Rachel Daly Women's World Cup 2023: Who is the former Leeds United footballer from Harrogate? Everything you need to know about Yorkshire footballer playing for England

The 31-year-old professional football player is from Harrogate and plays for Aston Villa in the FA Women’s Super League and the England national team.

Since 2019, she has played in defence, midfield, and attack; previously she played for the Houston Dash in the US and more locally, Leeds United.

The England team sailed through to the finals following their 3-1 win against Australia on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. England will play against Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday, August 20 at 11am. Here is everything you need to know about Rachel Daly.

Rachel Daly’s early college career

The beginning of her sporting career saw her set her school’s records for both goals (50 and points (111), despite playing for the St John’s University Red Storm for only three years.

During her first year of university she did not take part in any games due to NCAA compliance regulations. A year later, she played and started in all 21 games and set St John’s single-season records in goals (23) and points (50). She became the programme first player to be named a NSCAA All-American, after earning Second Team honours.

Rachel was chosen as the team’s leading player in her third year of university in points with 18, including eight goals and two assists. By her last year, she appeared in 20 games, making 19 starts, and finished as the leading scorer in the programme’s history to be selected to the NSCAA All-America First Team and the first to be named a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy.

Rachel Daly’s club career

Houston Dash

Rachel was cherry-picked by National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club Houston Dash as the sixth overall pick of the 2016 NWSL College Draft.

She was voted Player of the Week by the NSWL Media Association during the first week of the season following her contribution to a goal and an assist in the Dash’s 3-1 win against the Chicago Red Stars. She played in 16 games in 2016, tallying four goals and four assists.

Rachel returned to the Dash for the 2017 season and appeared in 23 games, scoring five goals. In November that year it was announced that she had signed a new contract with the club.

During the following two years with the club, she was named Player of the Week for week nine and Player of the Month for the month of May. She was voted team MVP and named captain of the Dash ahead of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup.

Houston Dash won the Cup, their first trophy, following a 2-0 win against the Chicago Red Stars in the final and she won the tournament Golden Boot.

Rachel joined West Ham United in September 2020 on a loan that expired in January 2021.

Aston Villa

It was announced in August 2022 that Rachel had signed a three-year contract with Aston Villa and made her competitive debut for the club on September 18 that year, scoring two goals in a 4-3 win over Manchester City.

She scored her first hat-trick for the club in a 3-1 win against Reading at Villa Park and again scored a hat-trick in the reverse fixture against Reading in a 5-0 win at the Madejski Stadium.

Rachel also scored 22 goals in the 2022-23 WSL season, winning the Golden Boot in the process, equalling Vivianne Miedema’s record for the most goals scored in a single season, and awarded Player of the Season.

In the FA Cup she scored six goals in four games, including four in a 11-0 win vs AFC Fylde, finishing as the joint second top scorer.

Rachel Daly’s international career

She has represented England at the U-15, U-17, U-19 and U-23 levels and was a member of England’s U-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup team that finished fourth in New Zealand in 2008.

Rachel was named in Mark Sampson’s first squad in December 2013 when he replaced Hope Powell as England coach and she won her first senior cap in June 2016, scoring in England’s 7-0 UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 qualifying win over Serbia.

After being left off Sampson’s squad for Euro 2017 and not being called up for almost a year, she was included in England’s squad for the 2018 SheBelieves Cup by the new head coach Phil Neville.

Since then, she has featured in four of England’s World Cup qualifying games in 2018, qualified for the 2019 World Cup and won the 2019 SheBelieves Cup with England, where she appeared in two games and played 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw against the US.

She was part of the England team that won UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, played as a centre-forward in an Arnold Clark Cup in February 2023 and in May this year she was named as part of the squad for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup which started in July and scored in the final goal in England’s 6-1 defeat of China.

As part of the ‘Where Greatness Is Made’ campaign, a plaque honouring Rachel was installed at the Killinghall Nomads ground in Killinghall, Harrogate.