Jonathan Marvin Daly (born 8 January 1983) is an Irish football coach and former player who played as a forward. Daly began his senior playing career in England, where he played for Stockport County and Hartlepool United; he also had loan spells with Bury and Grimsby Town. Daly moved to Scottish football in 2007, when he signed for Dundee United. Daly spent over six years at the club, eventually becoming club captain, and won the Scottish Cup in 2010. He signed for Rangers in 2013, winning the League One title in his first season. Daly was described as the first Irish Catholic to join Rangers, a team with a Protestant identity.
Released by Rangers in 2015, Daly ended his playing career with Raith Rovers and retired in January 2016. He became a coach at Heart of Midlothian, where he was interim manager twice. He was twice included in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year awards, for the Scottish Premier League in 2012 and for League One in 2014. In international football, Daly represented the Republic of Ireland at all youth levels up to the under-21 team.
Club career Stockport County Born in Dublin, Ireland, Daly started his football career at Irish amateur side Cherry Orchard, before signing for Stockport County when he was fifteen years old in May 1998. When Daly first started at the club, he made an immediate impact scoring regularly for the youth and reserve team. On 2 October 1999, Daly then made his professional football debut against Walsall and become Stockport County's second youngest player when he came off the bench, in a 2–1 win. He went on to make three appearances for the club, all coming on as a substitute in the 1999–00 season.
Daly began to make an impression on manager Andy Kilner during Stockport City's pre-season tour of Scandinavia. After coming on a substitute against Landskrona BoIS, he impressed Kilner and the youngster was awarded with a start against Kristianstads, in which he scored his first senior goal after "lobbing" the Kristianstad keeper. Over the next two seasons, Daly appeared five times in the first team. On 30 October 2001, he made his first team return in over a year, coming on as a 78th-minute substitute, in a 2–0 loss against Walsall. On 16 January 2002, Daly scored his first senior goal in his professional career against Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup, as the club loss 4–1. Shortly after, he received a four match suspension for an "unprofessional conduct" during the match for Stockport City's reserve team. On 26 February 2002, Daly made his return to the first team from suspension, starting the whole game, in a 3–1 loss against Grimsby Town. On 9 March 2002, however, he was sent off in the 64th minute for elbowing Mitchell Thomas, in a 2–0 loss against Burnley. On 16 March 2002, Daly scored on his return from a one match suspension following a successful appeal, in a 3–1 loss against Wimbledon, resulting in Stockport County's relegation. At the end of the 2001–02 season, Daly went on to make fourteen appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
By the start of the 2002–03 season, Daly was regarded as one of Division 2's most promising strikers by the BBC Sport. He began to play more regularly in the first team for Stockport County and formed a striking partnership with Aaron Wilbraham. On 1 October 2002, Daly scored his first goal of the season for the club, in a 2–1 loss against Gillingham. He added two more goals by the end of October, scoring against Luton Town and Crewe Alexandra. Daly then scored against Cheltenham Town and Oldham Athletic on 8 February 2003 and 15 February 2003 respectively. On 12 April 2003, he scored a winning goal from a penalty, in a 2–1 win against Plymouth Argyle and was named the Nationwide Second Division Team of the Week. Despite being out with injuries, Daly ended his 2002–03 season, appearing in 35 of Stockport's 46 league games and scoring seven goals.
Ahead of the 2003–04 season, Daly suffered a freak accident when he "stepped out of a golf buggy on to a piece of wood at the golf course". But Daly made a quick recovery. During this season Stockport manager, Carlton Palmer, decided against naming a goalkeeper on the bench and revealed that he was planning to use Daly in net should their keeper get sent off or injured. However, this never occurred and he never made an appearance in net. Daly continued to form a striking partnership with Wilbraham but he struggled to score goals regularly in the first half of the season. Daly then spent away from Stockport County's first team because of his international commitment, as well as, his own injury concern and suspension. On 30 September 2003, he came on as a 71st-minute substitute, only for him to receive a straight red card 11 minutes later, in a 2–0 loss against Oldham Athletic. On 28 February 2004, Daly returned to the starting line–up following his recall from a loan spell at Bury, in a 1–1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion. Since returning to the club, he regained his first team place, forming a striking partnership with Rickie Lambert and Wilbraham. On 16 March 2004, Daly then scored his first goal of the season for the club, in a 2–2 draw against Hartlepool United. On 1 May 2004, he helped Stockport County avoid relegation in the Second Division after beating Bournemouth 2–0. At the end of the 2003–04 season, Daly went on to make twenty–seven appearances and scoring three times in all competitions.
