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. 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. Daley was
capped seven times for
England between 1991 and 1992 under former club manager
Graham Taylor. He made his full debut as a substitute in a vital 1–1 draw in
Poland on 13 November 1991 that saw England qualify for
1992 European Championships in Sweden. He was subsequently chosen for the squad at the tournament and played in two of England's three games there, but after the tournament he never played for England again. ==Fitness coaching==