Edgar Steven Davids is a Dutch former professional footballer. After beginning his career with Ajax, winning several domestic and international titles, he subsequently played in Italy for Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Tottenham Hotspur before returning to Ajax.
Having struggled with injuries for two years, Davids returned to competitive football during a brief spell with Crystal Palace before retiring at the age of 37.
In October 2012, legendary Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids came out of retirement to become player-manager of Barnet F.C., His challenge was to guide the club to safety, in both a playing and managing capacity. Davids was 39 years old and hadn’t played since his unsuccessful six-game stint at Palace two years prior. And that spell had itself followed two years out of the game, making it four since he had played with any kind of regularity.
Although Davids had no prior managerial experience, the team’s fortunes improved, a 2-0 defeat on the final day of the season meant Barnet went down in heartbreaking circumstances. He left Barnet by mutual consent in January 2014, leaving them in 10th place in his second season with Barnet.
Davids often regarded as one of the greatest defensive midfielders of his era. A noticeable factor is that the former Juventus legend was seen wearing glasses almost all the time while he was playing, After an eye injury sustained to his optic nerve developed into chronic open-angle glaucoma, Davids underwent career-threatening surgery to prevent sight loss.
Davids could not have continued playing unless he came up with a way to shield his eyes from both physical contact and the powerful glare of stadium floodlights, hence his choice of wraparound protective goggles in 1999.
Davids played most of his career without letting his performance falter due to the Glaucoma.
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