Johnny Phillips: Big-money buy Steve Daley has quite a tale to tell

For anyone under the age of 40 the name of Steve Daley might not immediately ring any bells. But there was a time when he was the most talked about footballer in the country.

With the passing of another transfer window this month – in which Emirati Sheikhs, American investment firms, Chinese conglomerates and others signed off huge transfer fees – it is worth recounting the tale of a big money move between the two clubs that went very badly wrong.

In September, 1979, Daley was an established player at Molineux. A goal-scoring wide midfielder, he’d played 244 games in eight years for Wolves, most of them in the top flight, scoring an impressive 43 goals. Earlier that year, in February, Trevor Francis had become the first million pound footballer with his move from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest. His unveiling was slightly different to today’s photo calls. Forest manager Brian Clough stood over Francis wearing a tracksuit whilst brandishing a squash racquet – the deal had delayed Clough on his way to a game of squash.

Seven months later, Daley had little idea that his own fee would consign Francis’s record move to the history books. But then a phone call at home one evening from a Wolves official alerted the player to the interest. He travelled north to meet City manager Malcolm Allison and an astronomical fee for its day was agreed. One million, four hundred and thirty-seven thousand, five hundred pounds to be exact.

To put the figure in some context, the British transfer record was broken again only twice in the following six years; when Wolves immediately reinvested their profits from the Daley transfer in acquiring Andy Gray from Aston Villa, and then in 1981 when Bryan Robson moved from West Bromwich Albion to Manchester United for £1.5m.

Whereas Francis took the opportunity to repay some of his huge fee early on in his Forest career, with the winning goal in the European Cup final in May, 1979 against Malmo in Munich, Daley was afforded no such stage on which to parade his talents. Instead, he arrived at a club going through a major upheaval.

As Daley walked in, five established international players were sold: Gary Owen, Asa Hartford, Peter Barnes, Dave Watson and Mick Channon. It was a transitional time for the club with young players like Tommy Caton, Steve MacKenzie and Nicky Reid also arriving.

City were rebuilding and Allison’s spending, which included the untried Mackenzie and Michael Robinson, did not work out. Daley’s form suffered and he became emblematic of the side’s failings. Of that record transfer, Allison would later blame his chairman Peter Swales for going above his head and dealing direct with the Wolves board, which got the deal done quicker but at an inflated cost. The nadir for City and Allison was undoubtedly an FA Cup third round defeat in January, 1980 to Fourth Division Halifax Town, who had been re-elected to the Football League in two of the previous three seasons.

Almost 40 years on, Daley is now one the best after-dinner speakers on the circuit and makes that infamous move from Wolves to City the centre-piece of his routine. He is incredibly self-deprecating about his career and it is an act that always goes down a storm with fans of any club. If you get a chance, go and see him perform.

Daley was a good player, make no mistake, but he now makes a living telling everyone how bad he was.

So what happened next when that City stay hit the rocks? Twenty months after his arrival at Maine Road, and with Allison’s second spell at the club also over, Daley took his leave. He didn’t just depart the club, he left the country too.

An offer came in from Seattle Sounders who played in the North American Soccer League. It was a boom time of sorts across the Atlantic Ocean, with other big name players also moving over for a change of lifestyle. Stars from Yugoslavia, Germany, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico were making the move. But Seattle was basically an English team, coached by former Wolves, Nottingham Forest and Derby winger Alan Hinton. Daley could count some established British stars as team-mates, such as Joe Corrigan, Bruce Rioch, David Nish, Alan Hudson, Rodger Davies, Kenny Hibbitt and Tommy Hutchison.

In 1983, Daley returned to England, joining Burnley, before heading back to the United States a year later to sign for the San Diego Sockers. His professional career eventually ended at Walsall in 1986. It was a career to be proud of. Despite being an unused substitute for Wolves in both legs of the 1972 UEFA Cup Final, Daley played a key role in the cup run with the winning goal in the semi-final against Ferencvaros. He was also capped six times at England ‘B’ level, in an era when full caps were not handed out with the reckless abandon of this age.

But it is the transfer to City for which he is always remembered. And, as anyone who has enjoyed listening to him on stage will testify, it was a move that you could say eventually turned out alright.