Peter Aylmer Daniel (born 22 December 1946) is a former

professional footballer Association football is the world's most popular sport and is worth US$600 billion worldwide. By the end of the 20th century it was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries. Around the world, the sport is played at a professi ...

, most notable for his 14-year association with English football club Derby County. Although primarily utilised as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

throughout his career, Daniel could also fulfill the role of full-back when required.

Derby County

Daniel signed his first professional contract with Derby County in December 1964, having joined as an apprentice in August the previous year. He made his professional debut on 2 October 1965 in a 2–1 victory over

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

at the

Baseball Ground The Baseball Ground (sometimes referred to as the BBG) was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 19 ...

and impressed manager Tim Ward enough to retain his first team place for the remainder of Ward's reign. However, a disappointing 17th-place finish in the 1966-67 season cost Ward his job and he was replaced by

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

. Clough instantly purged the Derby squad to mould the team to his desire, with Daniel one of only five players who remained with the club. However, the signing of Tranmere Rovers defender Roy McFarland for £25,000 severely restricted Daniel's first team involvement over the following seven years. As Clough took Derby County from 17th in the 1967

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

to the 1973 European Cup Semi Finals Daniel was primarily employed as a reserve, making just 14 appearances between 1970 and 1973, and failing to register a single game in Derby's 1971-72 title winning campaign. Primarily used as a back-up for when Derby's established defensive stars were injured or away on national duty, Daniel was nevertheless a key figure in the victorious 1971-72

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

reserve side. Having made 101 appearances in his opening nine season with the club, the vast majority given in his opening 18 months with the club, Daniel was given his big chance when a severe injury to Roy McFarland, sustained whilst away on international duty with the England national side in May 1974, saw Daniel made first choice centre-back, alongside Colin Todd for Derby's 1974-75 campaign. Daniel had not played a single game when Derby first won the title in 1971–72, but stepped into the vacant number 5 shirt left by McFarland's injury, and played brilliantly as the Rams marched on to claim their second Championship in four seasons. Daniel netted four goals in all competition, included league strikes in victories over Chelsea (home) and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

(home and away) and an important goal in a 4-1

Uefa Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

victory over Servette. Whilst Todd eventually won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, the Derby County support showed their appreciation of his efforts by naming him their Player of the Year with the award of the Jack Stamps Trophy. Despite such outstanding achievements over the previous campaign, the return of McFarland to full fitness for the following season saw Daniel return to his status as back-up for his remaining four years at the club, as his made 49 appearances between 1975 and 1979, often filling in at fullback. Daniel's final first team appearance was on 16 December 1978 in a 2–0 defeat by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

at Highbury. In all competitions he made 246 appearances for Derby, including nine as a substitute, during his 15 years at the Baseball Ground. Whenever selected he demonstrated a rugged determined style of play which rarely let down any of the five County managers he worked under.

Late career

After leaving Derby, Daniel had a brief spell in America with NASL side the Vancouver Whitecaps, where he played alongside former Derby teammate

Kevin Hector Kevin James Hector (born 2 November 1944 in Leeds) is an English former footballer who scored 268 goals from 662 appearances in the Football League playing for Bradford Park Avenue and Derby County. His 486 League appearances for Derby County i ...

, making 27 appearances and scoring once, and was part of the side which won the 1979 Soccerbowl. After one season, he returned to England to wind-down his career with Staffordshire non-league side Burton Albion. He later ran a branch of the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

in Derbyshire and has remained a supporter of Derby County.

Honours

Club

* Derby County **

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 1974–75 **

: 1968–69 **

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

** Watney Cup:

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

Texaco Cup The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. It wa ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

** The Central League: 1971–72 * Vancouver Whitecaps ** NASL National Conference Western Division:

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding ...

Personal

* Jack Stamps Trophy (

Derby County F.C. Player of the Year Derby County's Player Of The Season award is voted for by the club's supporters and named in honour of Jackie Stamps (The Jack Stamps Trophy) – who scored two goals in Derby's sole FA Cup final victory in 1946. It was first introduced in the 196 ...

): 1974–75

References

External links

Derby County Memories Article, Mentioning Peter Daniel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel, Peter 1946 births Living people People from Ripley, Derbyshire Footballers from Derbyshire English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Derby County F.C. players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Burton Albion F.C. players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English expatriate men's footballers