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Derby County signed Gerry Daly in March 1977, paying Manchester United
£175000 for the twenty-two year old Republic of Ireland midfield player.
Daly's arrival at the Baseball Ground triggered an immediate upturn in
County's fortunes; his debut in a 1-1 draw with Coventry marking the
start of an eight game unbeaten run which eventually saw County finish
their 1976/77 First Division campaign in fifteenth place. Gerry's
seventeen appearances over the closing months of the season produced the
fine return of seven goals, including a double strike in a 3-2 defeat
by Everton. When Derby accumulated just two points from the first five
fixtures of the following season manager Colin Murphy was sacked. He was
replaced by Tommy Docherty with whom Daly had fallen out whilst at Old
Trafford. A tentative truce existed after Docherty's arrival, Gerry
going on to tally twenty-three goals in seventy-four games over the
remainder of the 1977/78 and 1978/79 seasons. In that second campaign
Daly scored in consecutive matches against Wolverhampton and the city
sides from Manchester, Birmingham and Coventry. His league total of
thirteen goals made him the "Rams" top scorer, although with a team
total of just forty-four they only avoided relegation to the Second
Division by one place. That lowly finishing position produced Docherty's
resignation.
In reality his spell as manager was defined by a series of
poor transfer decisions; the problem of inadequate arrivals often being
compounded by the untimely departure of the better players he had
inherited. With Colin Addison installed as manager, Derby fared even
worse in 1979/80. They won a mere eleven of their forty-two league
matches, being eventually relegated five points below the safety zone.
Gerry made twenty-one appearances and scored his only goal of the
campaign in a 4-1 defeat of local rivals Nottingham Forest. His final
game for the club was in the last game of the season; a 4-2 reverse at
Norwich City on May 3rd 1980. In all competitions Gerry played 122 games
for County, including one as a substitute. His tally of thirty-four
goals was impressive for a midfield player in a struggling side,
reflecting his ability to read the game particuarly well going forward.
Gerry also earned fourteen of his career total of forty-four
international caps whilst at the Baseball Ground. After a brief summer
sojourn in the North American Soccer League he joined Coventry City in
August 1980 for a £300,000 fee. (Mike Cockayne)
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