Harrogate’s Rachel Daly ranked 10th best player in world

Harrogate-born Rachel Daly finished 10th last night at the prestigious Ballon d’Or awards in Paris.

The Aston Villa striker was one of two England Lionesses to make the top 10.  Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps was fifth.

Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmati, who helped her side defeat England in the World Cup final, was first.

Former Rossett School pupil Daly was top scorer in the Women’s Super League last season and named PFA Players’ Player of the Year.

She was also a member of the England side that won the 2022 European Championships.

Daly’s astonishing achievements have yet to impress North Yorkshire Council, which continues to ignore a petition by Killinghall Nomads Junior Football Club — the club where she started her career — calling for a civic honour. The Stray Ferret is supporting the appeal.

None of the four England players on the 30-strong shortlist were able to attend the ceremony because they are international duty. England play Belgium in the National League tonight.

The top 30 was decided by the votes of 100 journalists, who come from the countries which make up the top 100 of the FIFA rankings.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi beat Erling Haaland for the men’s award.

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Harrogate’s Rachel Daly nominated for world’s top player

Harrogate-born England player Rachel Daly is one of 30 nominees on the shortlist for the world’s best female footballer.

Daly and fellow England stars Millie Bright, Mary Earps and Georgia Stanway are among those in the running for the women’s Ballon d’Or.

Daly finished top scorer in the WSL last season to win the Golden Boot and was named PFA women’s Players’ Player of the Year. Manchester City striker Erling Haaland took the men’s award.

Now the former Rossett School student, who started her career at Killinghall Nomads Junior Football Club, could be named the continent’s number one.

Daly, who has 447,000 followers on Instagram and 91,000 on Twitter, posted on social media to say it was a “phenomenal honour” to be nominated.

https://twitter.com/RachelDaly3/status/1699471120116662330?s=20

Daly’s recent awards also include winning Euro 22 with England Lionesses and being runners-up in this year’s World Cup.

But North Yorkshire Council still shows no sign of bestowing a civic honour on the homegrown superstar.

A petition, launched by Killinghall Nomads with the backing of the Stray Ferret, is due to be discussed by the council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee in November after meeting the required threshold of signatories.

But the council’s ruling executive, which is 80% male, has said only the matter will be discussed at an unspecified time as part of a wider policy on recognising local people.

The Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon was named after the local Olympic diving champion.

But so far the council has not  shown any inclination to do the same for Daly in Harrogate — or come up with a similar accolade.

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