Ipswich Town: Leif Davis on pilot plan and Premier League assists

The Ipswich Town players’ WhatsApp group went into overdrive twice this summer. 

First, on May 30, when the news came through that manager Kieran McKenna had signed a new four-year deal at Portman Road. That ended an intense fortnight of speculation in which the mastermind behind back-to-back promotions was strongly linked with Manchester United, Chelsea and Brighton. 

“There was always going to be interest in him when you look at how far he’s brought us all on as players and people,” says Davis, speaking at the club’s Playford Road training base. “All the lads were buzzing when it got announced he was staying because he’s changed all our lives massively. He’s certainly brought my game on from bottom to top and I’ve still got a lot more learning to go under him.” 

Phones were pinging again on June 18 when the Premier League fixtures were announced. Ipswich, it was revealed, would start with games against Liverpool (h) and Man City (a). 

Kieran McKenna signed a new four-year deal as Ipswich Town manager this summer. (Image: Steve Waller)

“I was away on holiday at that point,” says Davis. “There were a few ‘welcome to the Premier League!’ messages flying around between us. 

“It hadn’t sunk in for me until that point. To be honest, I don’t think it will fully sink in until we walk out on Saturday.” 

From Morecambe to Man U, Cheltenham to Chelsea and Accrington to Arsenal – it undoubtedly all still feels a bit surreal. So many of this Blues squad have been part of the whole journey from League One to the top table. Not that they’re overawed by the challenge ahead. 

Davis sums up the positive outlook when discussing his Fantasy Premier League price. 

“£4.5m is a bargain to be fair!” laughs the former Newcastle season ticket holder. “You need to get me in your team because I’m going for it again.

"I’m going to try and work as hard as I can to break records again with assists. I’m going to try and get more assists this year. Even though it was quite a lot last year (18 - the most ever from a defender in a single Championship season), there’s no reason why I can’t do it. You’ve got to set goals and targets for yourself. 

Left-back Leif Davis has produced 32 assists for Ipswich Town during back-to-back promotions. (Image: PA)

“There are going to be moments where I’m going to have to sit in and do the dirty work, but you’ll definitely still see me bombing up and down the left hand side! I’ve been working with the boss a lot on coming inside the pitch off my weak when we’re attacking as well.” 

For the record, Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool, 19/20) and Antonio Valencia (Man United, 11/12) share the current record for most assists by a defender in a single Premier League campaign with 13.

This is Davis' second shot at the big time. The 24-year-old made two Premier League appearances for Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds back in 2020, featuring off the bench against Man City and Man United. A Championship loan spell with Bournemouth followed, with Jesse Marsch then letting him drop down a division to join Ipswich for £1.2m. 

“We’ve always respected everyone we’re playing, whoever we’re playing,” says Davis. “In League One we went into real depth on every player we came up against and that has continued all the way through. 

“Obviously there has to be that little bit more respect this year with the quality of players we’re coming up against. This is the best league in the world. 

“But we’re still going to go out there and try to deliver what we’ve done over the past two years. We’re not going to shy away. We’re going to go front foot, give everything we’ve got, fight for everything for every minute of the game and just embrace it and enjoy it.” 

Leif Davis, pictured in pre-season action against Nice. (Image: Steve Waller)

Last summer, McKenna challenged his players to match the running stats of freshly-crowned Championship winners Burnley. An intense pre-season enabled them to do just that and upset the odds in securing a successive promotion. 

“We’re trying to up that again because we know for a fact how high the numbers are in the Premier League,” reveals Davis, a player who appears to have three lungs at times, such is his ability to continually get up and down the flank all game. 

“We looked at our pre-season running stats in a meeting the other day and have topped last summer’s output by quite a bit. We outran nearly every team in the Championship last year and we’re going to try and do the same again this year in the Premier League.” 

He adds: “We didn’t set massive team goals last year, it was more about how we were going to be successful in certain games and as a team. A lot of the chat was about togetherness, hard work, all that kind of stuff. We took it game-by-game and that will be the case again. 

“I know the fans are excited because Ipswich being in the Premier League hasn’t happened for a long time. I’m excited too! This is something you dream of when you’re young, so I want to go out and enjoy every second of it.  

“There are not many people who get this opportunity that us boys have got, so we’ve got to take it with both hands. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime. 

“On Saturday, the adrenaline is going to be high. The atmosphere is going to be incredible. We’ve just got to go out there and do what we do and hopefully we can have a good game and get the three points. I can’t wait. It’s go time!” 

********** 

There's no danger of Leif Davis overthinking his opening day performance when Sunday comes around. Instead of watching Match of the Day re-runs, he has something else planned.  

“For years and years I've played Flight Simulator - it’s a big switch off from football ,” he explains, eyes lit up, when asked about his unusual hobby. 

“I’ve got my PC with dual screens, I’ve got my yoke, I’ve got my throttle, I’ve got the peddles. When I get a house for life I’d love to get a full cockpit set-up. 

“You can fly anywhere in the world. It’s real life time, real weather. Everything’s self-taught from watching YouTube videos. The furthest I’ve flown is from Newcastle to Melbourne Airport in Orlando. That took eight hours, 20 minutes. 

“You sit there for the whole time because you’ve got to communicate with the air traffic control. You do that via a piece of software called VatSim, which you have to do a little exam to get on because you need to know how to speak to the ATC. 

“I love it. You don’t want your brain to be thinking about football too much. I know a few players who don’t watch a lot of football. I remember Ben White, when I was at Leeds, he never watched football. Marcus Harness has got other hobbies, like his jiu-jitsu. Everyone has their little switch off thing and Flight Sim is mine.” 

Asked where the passion had started, he explained: “My granddad used to work in aviation and he always used to take me to Newcastle airport after school. Every day we’d watch the planes land and take off for hours. At weekends I’d go for the full day. 

“He sadly passed, but I kept up the interest. Eventually, after football, I want to get my private pilot’s licence. I know he would be proud if I did that.” 

He excitedly adds: “Actually, I did get the opportunity to sit in the cockpit when we went to Austria for pre-season recently. That was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had! 

“James, our player liaison, knew I liked flying and he quietly went and had a word. When he said, ‘Do you want to go up there?’ I was like, ‘Nah, you’re kidding!’ 

“I went in. The pilots were shocked at how much I knew. He turned around and said, ‘You could probably fly this!’ The very next day I recreated that flight at home.” 

It’s certainly been take off for Town over the last 18 months. Let’s hope Davis and co keep enjoying the ride.