# Rachel Daly
**Rachel Daly** (born 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Aston Villa in the [Women's Super League](https://www.edgepedia.org/womens-super-league) and who, between 2016 and 2024, won 84 senior caps for England, scoring 16 goals, and started every game of England's UEFA Women's EURO 2022-winning campaign, unusually as a left-back.[1](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly) • [2](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2024/Apr/10/england-rachel-daly-announces-international-retirement-20241004)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1991, Harrogate, England; 5 ft 6 in (167 cm), right-footed[1](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly) |
| England record | Debut 4 June 2016 (a goal against Serbia); 84 senior caps, 16 goals; legacy number 195[1](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly) |
| Major tournaments | 2019 World Cup, EURO 2022 (winner, started all six games at left-back), 2023 World Cup (runner-up), Tokyo 2020 Olympics with Great Britain[1](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly) • [2](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2024/Apr/10/england-rachel-daly-announces-international-retirement-20241004) • [3](https://www.teamgb.com/athlete/rachel-daly/3ZDxgQYObeHJrDxYoBJFOR) |
| Club career | Leeds United youth, Lincoln Ladies (2010), St John's University in New York, Houston Dash (2016-2022), Aston Villa (2022-)[2](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2024/Apr/10/england-rachel-daly-announces-international-retirement-20241004) • [4](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know) |
| 2022/23 season | 22 goals in 22 WSL games, joint single-season record with Vivianne Miedema; WSL Golden Boot winner[4](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know) • [5](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-are-the-all-time-womens-super-league-top-scorers) |
| International retirement | Announced 10 April 2024, the day after a final cameo against the Republic of Ireland[2](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2024/Apr/10/england-rachel-daly-announces-international-retirement-20241004) |
| Current role | Aston Villa club captain for the 2025-26 season[6](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cp8j1e0n763o) |
## Early career in Yorkshire and the United States
Daly grew up in [Harrogate](https://www.edgepedia.org/harrogate), North Yorkshire, and began playing with Killinghall Nomads, her local grassroots club, where she was the only girl in the boys' team until about age 12.[1](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly) • [7](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2023/Jun/28/england-rachel-daly-grassroots-story-20232706) Her family were Leeds United supporters, and joining the club's girls' center of excellence was, in her own account, a formative step that brought proper coaching and three or four games a week.[7](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2023/Jun/28/england-rachel-daly-grassroots-story-20232706) Her first international experience came with England youth teams, including the FIFA WU17 World Cup in New Zealand in 2008.[2](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2024/Apr/10/england-rachel-daly-announces-international-retirement-20241004)
A move to Lincoln Ladies in 2010 took her onto the WSL scene as a teenager; she played in the competition's very first season in 2011.[2](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2024/Apr/10/england-rachel-daly-announces-international-retirement-20241004) • [8](https://womenscompetitions.thefa.com/-/media/thefacom-new/Files/Competitions/2022-23/wlc/wsl/barclays-wsl-season-guide-22-23-external-new.ashx?la=en) She then chose to combine education with football in the United States, attending St John's University in New York, and spent roughly nine years stateside in total.[7](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2023/Jun/28/england-rachel-daly-grassroots-story-20232706) • [9](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/rachel-daly-retirement-england-lionesses-euros-b2526522.html)
**Houston Dash.** After graduating in 2016, Daly was selected sixth overall by Houston Dash in the NWSL college draft.[4](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know) She became the Dash's record leading goalscorer and helped the club win the NWSL Challenge Cup in 2020.[4](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know) In 2018 she was voted the club's most valuable player after scoring a career-high ten goals and being named in the NWSL team of the month three times.[1](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly)
## England career
Daly made her senior England debut on 4 June 2016, scoring against Serbia, but she then had to fight for her place, missing the Euro 2017 squad entirely.[1](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly) • [4](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know) Her NWSL form brought her back in under [Phil Neville](https://www.edgepedia.org/phil-neville), who named her in his SheBelieves Cup squad in 2018 and later in the squad for the 2019 World Cup in France, her first senior tournament.[1](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly) • [2](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2024/Apr/10/england-rachel-daly-announces-international-retirement-20241004) She was also in Great Britain's squad for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, featuring in all of the matches as the team reached the quarter-finals.[1](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly) • [3](https://www.teamgb.com/athlete/rachel-daly/3ZDxgQYObeHJrDxYoBJFOR)
