Michael Daly (born: 18 October 1989) is a midfielder who was part of the Manchester City squad which lost out to Liverpool in the 2006 FA Youth Cup final. Micah Richards, Danny Sturridge and Michael Johnson were also on that team along with current Galway United defender Garry Breen. Michael started out with Castleknock Celtic and stayed there for six years until under-14 level, before leaving and going to the Kennedy Cup with MDSL. He signed for Cherry Orchard soon after and was chosen for the Irish Youth squad for the 2005 Nordic Cup, a competition which they won after defeating England 2-0 in the final.

Almost immediately, Daly, in the middle of his Leaving Cert year, went on trial to Manchester City and continued his education in England. The youngster was part of the Youth team who were defeated 3-2 on aggregate by Liverpool in the 2006 FA Youth Cup decider. However, he was unable to break into the first team in his time at the club and was released at the end of the 2007/08 season. A trial offer soon came from Millwall with Daly playing in a friendly against Bray Wanderers, however, with no contract forthcoming, he was left in limbo before being offered a deal by UCD. However, an issue with international clearance ended his hopes of a move to the Students. As a result, Michael joined a FAS course “just to stay in football” which lasted from September to January.

After his time on that course, Michael was approached by First Division side Sporting Fingal and was due to sign for the league’s newest club. However, Roddy Collins alerted the midfielder to Sean Connor’s interest in him and he soon came on trial at Oriel Park before finally signing for the club in early February. Daly made his competitive debut for the Lilywhites on the opening night of the season when starting the 1-0 defeat by Bohemians, a game which could have turned out different had the youngster’s first-half header found the target and not the crossbar. He scored his first club goal in the 3-1 defeat by Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium on 2 June.

Profile last updated: July 2009