Christian Eduard Dailly (born 23 October 1973) is a Scottish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Dailly started his professional career as a teenager, playing as a striker for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

. He helped them win the 1993–94 Scottish Cup. Towards the end of his time with United, Dailly began playing as a centre-back. He moved to English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Derby County in 1996. After two seasons with Derby, Dailly moved to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

for a transfer fee of £5,350,000. During his time with Blackburn, the club were relegated in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and Dailly lost his place in the team. He moved to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

in 2001 for £1,700,000. During his time with West Ham, the club were relegated in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

but won promotion in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. Dailly appeared as a substitute in the 2006 FA Cup final, which West Ham lost on penalties to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. After a loan spell with

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, Dailly moved to Rangers in January 2008. He helped the team reach the 2008 UEFA Cup final. His final appearance for Rangers was as a substitute in the 2009 Scottish Cup final, which Rangers won 1–0 against

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

. After a two-year spell with Charlton Athletic and short stints with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and Southend United, Dailly retired in 2012. Dailly made 67 full international appearances for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

between 1997 and 2008. He was part of the Scotland squad at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

. Dailly is also the record cap-holder for the Scotland under-21 team, having made 35 appearances between 1990 and 1996.

Club career

Dundee United

Dailly was born in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and first signed professional terms with

on 2 August 1990, aged sixteen years old. He became the youngest-ever player to appear for Dundee United when he made his first-team debut on 21 August 1990, though this record has since been broken by Greg Cameron. Playing as a striker and scoring in each of his first three games, Dailly quickly shot to prominence, making his Scotland Under 21 side debut just a month later. He won the

Scottish Youth Cup The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual football in Scotland, Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Craig Brewster to score the only goal against Rangers. The 1994–95 season ended in disappointment with relegation, with yet another four goals from 33 games. In 1995–96, Dailly was firmly established as a centre-back and started the season as United's club captain, although he was subsequently replaced by Dave Bowman. He scored just once in 30 appearances. It was an important goal though, as it ensured United drew the away leg of the short-lived league-playoff against

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

, and subsequently won the home leg to gain promotion at the first opportunity. This proved to be Dailly's final game for Dundee United, as he joined Derby County in August 1996 for £500,000, with a further £500,000 payable dependent on his international career, which was later paid.

Derby County

Dailly joined Derby County at the start of the 1996–97 season, following Derby's promotion to the

. In his debut English season, Dailly missed just two games, with his three goals helping Derby to 12th place and six points clear of relegation. In the 1997–98 season, Dailly made 30 appearances and scored once; Derby fared even better, with the club finishing ninth and just two points from European football. In 1998–99, Dailly played just once, coincidentally against

, the club to which he was then transferred.

Blackburn Rovers

Dailly joined Rovers in August 1998 for £5.35m but a tumultuous season followed with Dailly not finding a settled position and an injury meaning he played just seventeen times. To make matters worse, Rovers were relegated from the Premier League as Dailly suffered relegation for the second time in his career. In the First Division, Dailly appeared 43 times in a hectic 1999–2000 season, which saw him score four goals. However, he fell out of favour with new boss

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit. A midfielder, Souness achieved his greatest period of success as an integral part of the Liverpool team of the late 19 ...

and in January 2001, after making just nine appearances that season, Dailly left for

in a £1.75m deal and returned to the Premier League. During his spell at Blackburn he played in a testimonial match for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

– scoring a late consolation goal against Liverpool in the Ronnie Moran testimonial match on 13 May 2000.

West Ham United

Following his transfer from Blackburn to the Hammers for a fee of £1.7m he made twelve appearances in 2000–01, helping the Hammers to 15th place. He also played in their 1–0 victory over Manchester United at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in the FA Cup. The following season, Dailly played every minute of every game as West Ham finished in seventh place. 2002–03 proved to be a low point, as Dailly suffered relegation for a third time. Playing 26 times, West Ham were relegated with the highest number of points since the 1995–96 change to 20 teams, a total of 42. Dailly was to go on and score twice from 43 games as West Ham finished in the Division One play-off positions in 2003–04. He scored the winner against Ipswich Town in the play-off semi-final to send them to the final but they failed to win promotion. Injury prevented Dailly from the majority of West Ham's promotion-winning 2004–05 season, although he returned to make brief appearances in one

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eith ...

semi-final leg and the final. He signed a new deal with West Ham in June 2005. Dailly appeared as a substitute for West Ham in their 2006 FA Cup final defeat to

, coming on in the 77th minute. Despite being 2–0 ahead after 28 minutes, West Ham eventually lost on penalties. He was the longest serving West Ham player at the time of his departure and something of a cult hero to the fans.

Southampton

On 20 September 2007, he joined

on loan, initially for a month. The loan was extended for a further month as Saints continued to suffer with injuries to several defensive players. He made his debut against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in a 3–2 home league defeat on 22 September 2007. After eleven appearances for Saints he returned to West Ham.