**EURO 2022.** Under Sarina Wiegman, Daly cemented herself as first-choice left-back, selected ahead of specialist defenders Demi Stokes and [Alex Greenwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-greenwood), and she started all six of England's games as the [Lionesses](https://www.edgepedia.org/england-womens-national-football-team) won the title at Wembley.[1](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly) • [4](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know) Wiegman later described her as the most versatile player she had ever worked with.[2](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2024/Apr/10/england-rachel-daly-announces-international-retirement-20241004)
**2023 World Cup and retirement.** After the Euros, with Ellen White retired and Daly back in English club football as a striker, Wiegman occasionally used her as a forward, most notably with two goals against Italy in the Arnold Clark Cup, but [Alessia Russo](https://www.edgepedia.org/alessia-russo) was preferred in attack at the 2023 World Cup.[4](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know) Daly featured predominantly as a left wing-back in England's run to the final in Sydney, where Spain won 1-0.[4](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know) In April 2024 she announced her retirement from international football, the day after a final four-minute appearance as a substitute in a win against the [Republic of Ireland](https://www.edgepedia.org/republic-of-ireland), saying she wanted more time with her family.[2](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2024/Apr/10/england-rachel-daly-announces-international-retirement-20241004) • [4](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know) • [10](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/england-euros-winners-where-are-they-now-lionesses) She received her England legacy cap, number 195, at Wembley in November 2024.[11](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2024/Nov/28/rachel-daly-feature-england-legacy-cap-USA-wembley-20242911)
## Aston Villa and the 2022/23 season
Her first Villa season produced 22 goals in 22 league games, a total only [Vivianne Miedema](https://www.edgepedia.org/vivianne-miedema) had previously achieved in a 22-game WSL season, and she won the WSL Golden Boot.[4](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know) • [5](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-are-the-all-time-womens-super-league-top-scorers) She became the first English player to score 20 goals in a WSL season, and her form earned a place on the six-player shortlist for the PFA women's Player of the Year award alongside [Sam Kerr](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-kerr), Frida Maanum, Guro Reiten, Khadija "Bunny" Shaw, and Ona Batlle.[12](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/rachel-daly-womens-super-league-sam-kerr-england-pfa-b2393834.html)
She has remained at Villa since, signing a two-year contract extension and, ahead of the 2025-26 season, being named club captain, taking over from the retired Rachel Corsie.[13](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c74nvv0r9vgo) • [6](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cp8j1e0n763o) Across her first seasons at the club she scored 55 goals in 70 appearances in all competitions.[4](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know)
## Playing style
Daly is a striker by trade who has also played effectively as a full-back, wing-back, or wide attacker, combining aerial strength and finishing with the defensive discipline of a defender.[1](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly) • [14](https://womenssoccercity.com/football-celebrity/rachel-daly-forward-full-back-and-englands-decisive-finisher/) She has said that her versatility worked against her at times internationally, where she was often fielded in defense while her club role was central striker.[1](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly) • [4](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know)
## References
1. [England Women's player profile: Rachel Daly, England Football](https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/squad/rachel-daly)
2. [England's Rachel Daly announces international retirement, England Football](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2024/Apr/10/england-rachel-daly-announces-international-retirement-20241004)
3. [Rachel Daly, Team GB Olympians](https://www.teamgb.com/athlete/rachel-daly/3ZDxgQYObeHJrDxYoBJFOR)
4. [Who is Rachel Daly? Everything you need to know, FourFourTwo](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-is-rachel-daly-everything-you-need-to-know)
5. [WSL all-time top scorers: Who makes the list?, FourFourTwo](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-are-the-all-time-womens-super-league-top-scorers)
6. [Daly named Aston Villa captain, BBC Sport](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cp8j1e0n763o)
7. [My grassroots football story: Rachel Daly, England Football](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2023/Jun/28/england-rachel-daly-grassroots-story-20232706)
8. [Barclays WSL Season Guide 2022-23, The FA](https://womenscompetitions.thefa.com/-/media/thefacom-new/Files/Competitions/2022-23/wlc/wsl/barclays-wsl-season-guide-22-23-external-new.ashx?la=en)
9. [Unique Rachel Daly will be impossible to replace after shock Lionesses retirement, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/rachel-daly-retirement-england-lionesses-euros-b2526522.html)
10. [England Euros winners: Where are they now?, FourFourTwo](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/england-euros-winners-where-are-they-now-lionesses)
11. [Lionesses legend Rachel Daly set for Wembley welcome, England Football](https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2024/Nov/28/rachel-daly-feature-england-legacy-cap-USA-wembley-20242911)
12. [England forward Rachel Daly among six World Cup stars shortlisted for PFA award, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/rachel-daly-womens-super-league-sam-kerr-england-pfa-b2393834.html)
13. [Aston Villa striker Rachel Daly signs two-year contract extension, BBC Sport](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c74nvv0r9vgo)
14. [Rachel Daly profile: England striker and versatile full-back, WomensSoccerCity](https://womenssoccercity.com/football-celebrity/rachel-daly-forward-full-back-and-englands-decisive-finisher/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football people and teams › People › Women's footballers › Surnames A to L › Surnames A to Ga*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license