Gerry Daly
Personal information
Full name Gerard Anthony Daly[1]
Date of birth (1954-04-30) 30 April 1954 (age 69)[1]
Place of birth Cabra, Dublin, Republic of Ireland[1]
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1972–1973 Bohemians ? (5)
1973–1977 Manchester United 111 (23)
1977–1980 Derby County 112 (31)
1978 → New England Tea Men (loan) 18 (7)
1979 → New England Tea Men (loan) 23 (9)
1980–1984 Coventry City 84 (19)
1983 → Leicester City (loan) 17 (1)
1984–1985 Birmingham City 32 (1)
1985–1987 Shrewsbury Town 55 (8)
1987–1988 Stoke City 22 (1)
1988–1989 Doncaster Rovers 39 (4)
1989–1991 Telford United 31 (4)
Total 544 (113)
International career
1973–1986 Republic of Ireland 48 (13)
Managerial career
1989–1990 Telford United (player-assistant manager)
1990–1993 Telford United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gerard Anthony Daly (born 30 April 1954) is an Irish former footballer who played in the Football League for Manchester United, Derby County, Coventry City, Leicester City, Birmingham City, Shrewsbury Town, Stoke City, Doncaster Rovers as well as the Republic of Ireland national team.[1]

Domestic career

Daly was born in Cabra, Dublin, and started his football career in Drumcondra with Stella Maris. His first senior club was Bohemians, for whom he scored in the UEFA Cup away to Köln in September 1972.[3] In 1973, Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty paid Bohemians £20,000 for Daly's services.[3] In Daly's first season at Old Trafford, the team was relegated to the Second Division after finishing 21st out of 22 teams.[3] Despite this setback, Manchester United gained an instant return to the top flight with Daly being a key player.[3] He continued his good form into the 1975–76 season, playing in 51 matches, including the 1976 FA Cup final.[3] Midway through the 1976–77 season, Daly was sold to Derby County for a fee of £175,000.[3]

Daly was soon reunited his old manager Docherty, who was appointed manager of the Rams in September 1977. Although they did not get on, Daly remained with Derby until 1980.[1] Daly scored a famous penalty for Derby in 1977 against Manchester City where the penalty spot had to be re-painted during the game, due to the poor condition of the Baseball Ground pitch.[4] During his time with Derby, Daly spent time on loan with the New England Tea Men of the North American Soccer League in 1978 and 1979.[5] Following Derby's relegation in 1980, Daly signed for Coventry City, with whom he spent four seasons, including a spell on loan to Leicester City in 1982.[1]

He then spent a season at Birmingham City before signing for Shrewsbury Town in October 1985. His experience helped them remain in the second tier finishing in 17th position in 1985–86 and 18th in 1986–87.[1] This prompted Stoke City manager Mick Mills to sign Daly in March 1987. In 1987–88 Daly played 30 times for Stoke scoring three goals but fell out of favour in March 1988 and was released at the end of the season.[1] He then moved on to Fourth Division Doncaster Rovers where he spent the 1988–89 season playing in 44 matches.[1] He joined non-league Telford United in 1989 and later managed the club between 1990 and 1993.

International career

Daly represented Ireland from 1973 to 1986, earning 48 caps. He won his first cap in a friendly against Poland. He scored 13 international goals, making him one of the top-scoring Irish midfielders. His first goal in 1976 was a penalty in a 1–1 draw against England at Wembley. He scored another goal against England in the Euro qualifiers in 1978. He also scored against Denmark in the Euro qualifiers of 1980. Another goal came in a 2–1 victory over the Netherlands in a World Cup qualifier in 1980.

Daly's last goal for Ireland was in 1986 in a match against Iceland in the Iceland Triangular Tournament to earn Ireland a 2–1 win, and his last match for Ireland was against Scotland in 1986 at Lansdowne Road in a Euro 1988 qualifying match.

Career statistics

Club

Source:[6]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Manchester United 1972–73 First Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0
1973–74 First Division 16 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 17 1
1974–75 Second Division 37 11 2 1 7 1 0 0 0 0 46 13
1975–76 First Division 41 7 7 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 51 11
1976–77 First Division 17 4 1 0 6 3 4 0 0 0 28 7
Total 111 23 10 5 17 4 4 0 2 0 144 32
Derby County 1976–77 First Division 17 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 7
1977–78 First Division 37 10 3 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 42 12
1978–79 First Division 37 13 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 40 13
1979–80 First Division 21 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 23 2
Total 112 31 5 2 5 1 0 0 0 0 122 34
New England Tea Men (loan) 1978 NASL 18 7 – – – – 18 7
1979 NASL 23 9 – – – – 23 9
Total 41 16 – – – – 41 16
Coventry City 1980–81 First Division 35 8 4 2 7 1 0 0 0 0 46 11
1981–82 First Division 19 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 4
1982–83 First Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
1983–84 First Division 28 7 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 32 7
Total 84 19 10 2 7 1 0 0 0 0 101 22
Leicester City (loan) 1982–83 Second Division 17 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 1
Birmingham City 1984–85 Second Division 30 1 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 36 1
1985–86 First Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 32 1 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 38 1
Shrewsbury Town 1985–86 Second Division 27 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 30 4
1986–87 Second Division 28 4 1 0 6 0 0 0 1 0 36 4
Total 55 4 2 0 7 0 0 0 2 0 66 8
Stoke City 1986–87 Second Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1987–88 Second Division 21 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 4 1 29 3
Total 22 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 4 1 30 3
Doncaster Rovers 1988–89 Fourth Division 39 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 44 5
Telford United 1989–90 Football Conference 20 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 2
1990–91 Football Conference 11 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 2
Total 31 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 4
Career total 544 108 32 10 43 7 4 0 10 1 634 124
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup, Full Members Cup and Football League Trophy.

International

Source:[2]

National team Year Apps Goals
Republic of Ireland 1973 2 0
1974 2 0
1975 2 0
1976 3 2
1977 3 0
1978 4 2
1979 3 1
1980 7 4
1981 5 0
1982 5 1
1983 2 1
1984 2 0
1985 4 0
1986 4 2
Total 48 13

Honours

Manchester United

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0952415100.
  2. ^ a b "Daly, Gerry". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Gerry Daly". Soccer-Ireland. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  4. ^ "PITCHES, and what they have had to put up with". footballsite.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  5. ^ "NASL-Gerry Daly". www.nasljerseys.com. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  6. ^ Gerry Daly at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

External links

1978 NASL All-Stars
1979 NASL All-Stars
Categories