Steve Daley (born 15 April 1953) is an English former

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 played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. His English record transfer to

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 ...

in 1979 was later described as "the biggest waste of money in football history".Irish, Oliver
"The 10 biggest wastes of money in football history"
'' Observer.Guardian.co.uk'', 2 September 2001 (Retrieved: 25 July 2009) The Manchester City manager

Malcolm Allison Malcolm Alexander Allison (5 September 1927 – 14 October 2010) was an English football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Mal", he was one of English football's most flamboyant and intriguing characters because of his panache, fedora and ...

and chairman

Peter Swales Peter Swales (25 December 1932 – 2 May 1996) was a businessman who served as the chairman of Manchester City F.C. from 1973 until 1993. He held a variety of prominent positions within the game of football, including Chairman of The Football ...

subsequently accused each other of inflating the fee.

Career

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Daley began his football career as an apprentice at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

, after arriving at the club via their feeder team Wath Wanderers based in Yorkshire.Corbett, James
"Steve Daley"
''

Guardian.co.uk TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...

'', 5 March 2006 (Retrieved: 25 July 2009) He signed professionally in 1971, and made his first-team debut later that year on 18 September, coming on as substitute in a 2–0 defeat at

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. He won a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

winners medal with the club in 1974 and played in their run through to the

1972 UEFA Cup Final The 1972 UEFA Cup Final was the final of the first UEFA Cup football tournament. It was a two-legged contest played on 3 May and 17 May 1972 between two English clubs, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur. This was the first UEFA club com ...

, scoring a vital goal in the semi final against

Ferencváros Ferencváros () is the 9th district of Budapest ( hu, Budapest IX. kerülete), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The development of Fe ...

inside the first minute. That goal still holds the record for being the fastest goal ever scored in European football cup competitions. He was an ever-present in the 1976–77 season, scoring 13 goals, and a further eight the following season saw him receive an England 'B' call up. He played six times for the 'B' side during 1978, scoring twice (against Singapore and Czechoslovakia 'B').

Manchester City

In September 1979, he was transferred to

for a fee of £1,437,500 – an English record, and equivalent to £7,328,000 in 2019. Daley struggled at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...

, and gained a reputation as a big-money misfit.Lewis, Paul
"'I wish I could have that time at Manchester City again'"
''

'', 20 January 2009 (Retrieved: 25 July 2009)

After Manchester City

Twenty months later he was transferred to the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club w ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

for £300,000 – little more than a fifth of his original transfer cost. He made the NASL All-Star second team in 1982 and 1983 before moving back to Britain. Daley joined

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, but soon returned to North America to play for the

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996), a soccer team in the North American Soccer League *San Diego Sockers (2001–2004), a soccer team in the World Indoor Soccer League and second Major Indoor Soccer League *San Diego S ...

. His professional playing career ended at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

in 1986, although he continued to turn out for non-league sides such as Lye Town and

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

. After hanging up his boots, Daley briefly managed non-league Telford United, Bromsgrove Rovers and Bilston Town, before quitting football to join the pub trade. He has since been working as a brewery sales manager, supplying catering equipment to the industry. Also an established

after-dinner speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech delive ...

, Daley recalls his career in football with honesty and humour.

References

External links

Steve Daley's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daley, Steve 1953 births Living people Burnley F.C. players English footballers English expatriate footballers England B international footballers Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Manchester City F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players San Diego Sockers (NASL) players San Diego Sockers (original MISL) players Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players Walsall F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Association football midfielders Bilston Town F.C. managers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States English football managers