Harrogate-born Rachel Daly finished 10th last night at the prestigious Ballon d’Or awards in Paris.
The Aston Villa striker was one of two England Lionesses to make the top 10. Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps was fifth.
Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmati, who helped her side defeat England in the World Cup final, was first.
Former Rossett School pupil Daly was top scorer in the Women’s Super League last season and named PFA Players’ Player of the Year.
She was also a member of the England side that won the 2022 European Championships.
Daly’s astonishing achievements have yet to impress North Yorkshire Council, which continues to ignore a petition by Killinghall Nomads Junior Football Club — the club where she started her career — calling for a civic honour. The Stray Ferret is supporting the appeal.
None of the four England players on the 30-strong shortlist were able to attend the ceremony because they are international duty. England play Belgium in the National League tonight.
The top 30 was decided by the votes of 100 journalists, who come from the countries which make up the top 100 of the FIFA rankings.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi beat Erling Haaland for the men’s award.
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Rachel Daly continues to support Killinghall team, coach reveals
The Killinghall Nomads girls’ football manager who was a coach when Rachel Daly played at the club has praised the Lioness for her ongoing support.
David Terzza remembers Daly playing in the boys teams at the junior club from U8s to U11s.
He said she had kept in touch and sponsored last season’s Adidas football kits for the girls’ teams.
The girls were also invited to meet Daly and her fellow Lionesses at a training session at St George’s Park and to watch the England v Netherlands friendly at Elland Road in Leeds.
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Mr Terzza, who has coached at the club for 22 years, said:
“I remember seeing her play, she was outstanding. When Rachel started playing she was the only girl at the time who played on the boys’ teams. She was fearless and could hold her own. The coaches used to point her out and say she was going to go far.
“Rachel has kept in touch and has sponsored Adidas football kits for the girls teams. They were proudly worn by the U11 and U14 Girls last season. Both teams were inspired by this act of kindness to become league winners.”
Mr Terzza has coached girls’ football for the last 12 years and is also the secretary for the Harrogate and District Junior Girls Football League, which is overseen by the Football Association.
He believes the Lionesses’ Euro win will have a lasting impact on girls ‘and women’s grassroots football.
He said:
Harrogate footballer’s journey from Killinghall Nomads to Tokyo Olympics“It has inspired our girls tremendously and has been an incredible boost to women’s and girls’ football, with the Lionesses now well-known household names.”
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.”