It will be a mix of emotions for Harrogate’s Rachel Daly if she plays tonight for England at Elland Road.

The international friendly against the Netherlands is part of the preparations for Women’s Euro 2022, which takes place next month on home soil.

Rachel, who was announced in Sarina Wiegman’s squad last week, began her career at Leeds United but has never played at the club’s famous old ground.

She has, however, watched the Leeds men’s team play there many times as the diehard fan used to have a season ticket as a child.

Rachel even has a line from the club’s anthem Marching on Together tattooed on her forearm.

In an interview for the matchday programme tonight, she said:

“It’s a club that has held such a special place in my heart and my family’s heart and I’ve got so many memories of being at Leeds.

“It’ll be really exciting to go back as I was there my whole youth career – I started there when I was about eight years old, right through until the senior level.

“I’ve actually never played there, which is crazy because I’ve played in so many different grounds with England, but never Elland Road.

“I’ve been a lifelong, diehard supporter of Leeds…my whole family has. As far as I can remember, I’ve been going there since I was a kid. It’s such a great environment being there as a fan, so being able to play will be even better for me.”

https://twitter.com/Lionesses/status/1540067554848391168?s=20&t=ct1KUrxeS8aaSRbxwxZbcw

Read more:

• Harrogate footballer’s journey from Killinghall Nomads to Tokyo Olympics

• Harrogate’s Rachel Daly makes Euro 2022 squad

If she plays, Daly will reach the impressive milestone of 50 England caps.

But the game at Elland Road will be bittersweet as Rachel’s dad Martyn, who died last year, was also a massive Leeds fan.

The Stray Ferret met Mr Daly before the Tokyo Olympics. He told us all about the Daly family’s love of Leeds United.

Rachel said her dad “was the biggest Leeds fan I’ve ever met in my life.”

She added:

“It will be so awful to not have him there because I think it would have been one of his proudest moments.”

“I have a different perspective towards football and life now. Football has always been the be-all-and-end-all for me, and it still is, but now I play for a different purpose as well.

“When I get on the pitch, it’s not just about me performing, it’s me performing to make my dad even more proud than he already was.

“I think I carry that weight with me, but it’s a nice weight to have because it’s every game I want to do better and better. I know I’m making him proud up there.

“But in a way, that’s what will make it even more special, having the rest of my family there knowing how big fans we are.”

The game tonight kicks off at 8.00pm and will be shown live on ITV4. Tickets can still be purchased but only at the Elland Road ticket office.

Harrogate footballer Rachel Daly has made the England squad for the Women’s Euro 2022 tournament this summer.

Daly, who went to Saltergate and Rossett schools, now plays in the United States for Houston Dash.

The full-back is also an experienced international who has made 46 appearances and scored seven goals for her country since her debut in 2016.

Manager Sarina Wiegman has used the versatile Daly as a substitute in recent fixtures.

The Lionesses have reached the Women’s Euros final twice before in their history, in 1984 and 2009.

This year’s tournament will be played in England and the squad will be hoping home advantage will give them an extra edge. They are in a group with Austria, Norway and Northern Ireland.

Daly, along with the rest of the squad, today met Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, who wished them luck.

⚽️ Wishing the very best of luck to the @Lionesses ahead of this summer’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2022.

A major tournament on home soil is an exciting prospect and it’s clear the players are looking forward to the opportunity to show what they can do. pic.twitter.com/RzoZ4BYvMk

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) June 15, 2022

Read more:

• Harrogate’s Rachel Daly dedicates England goal to late dad Martyn
• ‘She’s just my daughter!’: Rachel Daly’s dad’s pride at Olympics star
• Harrogate footballer’s journey from Killinghall Nomads to Tokyo Olympics

When do England play?

Wednesday July 6

England vs Austria, 8pm, Old Trafford

Monday July 11

England v Norway, 8pm, Brighton and Hove Community Stadium

Friday July 15

Northern Ireland v England, 8pm, St Mary’s

All of England’s games will be shown live on the BBC.

https://twitter.com/RachelDaly3/status/1537115164931153920?s=20&t=Hl6Dk4RnCIKTtmbWt6blwQ

Harrogate’s England football star Rachel Daly last night dedicated a goal to her dad Martyn, who recently died.

Daly, who went to Saltergate and Rossett schools and now plays in the United States for Houston Dash, scored the final goal in a 10-0 win against Luxembourg.

After the match Daly, who has 168,000 Twitter followers, dedicated the goal to her dad.

"I dedicate that to my Dad." ❤️

Amazing, @RachelDaly3. pic.twitter.com/46v5KPB7Sz

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) September 21, 2021

Martyn Daly died days before two recent England fixtures.

Daly started in both matches, including an 8-0 win over North Macedonia in which the players wore black armbands in memory of her father.

Speaking to the BBC, England manager Sarina Wiegman praised Daly:

“How she has performed this week and been focused on football is really incredible”.

Defender Millie Bright scored twice against Luxembourg and dedicated the goals to best friend Daly and Martyn.

