injury.
Jason moved to Dutch Eredivisie side Heracles Almelo in January 2012 and established himself in the First Team, making over 50 appearances as a left back and infrequently at centre half.
Having already made his full international debut, he hit the headlines thanks to a series of impressive performances for Australia against Holland, Spain and Chile in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Once the World Cup ended, Jason moved to England in August 2014, signing for Premier League West Bromwich Albion for an undisclosed fee under Head Coach Alan Irvine.
Although appearances for the Baggies were limited upon Irvine’s departure, Davidson played as the first choice left back as Australia won the Asia Cup in January 2015; starting against Oman, China, the United Arab Emirates – when he scored in a 2-0 win – and in the 2-1 final win over South Korea.
He left West Brom in the summer in search of First Team football.
A first interview with Jason will appear on Town's official YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/officialhtafc, shortly!
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