Jonathan Davite has gone a long way since getting his first taste of senior football. Davite, 28, stepped out for the first time for Inglewood United seven years ago and quickly established himself in the match day line-up courtesy of a strong work ethic and intelligent use of the ball.
The lure of a teaching opportunity in London took Davite to the English capital towards the end of 2012. Since then the talented left-back has been refining his game with London Tigers, a club based in the Borough of Ealing and which he now captains.
“Things have been going really well,” Davite said of his three seasons with the Tigers. “We had a great run in the FA Cup last season and this year I was given the’ captains armband for the Tigers, which was a great honour. Something else that’s been pretty special is playing football in the snow.”
Davite, who gained 40 outings across two spells with Inglewood, has fond memories of his time at the club. “Inglewood was amazing,” he said. “I moved to the club in 2008 – I had been at Floreat but wasn’t getting much playing time – and Lee Bamber gave me a really good introduction to regular first team football.”
After playing the next three winters at Cockburn Davite returned to Inglewood, who were now under the guidance of Graham Normanton. “He was probably one of the best coaches I’ve worked under,” commented Davite. “Normo played a big role in my development, he taught me a lot about positioning and overall team play.”
What Davite learnt on the football fields of Perth has been put into good practice in England. And while the standard of the South Midlands League Premier Division isn’t too far removed from the local version, there is one significant difference. “The league is very physical,” he said. “Every game is like going to war.”
Although he has played for the Tigers in excess of 50 times, Davite readily concedes there are some things he is still getting used to. “I’ve gone from playing in a 12-team league to playing 42 league games plus another 10 or so in Cups, so it’s quite common for me to get on the teams bus and ask ‘Who we playing today?’.”
