After 35 years of working with "Match of the Day", Davies' final appearance on the programme came on 25 September 2004, commentating on a match between Manchester City and Arsenal. After the match, Arsène Wenger paid tribute to Davies and Kevin Keegan presented Davies with a signed Manchester City shirt. Davies' reason for retiring from football commentary was that he felt he was not getting enough "big" matches, and was being "downgraded", noting in his autobiography that he had not been invited to cover any of England's games at the 2004 European Championship. Indeed, the two-year extension he was being offered on his contract made clear that he would not be covering any "live" football, and there was no guarantee that he would have any involvement at all with the 2006 World Cup. He felt this unacceptable and declined the offer.