If you put all the speedier England players in history, at their peak, next to each other on a starting line and asked them to race over 100 metres, the winner would probably be Tony Daley. The Aston Villa wideman was phenomenally fast; the sort of pace he had was the sort which even the most casual observer could notice as soon as he became involved, on or off the ball. Daley had a deft touch and a decent crossing ability too, so an England call-up by his former club boss Graham Taylor was not surprising, with John Barnes injured and Chris Waddle prematurely ditched.
He debuted in pressurised circumstances; on as a sub for the equally green Andy Sinton in a massive deciding qualifier for the 1992 European Championships in Poznan, with Gary Lineker's goal earning England the 1-1 draw they needed for their tickets to Sweden. Daley won further caps in four of the half-dozen preparation games prior to the tournament (the photo above is during the game against the CIS in Moscow), and made the final squad after the protraction of Barnes' injury. Two goalless draws saw a re-think by Taylor for the final, winner-takes-all game against the hosts, and Tony earned his seventh and final cap with a full 90 minutes of largely ineffectual wingplay. England lost 2-1 and Daley was not recalled - injury troubles later curtailed his career after a move to Wolves and he quickly sank into the non-league game. Unfulfilled as a club talent, but it's debatable as to how many fewer caps he would have picked up had Barnes been fit. (Matthew Rudd) |