Rachel Ann Daly (born 6 December 1991) is an English professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who plays for
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
in the
FA Women's Super League
The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...
and the
England national team. Since 2019 she has played in defence, midfield, and attack. Previously, she played for
Houston Dash
The Houston Dash is a professional women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas. It joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 season, and is affiliated with the MLS team Houston Dynamo FC.
History Establishment
On November ...
.
College career
Despite playing just three years for the
St. John's University Red Storm, Daly set the school's career records for both goals (50) and points (111). As a freshman, she did not see game action due to
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
compliance regulations. During her second year, she played and started in all 21 games and set St. John's single-season records in goals (23) and points (50), becoming the program's first-ever player to be named a
NSCAA
The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than 30 ...
All-American, after earning Second Team honours.
As a junior, she was the team's leading player in points with 18, including eight goals and two assists. As a senior, she appeared in 20 games, making 19 starts, and finished as the leading scorer on the team with 19 goals and five assists for a total of 18 points. She became the first player in program history to be selected to the
NSCAA
The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than 30 ...
All-America First Team and the first to be named a semifinalist for the
Hermann Trophy
The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players.
History
In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...
.
Club career
Houston Dash
Daly was selected by NWSL club
Houston Dash
The Houston Dash is a professional women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas. It joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 season, and is affiliated with the MLS team Houston Dynamo FC.
History Establishment
On November ...
as the sixth overall pick of the
2016 NWSL College Draft
Sixteen or 16 may refer to:
*16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17
*one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016
Films
* '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film
* ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film di ...
. The NWSL Media Association voted Daly Player of the Week for the first week of the season after she contributed a goal and an assist in the Dash's 3–1 win against the Chicago Red Stars. She appeared in 16 games in the 2016 season, tallying four goals and four assists.
Daly returned to the Dash for the 2017 season, appearing in 23 games and scoring five goals. On 20 November 2017, the Houston Dash announced that Daly had signed a new contract with the club.
In the 2018 season, Daly was named Player of the Week for week nine, as well as Player of the Month for the month of May. Daly started all 24 games for the Dash and scored a career high 10 goals. She was voted team MVP and named to the NWSL Second XI for the 2018 season.
Daly was named captain of the Dash ahead of the
2020 NWSL Challenge Cup
The 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup was a tournament during the 2020 National Women's Soccer League season to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first professional team sports event to return to play in United States. ...
. The Dash won the Cup, their first trophy, after a 2–0 win over the
Chicago Red Stars
The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) sin ...
in the final. Daly won the tournament Golden Boot and on 25 July 2020 was named tournament MVP.
Loan to West Ham United
On 3 September 2020, Daly joined
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
on a loan that expired 11 January 2021.
Aston Villa
On 9 August 2022, it was announced that Daly had signed a three-year deal with
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
. She made her competitive debut for the club on 18 September that year, scoring 2 goals in a 4–3 win over
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
.
International career
Daly has represented England at the U-15, U-17, U-19, and U-23 levels. She was a member of England's
U-17 FIFA Women's World Cup team that finished fourth in New Zealand in 2008.
When
Mark Sampson
Mark Geraint Sampson (born 18 October 1982) is a Welsh football coach who was most recently a first team coach at Stevenage. He has also been a manager of the England women's team.
Playing career
Born and raised in Creigiau, a suburb of Cardi ...
replaced
Hope Powell
Hope Patricia Powell, CBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English former international footballer and former women's first-team manager of Brighton & Hove Albion. She was the coach of the England women's national football team and the Great Britain ...
as England
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
, he named Daly in his first squad in December 2013. She won her first senior
cap
A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...
in June 2016, scoring in England's 7–0
UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying
The UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying competition was a women's football competition that determined the 15 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Netherlands in the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 final tournament.
A total of 46 UEFA member nati ...
win over
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
. Daly was left off Sampson's squad for
Euro 2017.
After not being called up for nearly a year, Daly was included in England's squad for the
2018 SheBelieves Cup by new head coach
Phil Neville
Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English football manager and former player, who is the head coach of MLS team Inter Miami CF. He is also the co-owner of Salford City, along with several of his former Manchester United teammate ...
. Daly featured in four of England's
World Cup qualifying games in 2018, as England won their group and qualified for the
2019 World Cup. She won the
2019 SheBelieves Cup
The 2019 SheBelieves Cup was the fourth edition of the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational women's soccer tournament held in the United States. Featuring national teams from Brazil, England, Japan, and hosts United States, it began on February 27 an ...
with England, where she appeared in two games and played all 90 minutes in a 2–2 draw against the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
In July 2022 Daly was included, and started every game at left back, with the England squad which won
UEFA Women's Euro 2022
The 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2022 or simply Euro 2022, was the 13th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEF ...
