Daly was born in Cabra, Dublin, and started his football career in Drumcondra with Stella Maris. His first senior club was Bohemians, for whom he scored in the UEFA Cup away to Köln in September 1972. In 1973, Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty paid Bohemians £20,000 for Daly's services. In Daly's first season at Old Trafford, the team was relegated to the Second Division after finishing 21st out of 22 teams. Despite this setback, Manchester United gained an instant return to the top flight with Daly being a key player. He continued his good form into the 1975–76 season, playing in 51 matches, including the 1976 FA Cup Final. Midway through the 1976–77 season, Daly was sold to Derby County for a fee of £175,000. Daly was soon reunited his old manager Docherty, who was appointed manager of the Rams in September 1977. Although they did not get on, Daly remained with Derby until 1980. Daly scored a famous penalty for Derby in 1977 against Manchester City where the penalty spot had to be re-painted during the game, due to the poor condition of the Baseball Ground pitch. During his time with Derby, Daly spent time on loan with the New England Tea Men of the North American Soccer League in 1978 and 1979. Following Derby's relegation in 1980, Daly signed for Coventry City, with whom he spent four seasons, including a spell on loan to Leicester City in 1982. He then spent a season at Birmingham City before signing for Shrewsbury Town in October 1985. His experience helped the "Shrews" remain in the second tier finishing in 17th position in 1985–86 and 18th in 1986–87. This prompted Stoke City managerMick Mills to sign Daly in March 1987. In 1987–88 Daly played 30 times for Stoke scoring three goals but fell out of favour in March 1988 and was released at the end of the season. He then moved on to Fourth Division Doncaster Rovers where he spent the 1988–89 season playing in 44 matches. He joined non-league Telford United in 1989 and later managed the club between 1990 and 1993.
International career
Gerry Daly represented Ireland from 1973 till 1986, earning 48 caps. He won his first caps playing friendlies against Poland, Norway and others. He scored 13 international goals, making him one of the top scoring Irish midfielders. His first goal in 1976, was a penalty in a 1-1 all draw against England at Wembley. He scored another goal against England in the Euro qualifiers in 1978. He also scored against Denmark in the Euro qualifiers of 1980. Another goal came in the World Cup Qualifier against the Netherlands in 1980 in a 2-1 victory. Gerry Daly's last match for Ireland was against Uruguay in 1986 at Lansdowne Road in a friendly match and his last goal for Ireland was a penalty in this match to earn Ireland a 1-1 draw.
