HE spent the 1970s saving shots for Everton, but nowadays his passion is saving the Welsh language.

Not many footballers can claim to have become a druid after leaving Goodison Park, but that was the honour bestowed on patriotic Welshman Dai Davies – the colourful keeper who will be a conflicted spectator when Everton take on Swansea at the Liberty Stadium tomorrow.

Davies joined the Blues from Swansea in December 1970, and by his own admission initially struggled to find his feet in England, at a club in transition.

A year after being crowned first division champions, Everton were entering a decade which saw them lose out in the trophy stakes to their rivals across the park.

And Davies, who had only played a handful of professional games for the Swans before being scouted and signed by Everton, faced an uphill task to establish himself.

“I was joining the School of Science, the club that had Harvey, Kendall and Ball and that was a massive thing,” says the 63-year-old, who now teaches Pilates and runs a runs a natural healing centre in Llangollen.

“Billy Bingham was the manager, bringing new people in and he’d signed Martin Dobson, Jim Pearson and other new faces. It was all change. I was inexperienced when I left Swansea for Merseyside. I didn’t join Swans until I was 22 because I’d gone to college and I hadn’t played a lot of professional games.

“I didn’t play particularly well at first, and began to lose my way.”

Davies eventually went on to feature for seven seasons for the Toffees, making 82 appearances, but it took a return to his first club to get him going.

“I had to go backwards to go forwards,” he says. “Harry Gregg was the Swansea manager and he probably saved my career.

“He was a goalkeeper and he worked with me and restored my confidence.

“I’d been used to playing for Everton’s reserves and trying to get a game ahead of Gordon West which wasn’t easy.

“But even though Harry didn’t get me playing lots of games for Swansea, he just worked with me on the training ground and helped me make the most of the ability I had.

“I went back to Everton, got in the team, played a lot of games and eventually was called up for Wales.”

Davies kept goal for most of the season in the 1974/75 Everton side which finished fourth, after seeming like they would win the title until Easter.

“We probably should have won the title,” he says.

“Derby County were tremendous that season and won it instead, and it was a really tough, blood and thunder division.

“Whatever you think about the rivalry across Stanley Park both clubs help each other too.

“That level of competition and trying to match your neighbours brings the best out of you, and Liverpool were certainly going strong in that decade.”

It would be another 10 years until Everton regularly outstripped their rivals, and those heydays were short-lived, but Davies has plenty of respect for how current boss David Moyes has progressed Everton during his own 10 years at the Goodison helm.

“He’s been remarkable really,” he says.

“You keep hearing it and it’s true – he has got the best out of his players. He hasn’t had the financial calibre of many but he has made very efficient teams which have done well for the football club.”

Moyes’ wider admiration in the game could still lead other clubs to come calling for his services in the summer, and if he were to depart, Davies believes Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers could be a good candidate to replace him.

Rodgers’ side are presently a place above Everton, sitting ninth in the Premier League, and have won fans for their style of football in England’s top flight.

“I suppose he might move on, and he will be courted by some clubs,” says Davies.

“But the Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins has been quite astute with how he’s handled things.

“He brought Brendan to the club and let him build on the good work of Roberto Martinez and Paulo Sousa, and always backed him.

“He made a point of saying he never agreed with the critics who said Swans would go straight back down.

“He’s a down to earth guy and he suits the club he’s at now.”

Davies warns that Everton will have to be at their best to win at the Liberty stadium, against a side brimming with confidence and belief in their style of football.

“Obviously Joe Allen in midfield gets a lot of the plaudits and deservedly so,” he says. “He never wants to pass sideways or backwards – always forward. He’s not just a lovely passer though, he’s a dog and likes a tackle too.

“It’ll be a challenge for them holding onto him and the likes of Everton and many other clubs have no doubt followed his progress with interest.

“If he stays injury free he can develop even further.

“They’ve got a cracking winger in Ashley Williams too, so Everton will have to be fully focused.”

With that Davies, who was made a druid in the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards for services to the Welsh language, must go. TV commitments with S4C, with whom he works as a pundit alongside John Hartson, are calling. But not before some final praise for Joe Allen.

“He’s a Welsh speaker which is important for our country and keeping the mother tongue alive,” he says.

“I’ll always have special feelings for Swansea, but Everton too played a big part in my career.

“I look out for them both, and Tranmere and Wrexham (teams he also played for).”