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Apr 2021

Last Updated: 03/04/2021

Community

Harrogate footballer's journey from Killinghall Nomads to Tokyo Olympics

by Thomas Barrett

| 03 Apr, 2021

England star Rachel Daly told the Stray Ferret about her time playing for the Killinghall Nomads boys team, the fight for equal pay with men and why she always loves returning to her hometown.

When England footballer Rachel Daly hopefully laces up her boots at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, it will be the culmination of a stellar career that began at the Killinghall Nomads boys team.

The diehard Leeds United fan played with the Nomads' boys from aged 8 until she was 12, when the club formed its first-ever girls team.

She told the Stray Ferret on a Zoom call earlier this week that she was even mistaken for a boy when she lined up with her teammates.

"I had a really short hair and a lot of the boys on the other team thought I was a boy, which was quite funny."

Today, the Harrogate and District junior girls league has 46 different teams for girls to play in. But back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, opportunities for girls to play football in Harrogate were much more limited.

Rachel added:

"There were no teams but we then started the Killinghall Nomads girls team and I started playing for the Leeds United academy which was good, but there's so much more opportunity for the girls now."

Rachel went to high school at Rossett and praised the PE teacher, Mr Sweetman, who helped her develop her game throughout her time at the school and she said they still keep in touch.

Equality

After leaving Rossett, Rachel travelled to New York City in 2012 for a sports scholarship.

The forward scored an eye-catching 50 goals in 60 appearances for the university team, which led to her being drafted to Houston Dash, which plays in the US women's football equivalent of the Premier League.

The lioness has now racked up 36 appearances for England since her debut in 2016 and is a regular fixture in the squad. She's hopeful she'll be picked to play in the Tokyo Olympics this summer and at the European Championships which will be played in England in 2022.

Rachel said the women's game has evolved massively since her early days playing around the Harrogate district. But she said the fight for equal pay with the men's game is its next big challenge.

She added:

"The next ten years will be huge with the way we're fighting for equality and trying to get equal pay.

"The league and international football keeps growing and it will only keep improving. We won't go backwards. The strides I've seen the game take until now have been absolutely massive."

My hometown

When the Stray Ferret spoke to Rachel she was on her way to a team day out to a Texas beach, but she said she always looks forward to visiting her hometown of Harrogate.

She added:

"I miss my family, that's the hardest thing being away from home. Just being in Harrogate generally, it's where I grew up and I do appreciate it when I do come home."