Rhys Day (born 31 August 1982) is a Welsh former 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 last played as a

central defender 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 ...

for

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side Hyde. He was capped several times for the Wales under-21 team and played for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

and

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

Club career

Born in

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

Mid Glamorgan , Government= Mid Glamorgan County Council , Status= Non-metropolitan county (1974–1996) Preserved county (1996–) , Start= 1974 , End= 1996 , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Mid ...

, Day began his career at

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 ...

, but never broke through to City's first team. He joined

in November 2002, initially on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

, and the move was made permanent in January 2003. A knee injury kept Day out of action for more than four months in the 2004–05 season, and he also missed large portions of the 2005–06 season with various injuries. Mansfield did not offer Day a new contract at the end of the season, making him a free agent. He signed for

on a two-year contract in July 2006 and was named as captain by new manager Gary Waddock for the 2007–08 campaign. Day signed a new one-year contract following Aldershot's promotion to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, but in April 2009 it was announced that he would be released at the end of the season. He signed a two-year contract with

on 23 July. He was transferred to

from

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in January 2011 after gaining promotion to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

with them. Rhys Day retired from the game at the end of the 2011–12 season at the age of 29 because of series of knee injuries that kept him out of the team for a 16-month period. At the time of his retirement he expressed his intention to stay in the game in a coaching capacity. On 10 September 2013 Day came out of retirement to sign for Hyde after coming through a special training regime with the club. He made his league debut on 28 December when he started against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

International career

Day was called up to the senior Wales squad in May 2003 to play

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 ...

but was unused and ultimately never capped at that level.

Personal life

Day is the younger brother of professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

player Ryan Day.

Honours

Club

Aldershot *

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

(V): 2008 Oxford United *

(promoted): 2010

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Rhys 1982 births Living people Footballers from Bridgend People from Pontycymer Sportspeople from Bridgend County Borough Welsh footballers Wales youth international footballers Wales under-21 international footballers Association football defenders Manchester City F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players