Omar Daley

Omar Daley (born 25 April 1981) is a Jamaican footballer.

He plays as a winger.

He has also played for the Jamaica national team winning more than 50 caps.

Daley was born in Kingston, Jamaica.

He has played for Portmore United in his homeland, Charleston Battery, in the United States, and English side Bradford City along with loan spells at Reading, Preston North End and Rotherham United.

He is known as "ratty".

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Daley's football career started at Glenmuir High School but was overlooked by many of the clubs in his home.

He turned out for local sides Central Strikers and Israel then Value P, before he moved to newly promoted Jamaica National Premier League side Hazard United.

He had a trial with Brazilian side Vasco da Gama in 2001, before he first came to England in 2002 for trials with Charlton Athletic and Everton.

In August 2003, he signed a year-long loan spell with Division One side Reading after impressing on trial in a 7–0 victory over Northampton Town.

He played just seven games, all as substitute, for Reading.

The following season he signed another loan deal, this time with Preston North End joining Jamaican teammates Ricardo Fuller and Claude Davis.

He scored in his first Preston start when they beat Mansfield Town 4–0 in the League Cup.

He left Preston by mutual consent in January 2005 after 17 appearances and returned to Hazard, who had now been renamed Portmore United.

In June 2005, he helped Portmore win the Jamaica National Premier League, with a 2–1 aggregate score in the play-off final against Tivoli Gardens.

The first leg finished 1–1, but Daley scored the only goal in the second leg to give his side victory.

In March 2006, Daley and compatriot Shane Crawford moved to the United States to play for Charleston Battery on a two-year contract.

He was sent off in the team's United Soccer League semi-final 1–0 defeat against Rochester Rhinos and missed the second leg in which Charleston were knocked out.

He played 23 times for Charleston, scoring three goals.

After just ten months at Charleston, Daley returned to England when he signed for Bradford City on an 18-month deal to link up with fellow Jamaican internationals Donovan Ricketts and Jermaine Johnson, becoming the fourth Jamaican to sign for City under the management of Colin Todd following central defender Damion Stewart.

He made his City debut on 27 January in a 2–0 against Yeovil Town, in what proved to be Johnson's final game for City.

In total he scored twice in 13 games during the final months of 2006–07 season.

He became Johnson's replacement and scored his first club goal in March 2007 in a 4–1 defeat at Rotherham United with a 25-yard strike.

He became a regular under new manager Stuart McCall failing to start just one game in the first half of the 2007–08 season but he scored only one goal which came against Chester City, before he signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract in January 2008.

He immediately set himself a target of eight goals for the season, before he added his second and third goals of the season within the space of a month as Bradford defeated Shrewsbury Town 4–2 and Rotherham United 3–2.

He picked up the first red card of his career in England against the same opposition the following month in a 1–1 draw.

Daley briefly returned to the side following his suspension, but was rested by McCall for a 2–2 draw with Brentford on 12 April 2008, when he came on as a second-half substitute, after he had received abuse from fans in the club's previous game.

He again returned to the side and scored in the club's final home game of the season as they lost 2–1 to Milton Keynes Dons, finishing the season with four goals from 41 league games.

Daley helped City to the top of the table at the start of the following season, before a drop in form saw them pushed back into the play-off places.

Daley himself was rested following a personal punishing regime after playing for Jamaica, but scored his first goal of the season in a 2–1 defeat to Darlington when he came on as a substitute.

He scored in a second successive game four days later, as City defeated Grimsby Town 3–1, but he was substituted after just 20 minutes, after defender Matthew Clarke was sent off.

A booking picked up in the game against Grimsby meant Daley was suspended a week later, but he returned to action with a goal, as City upset Milton Keynes Dons, who played league football one division higher than City, 2–1 in the FA Cup.

Daley picked up another injury, this time pulling a hamstring during a 3–2 victory against Chesterfield, prompting manager McCall to bring in Steve Jones in on loan as cover.

However, Daley returned after less than three weeks out, for a 2–1 defeat at Brentford.

Daley was back in the team for two months before another injury, this time picked up in a game against Darlington, forced him to have an operation on his knee.

Daley started 27 games scoring four times during the 2008–09 season.

Despite missing the last three months of the season, Daley was voted into the League Two team of the year by his peers; and without him Bradford fell out of the play-off spots and finished in ninth position.

Daley returned to training late in the year, before making his first appearance on the field on 2 December in a reserve team fixture with Oldham Athletic.

Despite undergoing two periods of surgery, rehabilitation and a number of months back in the game, Daley admitted: "I am still trying to find back my feet, I am still not at my sharpest yet, but I looking forward to the days ahead and I am just trying my best as I am still doing my rehab."

It is expected to keep him out for the rest of the season and until December 2009.