Rachel Daly

Rachel Ann Daly (born 6 December 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays for Aston Villa in the FA Women's Super League and the England national team.

She was a member of England's U-17 World Cup team that finished fourth in New Zealand in 2008.

Daly started her senior career at Leeds United winning the Premier League Cup in 2010, later playing for Houston Dash and winning the NWSL Challenge Cup in 2020, as well as the Golden Boot and MVP awards for the competition.

In her first season with Aston Villa, Daly became the WSL Golden Boot winner, PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year, Player of the Season, was featured in the Team of the Year, and twice won the Player of the Month award for the 2022-2023 season.

She holds the joint record for most goals in a WSL season alongside Arsenal's Vivianne Miedema with 22 goals.

Despite playing just three years for the St. John's University Red Storm from 2012 to 2015, Daly set the school's career records for both goals (50) and points (111).

As a freshman, she did not see game action due to NCAA compliance regulations.

During her second year, she played and started in all 21 games and set St. John's single-season records in goals (23) and points (50), becoming the program's first-ever player to be named a NSCAA All-American, after earning Second Team honours.

As a junior, she was the team's leading player in points with 18, including eight goals and two assists.

As a senior, she appeared in 20 games, making 19 starts, and finished as the leading scorer on the team with 19 goals and five assists for a total of 18 points.

She became the first player in program history to be selected to the NSCAA All-America First Team and the first to be named a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy.

Coming from the youth department of Leeds United LFC, Daly initially played in the English League for Leeds United and Lincoln Ladies at a young age.

She played for the W-League franchises Los Angeles Strikers and Los Angeles Blues in 2013 and 2014.

With the latter she won the W-League championship with a clear 6-1 in the final over the Washington Spirit reserve team.

When Mark Sampson replaced Hope Powell as England coach, he named Daly in his first squad in December 2013.

Playing at all youth levels for England, Daly scored her first goal in her debut in 2016 against Serbia.

She is a twice Arnold Clark Cup winner, Euro 2022 winner and 2023 World Cup runner-up.

After another season with WPSL participant SoCal FC, Daly took part in the college draft for the 2016 season of the NWSL after graduating.

Daly was selected by NWSL club Houston Dash as the sixth overall pick of the 2016 NWSL College Draft.

The NWSL Media Association voted Daly Player of the Week for the first week of the season after she contributed a goal and an assist in the Dash's 3–1 win against the Chicago Red Stars.

She appeared in 16 games in the 2016 season, tallying four goals and four assists.

Daly returned to the Dash for the 2017 season, appearing in 23 games and scoring five goals.

On 20 November 2017, the Houston Dash announced that Daly had signed a new contract with the club.

In the 2018 season, Daly was named Player of the Week for week nine, as well as Player of the Month for the month of May.

Daly started all 24 games for the Dash and scored a career high 10 goals.

She was voted team MVP and named to the NWSL Second XI for the 2018 season.

Since 2019, she has played in defence, midfield, and attack.

Daly was named captain of the Dash ahead of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup.

The Dash won the Cup, their first trophy, after a 2–0 win over the Chicago Red Stars in the final.

Daly won the tournament Golden Boot and on 25 July 2020 was named tournament MVP.

On 3 September 2020, Daly joined West Ham United on a loan that expired 11 January 2021.

On 9 August 2022, it was announced that Daly had signed a three-year deal with Aston Villa.

She made her competitive debut for the club on 18 September that year, scoring 2 goals in a 4–3 win over Manchester City.

She scored her first hat-trick for the club in a 3–1 win over Reading at Villa Park two months later.

She again scored a hat-trick in the reverse fixture against Reading in a 5–0 win at the Madejski Stadium.

Daly scored 22 goals in the 2022–23 WSL season, winning the Golden Boot and equalling Vivianne Miedema's record for the most goals scored in a single season.

She was awarded Player of the Season.

In the FA Cup she scored 6 goals in 4 games, including 4 in an 11–0 win versus AFC Fylde, finishing as the joint second top scorer alongside Sam Kerr and one goal behind top scorer Bunny Shaw.

On 24 August 2023, it was announced that Daly would change shirt number from 8 to 9.

Daly has represented England at the U-15, U-17, U-19, and U-23 levels.