Biography
Outside left Alan James Daley, often known as “Digger” Daley, was born in suburban Mansfield to a father who was an insurance manager. Alan reached his later teenage years at the end of World War Two and was on the books of his local club Mansfield Town during 1946/47 season, impressing in the Stags’ reserve side but not breaking into the first team. In July 1947 he signed for Hull City as backup to the plethora of outside left options that City had assembled the previous season. Daley quickly did enough to merit a first team start and by the end of October 1947 City manager Frank Buckley had selected Alan four times, however City’s November 1947 signing of Alec Bloxham, another left winger from the Mansfield suburbs, hampered Daley’s game time and he made just three more starts in the spring months of 1948. The whirlwind of signings that swept into Hull City when England international Raich Carter took over the manager’s reins from Frank Buckley in the 1948 close season rendered Daley surplus to requirements and he left the club in July 1948.
Alan then embarked on a sixteen year odyssey around numerous league and non-league clubs, in the early years while still working as a chimney sweep in the Mansfield area. In September 1948 he joined Welsh side Bangor City, whose player-manager was Alan’s former Tigers team-mate George Richardson. After a fine season at Bangor Daley joined to Birmingham Combination side Nuneaton Borough in July 1949, rejecting offers from Football League clubs in order to remain a part-time professional. But by December 1949 he had switched to Worksop Town in order that he could better juggle his working and footballing commitments.
This move clearly worked a treat because Daley scored a flurry of goals for Worksop – the other “Tigers” – and attracted the attention of Doncaster Rovers who lured him back into full-time Football League employment in March 1950. After just one start for the Rovers first team in April 1950, in which he scored a consolation goal against Lincoln City, Daley was consigned to Doncaster’s reserves during the early stages of the 1950/51 season and in November 1950 he was loaned to Southern League side Peterborough United for the rest of the season. Given a free transfer by Doncaster in the 1951 close season, Alan joined Midland League side Boston United in July 1951 season where he scored 12 goals in 30 starts during the 1951/52 season.
In June 1952 Daley again returned to the Football League fold, signing for Division Three North side Scunthorpe & Lindsey United where he scored an impressive nine goals in 39 senior appearances during the 1952/53 season. However Scunthorpe did not retain him in the 1953 close season and in July 1953 he joined Northamptonshire-based Midland League side Corby Town.
In November 1953 Alan returned to his first club, Division Three North side Mansfield Town and some stability finally came to Daley’s career. He spent nearly three seasons at Field Mill, making precisely 100 senior appearances for the Stags in all competitions and scoring 29 goals, playing at outside left in tandem with inside left George Darwin. By February 1956 Mansfield were struggling towards the lower reaches of Division Three North and bought in a new player-manager in the shape of left winger Charlie Mitten, The Bogota Bandit, who had made his name at Manchester United after World War Two and, alongside ex-Tiger Neil Franklin, had joined Colombian side Independiente Santa Fe on a maximum-wage-busting salary in 1950. Mitten’s first act as player-manager was to dispense with Daley, his rival for the outside left shirt, and Alan joined Division Three North rivals Stockport County on the day Mitten was appointed.
Alan’s good form continued at Stockport County as he hit 13 goals in 42 appearances for the Hatters in the 1956/57 season, but by November 1957 he was out of the first team and rumoured to be moving on to York City. He was transfer listed in January 1958 and eventually left Stockport in June 1958 having scored 18 times in 75 senior appearances. Daley joined Division Four side Crewe Alexandra in June 1958 and his form again soon attracted outside attention – after 14 starts and one goal for Crewe Daley, now 31, joined Fourth Division promotion contenders Coventry City in November 1958.
Daley assisted Coventry to promotion to Division Three at the end of 1958/59 season and stayed for one and a half more seasons, making 60 appearances and scoring 11 goals before joining Southern League side Cambridge United in January 1961 – Cambridge were managed by another ex-Tiger Alan Moore. Daley remaining in the non-league game for three more years, in July 1961 he joined Southern League side Burton Albion before quickly switching to Midland League side Ilkeston Town in October 1961. He spent his final season, 1963/64, playing for Midland League side Sutton Town, a club located back near his native Mansfield – closing the loop, Sutton Town had played Hull City in the FA Cup three years earlier in 1960.
Daley worked in the administration team at Mansfield Town for several years after his retirement as a professional player, and also turned out in the Mansfield Sunday League into his 40s. He later became a market trader and moved to Milton Keynes, which is where he died in June 2008.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 11 October 1927, Mansfield
Hull City First Game: 15 September 1947, Halifax Town A (Division Three North), 19 years, 339 days old
Hull City Final Game: 13 March 1948, Darlington A (Division Three North), 20 years, 154 days old
Clubs
Mansfield Town (1946-1947), Hull City (1947-1948), Bangor City (1948-1949), Nuneaton Borough (1949), Worksop Town (1949-1950), Doncaster Rovers (1950-1951), Peterborough United (1950-1951, loan), Boston United (1951-1952), Scunthorpe United (1952-1953), Corby Town (1953), Mansfield Town (1953-1956), Stockport County (1956-1958), Crewe Alexandra (1958), Coventry City (1958-1961), Cambridge United (1961), Burton Albion (1961), Ilkeston Town (1961-1963), Sutton Town (1963-1964)
Hull City Record
Career: 7 apps, 0 goals
Alan Daley| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947/48 | 7 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |