Daniel "Danny" Hay is an association football player who has represented New Zealand at international level as a central defender and captains Waitakere United

Waitakere United

Waitakere United is a football club based in Waitakere City, New Zealand. They are one of the franchises in the ASB Premiership. They play their home games at Fred Taylor Park in Kumeu.-History:...

 in the New Zealand Football Championship

New Zealand Football Championship

The New Zealand Football Championship is the national association football league in New Zealand. It is a professional/semi-professional status Association football sports Franchise league that is operated by New Zealand Football...

.

Club career

He started the 2006-2007 season as inaugural captain for the Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

 based New Zealand Knights, but left the club in December following a falling out with management, before playing out the season with Perth Glory

Perth Glory FC

Perth Glory Football Club is a professional football club in Perth, Western Australia, Australia, competing in Australia's top football competition the A-League. Perth Glory is one of only three clubs to survive from the now defunct National Soccer League...

.

He appeared in the English Premier League and in the UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

, playing for Leeds United. However, he failed to reach his full potential in England due to constant injuries

Injury

-By cause:*Traumatic injury, a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident*Other injuries from external physical causes, such as radiation injury, burn injury or frostbite*Injury from infection...

. In England he is probably most remembered for playing in Barcelona's 4–0 thrashing of Leeds despite them going on to reach the semi final and also he came on as a sub for Jonathan Woodgate against Liverpool in a memorabnle 4-3 victory for Leeds in November 2000.

In New Zealand he played for Green Bay-Titirangi United, Waitakere United

Waitakere City F.C.

Waitakere City F.C. is a professional New Zealand football club. They currently compete in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier.-History:It was formed in 1989 with the purpose of representing West Auckland in the National Soccer League....

 and Central United

Central United

Central United Football Club is a semi-professional Association football club based in Sandringham, Auckland, New Zealand...

. He also played for Perth Glory

Perth Glory FC

Perth Glory Football Club is a professional football club in Perth, Western Australia, Australia, competing in Australia's top football competition the A-League. Perth Glory is one of only three clubs to survive from the now defunct National Soccer League...

 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and Walsall

Walsall F.C.

Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

International career

He also appeared for the New Zealand national football team, the All Whites. His first goal for his country came against Fiji

Fiji national football team

The Fiji national football team is the national team of Fiji and is controlled by the Fiji Football Association. Their best finish in the OFC Nations Cup was third in 1998 and 2008.-World Cup record:*1930 to 1978 - Did not enter...

 in the 1998 Oceania Nations Cup in a 1-0 win. In 2006, Hay was awarded the captaincy of the All Whites.

In 2007, he retired from international football in order to pursue a teaching career at Sacred Heart College

Sacred Heart College, Auckland

Sacred Heart College is a secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand. It is a Catholic, Marist College set on of land overlooking the Tamaki Estuary in Glen Innes.- History :The college was opened in 1903 in Ponsonby, by the Marist Brothers...

 in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

 which also involves him training the First XI and youth development teams.

External links