Christian Dailly

Christian Eduard Dailly (born 23 October 1973) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

Dailly started his professional career as a teenager, playing as a striker for Dundee United.

Dailly is also the record cap-holder for the Scotland under-21 team, having made 35 appearances between 1990 and 1996.

Dailly was born in Dundee and first signed professional terms with Dundee United on 2 August 1990, aged sixteen years old.

He became the youngest-ever player to appear for Dundee United when he made his first-team debut on 21 August 1990, though this record has since been broken by Greg Cameron.

Playing as a striker and scoring in each of his first three games, Dailly quickly shot to prominence, making his Scotland Under 21 side debut just a month later.

He won the Scottish Youth Cup with the club in 1990–91.

In his debut season, Dailly managed five goals in eighteen appearances.

His debut season would become his most prolific, and the 1991–92 season brought just eight games with no goals.

In the 1992–93 season, Dailly scored four from fourteen appearances and firmly established himself as a regular in the 1993–94 season with 38 league appearances, and not only another four goals, but also the Scottish Cup, when his shot rebounded off the post for Craig Brewster to score the only goal against Rangers.

He helped them win the 1993–94 Scottish Cup.

Towards the end of his time with United, Dailly began playing as a centre-back.

The 1994–95 season ended in disappointment with relegation, with yet another four goals from 33 games.

In 1995–96, Dailly was firmly established as a centre-back and started the season as United's club captain, although he was subsequently replaced by Dave Bowman.

He scored just once in 30 appearances.

It was an important goal though, as it ensured United drew the away leg of the short-lived league-playoff against Partick Thistle, and subsequently won the home leg to gain promotion at the first opportunity.

He moved to English Premier League club Derby County in 1996.

After two seasons with Derby, Dailly moved to Blackburn Rovers for a transfer fee of £5,350,000.

This proved to be Dailly's final game for Dundee United, as he joined Derby County in August 1996 for £500,000, with a further £500,000 payable dependent on his international career, which was later paid.

Dailly joined Derby County at the start of the 1996–97 season, following Derby's promotion to the Premier League.

Dailly made 67 full international appearances for Scotland between 1997 and 2008.

In the 1997–98 season, Dailly made 30 appearances and scored once; Derby fared even better, with the club finishing ninth and just two points from European football.

He was part of the Scotland squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

In 1998–99, Dailly played just once, coincidentally against Blackburn Rovers, the club to which he was then transferred.

Dailly joined Rovers in August 1998 for £5.35m but a tumultuous season followed with Dailly not finding a settled position and an injury meaning he played just seventeen times.

To make matters worse, Rovers were relegated from the Premier League as Dailly suffered relegation for the second time in his career.

During his time with Blackburn, the club were relegated in 1999 and Dailly lost his place in the team.

In the First Division, Dailly appeared 43 times in a hectic 1999–2000 season, which saw him score four goals.

During his spell at Blackburn he played in a testimonial match for Celtic – scoring a late consolation goal against Liverpool in the Ronnie Moran testimonial match on 13 May 2000.

Following his transfer from Blackburn to the Hammers for a fee of £1.7m he made twelve appearances in 2000–01, helping the Hammers to 15th place.

He also played in their 1–0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the FA Cup.

He moved to West Ham United in 2001 for £1,700,000.

However, he fell out of favour with new boss Graeme Souness and in January 2001, after making just nine appearances that season, Dailly left for West Ham United in a £1.75m deal and returned to the Premier League.

During his time with West Ham, the club were relegated in 2003 but won promotion in 2005.

Dailly appeared as a substitute in the 2006 FA Cup final, which West Ham lost on penalties to Liverpool.

After a loan spell with Southampton, Dailly moved to Rangers in January 2008.

He helped the team reach the 2008 UEFA Cup final.

His final appearance for Rangers was as a substitute in the 2009 Scottish Cup final, which Rangers won 1–0 against Falkirk.

After a two-year spell with Charlton Athletic and short stints with Portsmouth and Southend United, Dailly retired in 2012.

In his debut English season, Dailly missed just two games, with his three goals helping Derby to 12th place and six points clear of relegation.