She said:

“One was for Rach and one for her pops. She’s done him proud.”.

Read more:

• ‘She’s just my daughter!’: Rachel Daly’s dad’s pride at Olympics star
• Harrogate footballer’s journey from Killinghall Nomads to Tokyo Olympics

The Stray Ferret met Martyn shortly before the Tokyo Olympics and he beamed with pride talking about his daughter’s journey from Killinghall Nomads boys team to the pinnacle of her sport.

Mr Daly, who lived in Harrogate and worked in IT in Leeds, played football semi-professionally for Harrogate Town and Knaresborough Town in his younger days.

He said in July:

“She’ll never realise what she’s done in the game until it’s over.

“Every pro has a cockiness about them but she’s down to earth too, she’s just my daughter.”

Rachel Daly’s dad Martyn has expressed his pride at watching his daughter play for the Team GB football team that beat Chile in the opening match of the Olympic Games on Wednesday.

From the early days of putting up goalposts in the garden, Martyn Daly told the Stray Ferret he “never thought in a million years” he would be watching her play in the Olympics, which he called “something special”.

Football runs in the family and Mr Daly played as a striker for Harrogate Town and Knaresborough Town in the 1980s and 1990s.

He remembers taking his daughter to train at the age of eight, when she started playing for the Killinghall Nomads boys team, before there was the option for girls to play together.

Ms Daly has ascended to become one of the top players in the women’s game, the star forward for Houston Dash in the US, with World Cup appearances for England and now the Olympics.

He said:

“It’s a far cry from the marshes at Wetherby that flooded all the time!”

The die-hard Leeds United fan wakes up at 2am for every Houston game to watch his daughter play via an online stream. He says football is “all she’s ever been bothered about doing”.

Team GB’s women’s footballers. Rachel Daly is on the back row, far right.

Read more:

• Harrogate footballer’s journey from Killinghall Nomads to Tokyo Olympics
• Local cycling superstar Lizzie Deignan selected for Olympics

When the Stray Ferret spoke to Ms Daly earlier this year, she stressed the importance of pay equality with men.

Her dad praised her for setting a good example to girls and women wanting to make their mark in the game.

She is Harrogate through and through, attending Saltergate junior school and Rossett High School. Her dad says she always “appreciates where she came from.”

When she’s back for a visit, she’ll even sometimes play five-a-side with her brother at Rossett where she “runs rings around” the men.

This summer’s Olympics in Tokyo has been dogged by controversy with the matches played in front of empty stadiums and the squad are keeping together in their own bubble.

Mr Daly hopes she can make the squad for the next games in Paris in three years’ time.

He added:

“You can learn a lot mingling with a 100m runner or a canoeist. They’ll miss out on that, which is a shame.”

Team GB stand a good chance of winning a medal in football and take on hosts Japan at 11.30am (UK time) today. Ms Daly’s family will be cheering them on back home in Harrogate.

Mr Daly said:

“She’ll never realise what she’s done in the game until it’s over.

“Every pro has a cockiness about them but she’s down to earth too, she’s just my daughter.”

Four of the Harrogate district’s own are set to compete in the Tokyo Olympics from tomorrow.

The athletes will compete in football, diving and cycling and represent Team GB and Ireland in the delayed 2020 Games.

Here is the timeline for our local Olympians’ events:

Lizzie Deignan – Team GB

Ms Deignan has a home in Harrogate and already has a silver medal from the London 2021 Olympics.

She will compete in the Women’s road cycle race – 5am (UK time) on Sunday, June 25.

Jack Laugher – Team GB

Mr Laugher, from Ripon, made history at the 2016 Games in Rio by becoming the first ever Olympic diving champion for Great Britain.

He will first compete in the Men’s synchronised 3m springboard – 7am (UK time) on Wednesday, July 28 and again in the Men’s 3m springboard semi-final – 2am (UK time) on Tuesday, August 3.

If Mr Laugher gets through, he will compete in the Men’s 3m springboard final – 7am (UK time) on Tuesday, August 3.

Oliver Dingley (left) and Jack Laugher

Oliver Dingley – Team Ireland

Fellow diver Mr Dingley grew up in Harrogate and studied at St John Fisher High School. He made the finals at the Rio games and finished in eighth place.

Men’s synchronised 3m springboard – 7am (UK time) on Wednesday, 28 July and in the Men’s 3m springboard semi-final – 2am (UK time) on Tuesday, August 3.

If Mr Dingley gets through, he will compete in the Men’s 3m springboard final – 7am (UK time) on Tuesday, August 3.

Rachel Daly – Team GB

Footballer Ms Daly, from Harrogate, will be competing in the Olympics for the first time but after racking up 36 appearances for England ,she has experience on her side.

She will join the team to compete in Women’s football, group E – 11.30am (UK time) on Saturday, July 24 and 12pm (UK time) on Tuesday, July 27.

If Team GB progress past the group stages, Ms Daly’s next appearance will be on Friday July 30 for a quarter-final match.

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.”