At the start of the 2004–05 season, however, Daly suffered a knee injury that saw him miss the first two league matches. On 21 August 2004, he returned from injury, coming on as a 79th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Bradford City. However, his return was short–lived when Daly suffered an illness that saw him miss for two matches. On 25 September 2004, he returned from his illness, coming on as a late substitute, in a 0–0 draw against Hull City. Daly scored his first goal of the season, in a follow–up match win against Bury in the first round of the EFL Trophy. Shortly after his loan spell at Grimsby Town came to an end and had to serve a three match suspension, he returned to the first team for Stockport County against Swansea City in the second round of the FA Cup and helped the club draw 0–0 to earn a replay. Daly scored against Hartlepool United and Milton Keynes Dons (twice) on 11 December 2004 and 18 December 2004 respectively. Since returning to the first team, Daly received a first team run ins for Stockport County until he left the club in February 2005. By the time Daly left the club, he made eighteen appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.
Loan Spells from Stockport County In January 2004, Daly joined Bury on a month's loan. On 3 January 2004, he made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, in a 2–1 loss against Lincoln City. In a follow–up match against Swansea City, Daly scored his first goal for Bury, in a 2–0 win. He then became a first team regular for the club, starting in the next five matches. Along the way, Daly's loan spell with Bury was extended for another month. On 21 February 2004, he received a red card for a second bookable offence, in a 1–1 draw against Oxford United, in what turned out to be his last appearance for the club. Shortly after, Stockport County manager Sammy McIlroy recalled Daly back to his parent club. By the time he returned to his parent club, Daly made seven appearances and scoring once in all competitions for Bury.
On 23 October 2004, Daly went on loan to Grimsby Town for a month. On the same day, he scored on his debut for the club against Chester City, in a 2–1 loss. In November 2004, however, Daly was sent off in the 37th minute for elbowing Ian Baraclough, in a 2–0 loss against Scunthorpe United, in what turned out to be his last appearance for Grimsby Town. Shortly after, he returned to Stockport County.
Hartlepool United On 4 February 2005, Daly signed for Hartlepool United for an undisclosed fee, which believed to be worth £30,000. Upon joining the club, he felt it was the right time to leave Stockport County.
On 15 February 2005, Daly made his Hartlepool United debut, starting a match and played 74 minutes before being substituted, in a 3–2 loss against Luton Town. Since joining the club, he found himself competing in a striker position with Joel Porter, Eifion Williams and Adam Boyd. In the last game of the season against Bournemouth, Daly scored his first goal for Hartlepool United and the game finished in a 2–2 draw, helping the club earn a play-off spot. He played in both legs of the semi–final play–offs against Tranmere Rovers and helped Hartlepool United reach the final after the club win 6–5 in a penalty shootout following a 2–2 draw throughout 120 minutes. In the League 1 Play-off Final against Sheffield Wednesday, Daly's most important goal came against the opposition team when he scored with his first touch after coming on as a substitute to put Hartlepool United in the lead, but the club would later end up losing that match, though the goal will be remembered as the goal that almost sent them into the Championship. At the end of the 2004–05 season, Daly went on to make twelve appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2005–06 season, Daly found himself competing for the first team place in the striker position after Hartlepool United made new signings. On 13 August 2005, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 1–0 win against Doncaster Rovers. However, Daly suffered a hip injury that saw him miss two matches. On 1 October 2005, he returned to the starting line–up from injury, in a 1–0 win against Bristol City. Since returning to the first team from injury, Daly found his playing time, coming from the substitute bench and struggled to hold down a first team spot, along with his goal scoring form. By the time he was loaned out to Bury in March, Daly went on to make thirty–three appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.
Daly appeared once for Hartlepool United in the opening game of the 2006–07 season, but he was out throughout August, due to competing for the first team place in the striker position. On 1 September 2006, Daly scored a winning goal on his return from injury, in a 2–1 win against Boston United. Following this, he regained his first team place, playing in the striker position. Daly cemented his place in the club's record books with a remarkable scoring spree of seven goals in a week (three games), including his first hat-trick of his professional career against Wrexham on 30 September 2006. For his performance, he was named September's League Papers player of the month. On 20 October 2006, Daly was sent–off in the 18th minute for "an innocuous challenge" on a foul on David Artell, in a 2–1 loss against Chester City. But his suspension was rescinded after local newspaper The Northern Echo reported that "Tyne-Tees Television supplied enhanced footage of the incident which highlighted his innocence" and he was free to play in the next match. On 26 December 2006, Daly scored his ninth goal of the season, in a 2–0 win against Grimsby Town after spending almost three months without scoring. By the time he left Hartlepool United in January, Daly made twenty–three appearances and scoring nine times in all competitions.
Loan Spell at Bury On 17 March 2006, Daly joined Bury for the second time, on loan until the end of the season. The following year, he scored on his second debut for the club, in a 2–1 loss against Grimsby Town. Two weeks later on 1 April 2006, Daly scored the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win against his former club, Stockport County. During his second spell at Bury, he went on to make eleven appearances and scoring two times in all competitions. Following this, Daly returned to his parent club.
Dundee United On 5 January 2007, Daly was allowed to join Scottish Premier League side Dundee United on a two–year contract for an undisclosed fee.
2006–07 season