Rangers

On 30 January 2008, Dailly signed for Rangers on a short-term contract until the end of the season. The club took over what remained of his contract from

. He made his Rangers debut three weeks later in a

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

match against Panathinaikos; the game ended in a 1–1 and saw the club progress to the fourth round. He scored his first goal 9 days later, netting the equaliser in a 3–1 triumph over

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. On 3 July 2008, he and David Weir signed new one-year contract extensions with the club. Dailly continued to play as part of the Rangers squad as they progressed to the 2008 UEFA Cup Final in Manchester. The arrival of Madjid Bougherra then saw Dailly lose his place in the team until an injury to Bougherra saw him included in Rangers' 2009 Scottish League Cup final squad. He played his final game for the club in the 2009 Scottish Cup final as an 87th-minute substitute helping Rangers retain the Scottish Cup in a 1–0 victory over Falkirk. He was released two days later on 1 June 2009. Dailly made 36 appearances in total and scored twice for Rangers.

Charlton Athletic

On 31 July 2009, Dailly signed for Charlton Athletic on a Bosman free transfer and took squad number 35, his then age. His debut for Charlton came on 8 August 2009 in a 3–2 home win against Wycombe Wanderers, a game which saw Dailly score his only Charlton goal. At the end of the 2009–10 season he was named as Charlton Athletic's Player of the Year. "I feel very proud", Dailly told the official website.

Portsmouth

Dailly joined Portsmouth on a one-month deal in August 2011. He made his debut on 6 August 2011, in the 2–2 away draw against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, after coming off the bench to replace Hayden Mullins. On 1 September 2011, he was released.

Southend United

On 16 March 2012, Dailly signed for League Two side Southend United on non-contract terms, following several months training with the club to recuperate from a knee injury. Dailly made his debut for Southend on 17 March 2012, playing 90 minutes in the 3–2 win at Hereford United. In Dailly's third appearance for the club, against Bristol Rovers on 24 March 2012, he broke his toe ruling him out for the remainder of the season. Dailly retired from professional football in July 2012, after 22 years in the game.

International career

On 11 September 1990, Dailly became the youngest player to appear for his country at under-21 level when he featured at the age of 16 against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

at Easter Road. By the time Dailly was too old to continue playing at this level he had received 35 caps, a Scottish record for appearances at under-21 level. In May 1993, he was included in Andy Roxburgh's Scotland squad for the first time for a

1994 FIFA World Cup qualification The 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 1994 FIFA World Cup featured 24 teams with one place reserved for the host nation, United States, and one place for the defending cham ...

match in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. He earned his first cap four years later when he made his full international debut in May 1997, aged 23, in a 1–0 defeat against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. His first goal came in just his second match, and just four days after his international debut, when his early goal helped Scotland to a 3–2 away victory over

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in a friendly match. Dailly had a long Scotland career, winning 67 caps and scoring 6 goals. He captained Scotland a total of 12 times and was selected for the Scotland squad at the

. Dailly won his last cap as a substitute on Friday 30 May 2008, in a 3–1 friendly defeat against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Dailly was famously caught unaware after Germany's 2–1 defeat of Scotland on 10 September 2003. He returned to the dressing room after the match shouting, "Cheats! Fucking cheats! Fucking diving cheats!" The outburst was being broadcast live on

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

as then Scotland manager

Berti Vogts Hans-Hubert "Berti" Vogts (; born 30 December 1946) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga his whole professional club career and won the FIFA World Cup wi ...

was being interviewed by

Chick Young Charles "Chick" Young (born 4 May 1951) is a professional association football pundit (expert), pundit who regularly appears for BBC Scotland on ''Sportscene'' and ''Sportsound''. He is known for his trademark laugh and speech patterns, which h ...

. The player would have remained anonymous had it not been for Vogts shouting "Christian!" mid-interview to stop the tirade.

Personal life

His sister, Stefani Dailly, is a broadcast journalist who has worked for ''

STV News ''STV News'' is a Scottish news division produced by STV. The news department produces two regional services covering STV's Channel 3 franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland. STV News programmes are produced from studios in Glasgo ...

''. His son, Harvey, signed a development contract with Dundee United in August 2015. He made his first team debut in August 2017, but was released in January 2018.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dailly goal''.

Honours

Dundee United *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1993–94 *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,1995–96 West Ham United * Football League Championship play-offs:

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 2005–06 Rangers *

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

: 2008–09 * Scottish Cup: 2007–08, 2008–09 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

: 2007–08 *

runner-up: 2007–08 Individual * Scotland national football team roll of honour: 2003

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dailly, Christian Living people 1973 births Footballers from Dundee Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scotland men's international footballers Scotland men's B international footballers Men's association football defenders Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Premier League players 1998 FIFA World Cup players West Ham United F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Scottish Premier League players English Football League players Portsmouth F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Scottish Football League players