. In November 2022, she started her first international match as a forward during a series of friendlies in which manager
Sarina Wiegman
Sarina Petronella Wiegman (; born 26 October 1969), also known as Sarina Wiegman-Glotzbach, is a Dutch football manager and former player who has been the manager of the England women's national team since September 2021.
In her playing care ...
was trying out options to replace the perennial but recently-retired number 9
Ellen White, with Daly saying "she will play wherever Wiegman needs her".
Great Britain Olympic
In May 2021, Daly was named to the
Team GB
Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...
squad as one of six defenders in the squad. She appeared in all four games for Team GB, starting in three of the games.
Personal life
She previously dated Dash teammate
Kristie Mewis
Kristen Anne Mewis (born February 25, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team.
Early life
Mewis grew up in Hans ...
.
Career statistics
College
Club
International
:''Statistics accurate as of match played 11 November 2022.''
:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Daly goal.''
Honours
Leeds United
*
FA Women's Premier League Cup
The Women's National League Cup is an annual English football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association (WFA). It was renamed the FA Women's Premier League Cup from 1994 to 2018.
The first edition of the Cup includ ...
:
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
Houston Dash
*
NWSL Challenge Cup
The NWSL Challenge Cup, currently known as the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tournament organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-tier women's league in the United States soccer league system. Th ...
:
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
England
*
UEFA Women's Championship
The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalent ...
:
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
*
SheBelieves Cup
The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017 and 2018), it was contested by the same four teams: the United ...
:
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
*
Arnold Clark Cup
The Arnold Clark Cup is an invitational women's association football tournament hosted by The Football Association, starting in 2022. It is named after car retailer Arnold Clark, who signed a multi-year sponsorship deal. ITV acts as the competiti ...
:
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
Individual
*
NWSL Second XI:
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
,
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
*NWSL Challenge Cup Most Valuable Player:
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
*NWSL Challenge Cup Best XI:
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
*NWSL Challenge Cup Golden Boot:
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
*
FA Women's Super League
The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...
Player of the Month:
September 2022
*
Freedom of the City of London
The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...
(announced 1 August 2022)
References
Further reading
* Aluko, Eniola (2019), ''They Don't Teach This'', Random House,
* Caudwell, Jayne (2013), ''Women's Football in the UK: Continuing with Gender Analyses'', Taylor & Francis,
* Clarke, Gemma (2019), ''Soccerwomen: The Icons, Rebels, Stars, and Trailblazers Who Transformed the Beautiful Game'',
* Dunn, Carrie (2019), ''Pride of the Lionesses: The Changing Face of Women's Football in England'', Pitch Publishing (Brighton) Limited,
* Dunn, Carrie (2016), ''The Roar of the Lionesses: Women's Football in England'', Pitch Publishing Limited,
* Grainey, Timothy (2012), ''Beyond Bend It Like Beckham: The Global Phenomenon of Women's Soccer'', University of Nebraska Press,
* Smith, Kelly (2012), ''Footballer: My Story'', Transworld,
* Stay, Shane (2019), ''The Women's World Cup 2019 Book: Everything You Need to Know About the Soccer World Cup'', Books on Demand,
* Theivam, Keiran and Jeff Kassouf (2019), ''The Making of the Women's World Cup: Defining stories from a sport's coming of age'', Little,
External links
St. John's player profileHouston Dash player profileRachel Dalyat
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...
Profileat the Football Association website
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, Rachel
1991 births
Living people
English LGBT sportspeople
LGBT association football players
Lesbian sportswomen
English women's footballers
St. John's Red Storm women's soccer players
Houston Dash players
National Women's Soccer League players
Leeds United Women F.C. players
Notts County L.F.C. players
West Ham United F.C. Women players
FA Women's National League players
Women's Super League players
USL W-League (1995–2015) players
England women's under-23 international footballers
England women's international footballers
Olympic footballers of Great Britain
Houston Dash draft picks
Sportspeople from Harrogate
Women's association football forwards
Women's association football defenders
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players
Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
English expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates
English expatriate women's footballers
Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States
Pali Blues players
UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players
UEFA Women's Championship-winning players
Aston Villa W.F.C. players
Los Angeles Strikers players