Anthony Daws (born 10 September 1966 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

) is an English football coach and 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 ...

, he is academy manager of

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

side

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

. As a player, he was a striker and played for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, Scunthorpe United,

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

, Lincoln City,

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

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and

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

. A recurring back injury that first occurred during his spell at Scunthorpe United forced him to retire from playing at a relatively early age. He then took up junior coaching positions at Sheffield United and

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

before becoming academy manager at Scunthorpe United - he was interim manager of the club from 1 September to 28 November 2022.

Early life

Daws attended Gleadless Junior and Ashleigh Comprehensive School in

. He represented his country at U15 and U18 level at football. His first appearance at Wembley was on 5 June 1982 in the Dentyne Trophy, which was contested against Scotland's U15s. Alongside him in that England U15 squad was his fellow Ashleigh school pupil John Beresford. A third pupil from Sheffield was also in that England squad:

Fraser Digby Fraser Charles Digby (born 23 January 1967) is an English football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He spent much of his career with Swindon Town, for whom he played in the Premier League. In 2008, he found new fame through r ...

of Jordanthorpe School. The trio were key members of the Sheffield Boys U15s team along with Scott Sellers of Hinde House School and Steven Harris of Abbeydale Grange School that won the ESFA Inter Association Trophy in that year, the boys also played for the Sheffield Sunday League team Throstles. The England starting line up that day was: 1. Darren Heyes; 2. Alan Spiers; 3.

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; 4.

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; 5. Simon Ratcliffe (captain); 6. Ian Sankey; 7.

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; 8. Ian Fairbrother; 9.

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; 10.

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; 11. Tony Daws. Daws also represented Yorkshire Boys in cricket, rugby and athletics and if he had not made it as a professional footballer he was tipped to have a promising future in athletics. In those days, a boy could not sign a contract with a club until his 14th birthday, and the big clubs would "court" the best boys in the country in the years leading up to this landmark age. Daws' pace, strength and predatory scoring had alerted the big clubs and there were a number eager to sign him.

Playing career

Schoolboy contracts

Daws was spotted by a Manchester United scout and subsequently signed for the club, with his registration filed on his 14th birthday. One year later it occurred to him and his father, James, that he would have to be a truly exceptional player to make the Manchester United first team. In front of him in the pecking order were established first-team players

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, Andy Ritchie, Mickey Thomas and

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. Then there were the Youth Team players

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and

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and the "unknowns" in the U16 and U15 age groups. Daws and his father decided to ask for his release from the club. In 1981 following persuasion from

Jimmy Sirrel James Sirrel (2 February 1922 – 25 September 2008) was a Scottish football player and manager; he gained his highest profile in the latter role. Born in Glasgow, Sirrel began his career with Celtic before moving to England, spending most of ...

(general manager) and

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(Head Coach) of

, Daws signed schoolboy forms for the Nottingham club. Sirrell had known of Daws from when he was the manager of Sheffield United in 1977, having watched him play for the Sheffield Boys team at United's training ground. Daws went on to play for Notts County's Youth (U18) team as a 15- and 16-year-old.

Notts County

Daws signed a two-year apprenticeship with Notts County upon leaving school in 1983. He made his reserve-team debut for County whilst still at school and went on to make his first-team debut whilst still an apprentice, aged 18. That first League appearance was on 9 March 1985 in a 1–2 loss at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in the old Second Division. The following week Daws opened his goalscoring account in the second minute of a 4–1 away success against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. He made seven appearances (6 + 1sub) that season, scoring one goal. The following season Daws made just the one substitute appearance. He was released at the end of the 1985–86 season following Notts County's relegation to the old Third Division.

Sheffield United

Daws moved to Second Division club

on a free transfer for the 1986–87 season. He made his debut for his hometown club on 8 November 1986, scoring both goals in a 2–0 win at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

for Billy McEwan's ''Blades'' team. Daws made eleven appearances for the club that season, scoring three goals. His contract was for only one year, and it was not renewed at the end of the season. Once again Daws was on the free-transfer list.

Scunthorpe United

The 1987–88 season saw Daws playing for Scunthorpe United in the Fourth Division. Daws made the short journey to North Lincolnshire to sign for new manager

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in the summer of 1987. He made his debut for ''The Iron'' in the opening game of the season, a 3–0 home league win over Tranmere Rovers on 15 August 1987. It was during his time at Scunthorpe that he incurred the back injury that was to bring his playing career to a relatively early end.

Later career

On leaving Scunthorpe Daws moved to

, then Lincoln City,

and

before his back problems forced him to retire from playing at a relatively early age.

Coaching career

After retiring he took up coaching positions at

as part-time youth development officer (1996–2000), then assistant academy and U19 coach (2001–2004) before becoming under-nine to under-18 youth development officer at

(2004–05). He has been the academy manager at

since 2005, and was appointed caretaker manager on 16 March 2011, following the sacking of manager

Ian Baraclough Ian Robert Baraclough (; born 4 December 1970) is an English football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of the Northern Ireland national team. He previously managed the Under-21 team. As a player, he was a defender fr ...

, managing one game, a defeat at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

on 19 March, before the appointment of

Alan Knill Alan Richard Knill (born 8 October 1964) is a professional football manager and former player, who is a coach for the Wales national team. He played as a centre-back for several clubs, spending the most time at Halifax Town, Bury and Scuntho ...

on 31 March 2011. Following the sacking of Keith Hill, Daws was appointed interim manager of the financially troubled club (which was now in the

) for a second time in September 2022, overseeing a six-game unbeaten run in the league at the start of his tenure, but by mid November, following a home defeat to fellow strugglers

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

, Scunthorpe were 22nd, third from bottom of the National League. On 28 November 2022, Daws stepped down to return to his role as academy manager; the first team had won just twice during his tenure and were in 23rd position, six points from safety, with only goal difference preventing them from being bottom of the league.

References

External links

*
Lincoln City F.C. Official Archive Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daws, Tony 1966 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English footballers Notts County F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players English Football League players Association football forwards Sheffield United F.C. non-playing staff Sheffield Wednesday F.C. non-playing staff Scunthorpe United F.C. non-playing staff Scunthorpe United F.C. managers English Football League managers National League (English football) managers