Anthony Mark Daley (born 18 October 1967) 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 ...

, who made the vast majority of his appearances for Aston Villa, playing mainly as a winger, well known for his pace.

Playing career

Daley joined hometown club Aston Villa as an apprentice and made his senior debut, aged 17, on 20 April 1985 in a 2–0 defeat at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. He played for the Midlands club for ten seasons, nine at the highest level, and finished a runner-up in both the 1989–90 and

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

league championships. He also played in their 1994 League Cup final triumph where they defeated Manchester United at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

. During this period, Daley was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

seven times for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

between 1991 and 1992 under former club manager

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

. He made his full debut as a substitute in a vital 1–1 draw in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

on 13 November 1991 that saw England qualify for 1992 European Championships in Sweden. He was subsequently chosen for the squad at the tournament and played in two of England's three games there, but after the tournament he never played for England again. He nearly got onto the scoresheet in the 1994 Football League Cup Final against Manchester United, but his shot hit the post and was rebounded by

Dalian Atkinson Dalian Robert Atkinson (21 March 1968 – 15 August 2016) was an English professional footballer who played as a striker. During his club football career, he played in England for Ipswich Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa and Manchester Ci ...

, only for

Andrei Kanchelskis Andrei Antanasovich Kanchelskis ( uk, Андрій Антанасович Канчельскіс; russian: Андрей Антанасович Канчельскис; born 23 January 1969) is a professional football manager and former player. He ...

to block it with a handball for which he was sent off.

Dean Saunders Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a striker in a career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He played for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the 1990s, and s ...

converted the penalty and put Villa 3–1 ahead, a scoreline which formed the final result and gave Villa a record fifth League Cup win. Daley collected what would be the only major trophy of his caree

Daley linked up with Graham Taylor again as he finally left Aston Villa for Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., Wolverhampton Wanderers in July 1994 for £1.25 million, but he was plagued with injuries and was only able to manage 21 appearances for the club in four seasons. He was signed once more by Graham Taylor, now at

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, in July 1998, on a free transfer. His injury woes continued though and he struggled to get fit, missing the final months as the club won promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

, Daley scoring once in the process against Birmingham City. He was given a free transfer to newly promoted Division 1 side

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

in June 1999, and after a six-month spell there, he finished his playing career with Conference side

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

, hanging up his boots in July 2002. Daley's perhaps best known goal came in a First Division game against Everton at Villa Park on 22 October 1988. A spectacular flying volley in a 2–0 win for Villa, the goal quickly – thanks in no small part to the popular football video series 'Goals Galore' – became known as 'Daley's Dazzler' and is also remembered for full-back Chris Price (who supplied the cross) having a little celebration all of his own.

Fitness coaching

Upon finishing his career in professional football due to persistent injury, Daley completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports and Exercise Science at

Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , undergr ...

. During this time, he also remained at

as their fitness coach and worked with youth players at Aston Villa's academy. Following his studies, he joined

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 ...

as a fitness and conditioning coach in June 2003 but later quit his post following a row with new manager

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson OBE (born 11 January 1957) is an English football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club captain before moving to Manchester United in ...

on 30 August 2007. He was not out of work for long as he joined former club

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

in the same role the following month. He remained at Wolves in this role for almost ten years before leaving in May 2017. In 1995, Daley was the subject of a half-hour documentary. The series '' Respect'' was produced and directed by Pogus Caesar for

Carlton TV Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Tele ...

, and featured the likes of

Dwight Yorke Dwight Eversley Yorke CM (born 3 November 1971) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian former professional footballer and current manager of Australian A-League club Macarthur FC. Throughout his club career, he played for Aston Villa, Manchester Uni ...

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to ce ...

and

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits. Nic ...

all paying tribute to the winger. In March 2020, Daley joined the Lion's Den Gym, Bassett's Pole, as a personal trainer.

References

External links

*
Tony Daley Football Heroes.net

Sunday Times article 6 December, 2009

a
Aston Villa Players Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daley, Tony 1967 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English footballers England international footballers England B international footballers Association football wingers Aston Villa F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Watford F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players UEFA Euro 1992 players Premier League players Alumni of Coventry University Sheffield United F.C. non-playing staff Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff