Daniel John Hay (born 15 May 1975) is a retired New Zealand 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 formerly managed the

New Zealand men's national football team The New Zealand men's national football team () represents New Zealand in men's international Association football, football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football (NZF), whic ...

, New Zealand U-23, and New Zealand U-20. Hay played as a

central defender 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

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

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 ...

and

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

side,

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

. He also captained

Waitakere United Waitakere United was a football club based in Waitakere City, New Zealand. They were one of the franchises in the ISPS Handa Premiership. They played their home games at Fred Taylor Park in Kumeū and The Trusts Arena. History Waitakere Uni ...

in the

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship () was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a myriad of short-lived football leagues in ...

Early and personal life

Hay was born in Auckland and grew up in

Titirangi Titirangi is a suburb of West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland in the Waitākere Ranges (local board area), Waitākere Ranges local board area of the city of Auckland in northern New Zealand. It is an affluent, residential suburb located t ...

and later Hillsborough. He attended Kelston Boys High School where he played in the 1st XI for four years between 1990 and 1993.

High school career

Kelston Boys High School

Hay played for his school's first XI. Hay was awarded the Auckland College Sportsperson of the Year (Football) for 1993.

Club career

Waitakere City

Hay played for Waitakere City in 1994 and was named in the starting line up as an injury replacement for Rodger Gray in the

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are Wellington Olymp ...

final against Wellington Olympic which was won 1–0. Hay was also a member of the successful

Waitakere City Waitakere City was a Territorial Authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland, New Zealand; it was governed by the Waitakere City Council from 1989 to 2010. It was New Zealand's fifth-largest ...

team that ended up winning the 1995 New Zealand Superclub League competition beating Waikato United 4–0 in the final. Waitakere repeated their

success beating North Shore United in the 1995 final 4–0.

Central United

Hay moved to

Central United Central United Football Club is an amateur association football club based in Sandringham, Auckland, New Zealand who complete in the NRFL Northern Conference. The team was officially called ''Central Soccer Club'' until 1996 when it changed ...

for the National Summer League which commenced in January 1996. On 30 March he captained the side to their away win over Waitakere City 2–0 and contributed with a penalty goal.

Perth Glory

In August 1997, Hay signed for

in only their second season in the Australian National Soccer League. Hay scored a goal in their 4–1 win over eventual season championship winners

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

at Perth Oval on 7 December 1997. Perth Glory finished eighth in the table at the end of the season. Hay was awarded the prestigious Perth Glory Most Glorious Player award. The following season proved to be more successful for Perth Glory, finishing third, after losing the preliminary final to Sydney United at Sydney on 23 May 1999. Hay was awarded again the prestigious Perth Glory Most Glorious Player award this time jointly with Scott Miller.

Leeds United

In June 1999, Hay trialled for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

before trialling the following month for

side,

on the first team's pre season tour of Sweden and Finland. On 14 July 1999, Hay started in their friendly match against Swedish side Byske. On 17 July 1999, he started again and played the full fixture against Finnish side Tervaritahdet in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

. Hay was rested for the final match against Swedish side Bodens. Due to trial commitments, Hay was unavailable for international duties at the

Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six Continental football championships, continental champions ...

in Mexico. Hay was successful in obtaining a three-year contract with Leeds and became the first New Zealander to be offered a contract by a Premier League club. Hay was initially included in Leeds' Reserve squad for the 1999–2000

Premier Reserve League The Premier Reserve League (officially known as The Barclays Premier Reserve League for sponsorship reasons) was the reserve team league for the top English football teams in the Premier League. The league was split into a northern and a southern ...

season where he started in the majority of the 24 fixtures between August 1999 and May 2000. Hay's time at Leeds was marked by injuries and all his appearances for the club's first team featured in less than a two-month period from when he debuted for the team in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. His time with the team was mainly on the bench when the team itself was ravaged by injuries. On 30 September 1999, Hay was named on the bench for Leeds' second leg

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 ...

first round fixture against

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, lin ...

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

UEFA Champions League

On 13 September 2000, Hay was named on the bench for their

first group stage fixture against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

at the

Nou Camp Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

. Hay came on in the 89th minute as a substitute for captain

Lucas Radebe Lucas Valeriu Ntuba Radebe OIS (born 12 April 1969) is a South African former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He began playing in the than known Bophuthatswana Soccer league (BOPSOL) playing for Stocks Birds in Lehurutshe ...

who suffered what appeared to be a serious neck injury. After making an appearance in the game against

, Hay was named on the bench but didn't see the field again for Leeds in games against

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

twice and the home fixture against

On 8 November 2000, Hay was again a substitute for the return leg away fixture against

which was drawn 1–1. The point gained, qualified Leeds to join group leaders AC Milan through to the last 16 of the Champions League. A hernia operation curtailed Hay's further involvement until he made a return for the Reserves team against Liverpool in January 2001. On 14 March 2001, Hay returned to the bench for the first team for the return leg fixture against

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

which was drawn 3–3 and advanced Leeds into the quarter-final stage.

Premier League

On 30 September 2000, Hay made his first appearance when he came on as a 45th-minute substitute for

in Leeds United's 4–3 win over

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. Hay became only the second New Zealander after Lee Norfolk to appear in England's top division. On 21 October 2000, Hay started in Leeds United's away fixture against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

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 ...

which was lost 0–3. The following week Hay started in their fixture against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

Valley Parade Valley Parade, currently known as University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater association football, football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium was built in 1886 as the home of Manningham F.C. ...

where his headed attempt on goal was cleared from the line by Bradford defender Ian Nolan in the 12th minute. On 4 November 2000, Hay came on as a 16th-minute substitute for

Jonathan Woodgate Jonathan Simon Woodgate (born 22 January 1980) is an English Association football, football manager and former player. Woodgate began his career at Middlesbrough but moved to Leeds United F.C., Leeds United at the age of sixteen. He was sold t ...

against

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 ...

in a memorable 4–3 victory for Leeds.

Football League Cup

On 31 October 2000, Hay started for Leeds in their third round fixture in the Worthington Cup against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

Prenton Park Prenton Park is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Prenton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers F.C., Tranmere Rovers Football Club since opening in 1912, and formerly the home ground ...

which was lost 2–3 after extra time. Hay had surgery in the summer and returned for pre-season fixtures in August. On 8 August 2001, he started in the pre-season away fixture against

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

which was won 4–0. On 13 August 2001, he started in the pre-season away fixture against Harrowgate Town which was won by Leeds 3–0. On 22 August 2001, Hay started in the away fixture against Selby Town but he aggravated a groin injury and needed further treatment. Hay still had injury worries later in the season precluding him from Leeds' first leg third round

away fixture against

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

on 22 November 2001. Hay made no further first team or reserve squad appearances in the season due to injury.

Walsall

Hay was released at the end of his Leeds United contract in May 2002 and later signed for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

in July 2002 who were playing

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

in England. Hay became a regular starter for the team, having forty starts and five games off the bench for

Football Kingz

Hay signed on with the Football Kingz in what turned out to be the club's last season. Hay joined the squad in the early part of 2004 making seven appearances and played his last match against Brisbane on 29 February 2004 where he scored a goal.

New Zealand Knights

Hay started the 2005–2006 season as inaugural captain for the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

-based New Zealand Knights, but left the club in December 2005, following a falling out with management.

Perth Glory

Hay swapped clubs during the

2005–06 A-League The 2005–06 A-League was the 29th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the inaugural season of the A-League. After over 12 months without a national professional club competition since the close of the 2003–04 National Soccer Lea ...

season to rivals

, joining his former club in January 2006 after an SOS to help them out due to injuries.

Waitakere United

Hay then returned to New Zealand to see out the rest of his playing career with

who played in the

. Hay was captain of the team during the 2006–07 season where they were runners up to

Auckland City Auckland City () was a territorial authority area with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Au ...

in the grand final. Hay continued as captained the next season, helping lead the team to their maiden title with a win over Team Wellington in the 2007–08 season grand final. The 2008–09 season, Waitakere again where runners up to Auckland City losing in a dramatic grand final 2–1.

International career

Hay played in the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

national team, making 31 appearances for the team and scoring two goals. Hay made his New Zealand debut against Oman on 29 September 1996 during New Zealand's tour of Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Lebanon. His first goal for his country came against Fiji in the 1998 Oceania Nations Cup in a 1–0 win. In 2006, Hay was awarded the captaincy of the

team.

2003 FIFA Confederation Cup – France

After not playing any international football for four years, Hay was named in the

squad who were grouped with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in Group A. Hay was recovering from an ankle injury which had ended his season in mid February while at Walsall FC. On 18 June 2003, Hay was an unused substitute in the All Whites opening match against

at Saint-Denis which was lost 0–3. On 20 June 2003, Hay started in New Zealand's next match against

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

which was lost 1–3. On 22 June 2003, Hay played in the team's final fixture against a French side at Saint-Denis which the New Zealanders lost 0–5. At the start of 2009, Hay retired from international football to pursue a teaching career at Sacred Heart College in Auckland. While teaching at the school, he was also involved with coaching the First XI and youth development teams.

Managerial career

Sacred Heart College

Hay was head coach of the 1st XI at Sacred Heart College. Hay lead Sacred Heart to win the Lotto Premier National Secondary Schools Championship for the years 2011, 2014 and 2016. In 2015, they were runners up to

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand, a feat achieved in part thanks to its original inception as a private school. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it r ...

2–1 in the final. and to Hamilton Boys High in the 2017 final. In May 2017, Hay lead the team to attend the International School Sport Federation's World Schools Championship in Prague.

Eastern Suburbs

Hay coached at Eastern Suburbs team in the ISPS Handa Premiership, leading the team to their first national title in 48 years when they won the Championship in 2019.

New Zealand under-17

Hay was appointed as coach of the New Zealand under-17 national team in April 2015. He was manager of the U17s at the

2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the sixteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, held in Chile from 17 October to 8 November 2015. Host selection The following four countries bid to host the tournament: * * * * Venues Along with proposing ...

where they lost to

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 ...

in the round of 16 due to a 96th-minute penalty having qualified from the group in second-place behind

. They started the tournament with a 1–6 lost to

before following it up with a 0–0 draw against

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and a 2–1 win against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

in group play. In February 2017, the team won the

2017 OFC U-17 Championship The 2017 OFC U-17 Championship was the 17th edition of the OFC U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth association football, football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for players aged 17 and below. The t ...

with a 7–0 win over

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

in the final, it was the biggest win over New Caledonia at this age group and also qualified the team for the

2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 17th FIFA U-17 World Cup, a biennial international association football, football tournament contested by men's under-17 national teams. Organised by FIFA, the tournament took place in India from 6 to 28 Octo ...

. They went through the tournament undefeated, finishing top of their group while scoring 27 goals and only conceding one in the semi-final win over

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. It was also the New Zealand under-17 teams sixth consecutive

OFC U-17 Championship The OFC Men's U-16 Championship is a biennial football tournament for players under the age of 16. The tournament decides the only two qualification spots for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and its representatives at the FIFA U-17 World ...

and seventh overall.

New Zealand national team

On 26 August 2019, Hay was announced as the new coach of

, becoming only the second person to both captain and manage the team. In Hay's first game in charge, New Zealand lost 1–3 playing a friendly against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

Controversy

Hay, then a teacher and coach at

Sacred Heart College, Auckland Sacred Heart College is a state-integrated secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand. It is a Catholic, Marist College set on of land in Glen Innes. History The college was opened on 21 June 1903, in Ponsonby, by the Marist Brothers. It ...

, courted controversy in June 2012 by criticising

coach

Ricki Herbert Ricki Lloyd Herbert (born 10 April 1961) is a New Zealand former footballer and manager. He is the current director of football at Hamilton Wanderers AFC. Herbert was formerly head coach of the New Zealand national team, stepping down after ...

's tactics following a third-place finish in the

2012 OFC Nations Cup The 2012 OFC Nations Cup was the ninth edition of the OFC Nations Cup organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The group stage of the tournament also doubled as the second round of the OFC qualification tournament for the 2014 FIFA ...

. Hay was quoted as saying "It's a little bit scary that you've got one person dictating all the ideas and there's nothing fresh coming through. He's got tactically lazy and to play three at the back in Honiara was horrific in those conditions, with the type of players we had available to us." Also while coaching at Sacred Heart, Hay was banned for four games after a sideline outburst at match officials, calling the referee and the assistant referee "f***ing cheats". Hay later stated that he regretted his actions and apologised to his players and parents of young children, who might have heard his outburst.

Career statistics

References

External links

New Zealand national team coaching record
on Ultimatenzsoccer.com

on Ultimatenzsoccer.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Danny 1975 births Living people New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand men's international footballers New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers Premier League players English Football League players A-League Men players National Soccer League (Australia) players Football Kingz FC players Leeds United F.C. players New Zealand Knights FC players Perth Glory FC players Waitakere United players Walsall F.C. players Central United F.C. players Waitakere City FC players Expatriate men's footballers in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia Australian people of New Zealand descent 1998 OFC Nations Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players Men's association football defenders Association footballers from Auckland New Zealand Football Championship players People educated at Kelston Boys' High School