Tony Daley

Daley joined hometown club Aston Villa as an apprentice and made his senior debut, aged 17, on 20 April 1985 in a 2–0 defeat at Southampton. He played for the Midlands club for ten seasons, nine at the highest level, and finished a runner-up in both the 1989–90 and 1992–93 league championships. He also played in their 1994 League Cup final triumph where they defeated Manchester United at Wembley. He nearly got onto the scoresheet in the 1994 Football League Cup final against Manchester United, but his shot hit the post and was rebounded by Dalian Atkinson, only for Andrei Kanchelskis to block it with a handball for which he was sent off. Dean Saunders converted the penalty and put Villa 3–1 ahead, a scoreline which formed the final result and gave Villa a record fifth League Cup win. Daley collected what would be the only major trophy of his career.[1] Daley linked up with Graham Taylor again as he finally left Aston Villa for Wolverhampton Wanderers in July 1994 for £1.25 million, but he was plagued with injuries and was only able to manage 21 appearances for the club in four seasons. He was signed once more by Graham Taylor, now at Watford, in July 1998, on a free transfer. His injury woes continued though and he struggled to get fit, missing the final months as the club won promotion to the Premier League, Daley scoring once in the process against Birmingham City. He was given a free transfer to newly promoted Division 1 side Walsall in June 1999, and after a six-month…

Aston Villa

Football League Cup: 1993–94