Dael Jonathan Fry (born 30 August 1997) is an English 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 plays 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 ...

for club

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 ...

. Fry has represented England at under-17, under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels. He has won the

2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 13th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, an annual football competition between men's under-17 national teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament was hosted for the first time ...

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

and

2018 Toulon Tournament The 2018 Toulon Tournament (officially ) was the 46th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 26 May to 9 June 2018. England won the tournament for the third successive year beating Mexico 2–1 i ...

with his country.

Early life and career

Dael Jonathan Fry was born on 30 August 1997 in

, North Yorkshire. He was scouted by

Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional association football club based in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Nicknamed the Boro, they were fo ...

after being spotted playing for his local team Cleveland Juniors at the age of seven. Throughout the ranks of the Middlesbrough youth team, Fry made an impression with his progress at the academy. In October 2014, Fry signed his first professional contract with the club.

Club career

Fry made his first-team debut for Middlesbrough on 9 August 2015 at the age of 17, on the opening day of the 2015–16 Championship season – playing from the start and was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

in a 0–0 draw against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. On 14 September, he signed a new five-year contract with Middlesbrough. Following an injury to Daniel Ayala, manager

Aitor Karanka Aitor Karanka de la Hoz (Basque and ; born 18 September 1973) is a Spanish football manager and former player. Save for a brief spell in the United States at age 32, Karanka played solely in Spain for Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid, appearing ...

gave Fry a chance to cover in Ayala's absence and played his first Middlesbrough match in months on 15 February 2016 in a 0–0 draw against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. After the match, Karanka praised Fry's performance. Fry made a handful of appearances between 15 February and 13 March 2016. Although he returned to the bench later in the 2015–16 season, Fry went on to make eight appearances in all competitions. On 31 August 2016, Fry joined

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

until the end of the 2016–17 season. Fry made his debut on 10 September, playing the whole game in a 2–2 draw against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

. Fry made 10 starts for the club before the loan was terminated early on 1 January 2017, having not featured for the club since November. After his loan spell at Rotherham came to an end, Fry only made two appearances for Middlesbrough in the 2016–17 season, which both came in the FA Cup against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

and

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. Earlier in the 2016–17 season, Fry signed a long-term contract with the club, contracting him until June 2021. Fry scored his first goal for Middlesbrough on 23 February 2021 in a 3–1 loss to Bristol City.

International career

Fry made his debut for the England national under-17 team on 28 January 2014, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 2–1 win over

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He was a member of the England under-17 squad that won the

, beating the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

4–1 in a penalty-shoot-out in the final. Fry was called up to the under-18 team and made his debut on 3 September 2014 in a 4–1 win over the

. After a year with the under-19 team, Fry was called up by the under-20 team in August 2016. He made his under-20 debut on 1 September in a 1–1 draw against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Fry was also a member of the England under-20 squad that won the

in South Korea. Fry was part of the under-21 team that won the

Career statistics

Honours

England U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

England U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

England U21 *

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual *Toulon Tournament Best XI:

References

External links

Profile
at the Middlesbrough F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Dael 1997 births Living people Footballers from Middlesbrough English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Middlesbrough F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players English Football League players England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers 21st-century English sportsmen