40 Years Ago Manchester City Break Transfer Record for Steve Daley

40 Years ago Manchester City broke the transfer record to sign Steve Daley from Wolves for a sum over £1.4 million, but the move was to prove a disaster.

Malcolm Allison was a flamboyant character who whilst working as Assistant Manager to Joe Mercer at Manchester City helped orchestrate the glory years between 1967 and 1971. As their relationship broke down, Allison assumed sole control and City then failed to fulfill their promise. By 1973 Allison was gone and other than a League Cup win in 1976 the glory years slipped into the past.

By the late 1970’s, under the watchful eye of a new chairman, Peter Swales, City were willing to speculate to have a stab at securing major honours again. Allison was lured back as Manager but seemed keen to break with the past and craft a team in his own image.

Incredibly he set about dispensing with the star names in his squad and wanted a host of expensive and largely untested new signings.

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Eager to support his flamboyant manager, major investment followed which would hamper the Club for years and years to come as interest and loan repayments grew.

In Feb 1979 Trevor Francis became the first million pound footballer moving to Nottingham Forest from Birmingham City and the showbusiness style glamour which this move generated in worldwide headlines seemed to entice Peter Swales.

On 5 September 1979 Manchester City signed Steve Daley from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a then astronomical sum of £1,437,500. This was an eye watering sum because it had smashed the existing record for Trevor Francis by some distance and was for a player without the high profile associated usually with such a huge fee,

Daley had in fact joined Wolves as a schoolboy and signed professionally for the club back in 1971. He played a key part in the run to the 1972 UEFA Cup Final and won a League Cup Winners Medal in 1974. He had played 244 games for Wolves in 8 years scoring 43 goals in total from midfield and was established as an England B Team regular.

But few pundits had seen anything in his solid career to suggest he was worth the sum City had paid. Much to the embarrassment of City fans, Daley ended up making just a handful of appearances at City – 53 in total and was casually described in the media as the biggest waste of money of all time.

To be fair to Daley he arrived at City and we were a club in upheaval, and Allison seemed happy to be at the centre of the chaos. Consequently it did not work out and the expensive investment flopped and Daley became the poster boy of a time of failure.

Daley eventually left City and joined Seattle Sounders for £300000 in 1982 where he rebuilt his career, continuing as a professional footballer until he retired as a player in 1986.

Allison meanwhile was also gone from City for a second time, leaving in October 1980 to be replaced by John Bond, although the excesses of that period would be a millstone around City for many years to come.