Katy Daley-Mclean MBE

Hailing from the North East of England, Katy Daley-Mclean MBE is one of the UK’s most high profile Sportswomen, and has developed an imitable reputation as both a player and a leader.  Born in South Shields in December 1985, she has amassed both an enviable career record and a high profile within the sport.  Following in the footsteps of Dad David and uncle Harold, Katy began taking part in the game at the age of 5 and was involved in mixed rugby from the ages of 6 to 12 years of age.  

Although forced to pursue other sports including hockey, netball and football until the age of 16 as there were no girls’ teams in the region, Katy soon returned to her first passion and excelled, representing England for U18, U19, Academy and England A sides.  In December 2020 Katy announced her retirement from international Rugby leaving her legacy of being the third most capped player and second highest England points scorer of all time with a total of 542. Katy also held the England captaincy for over four years and led her nation to a famous IRB World Cup victory at the Jean Bouin stadium, Paris in 2014.

Having achieved the ultimate honour in the 15 a side version of the game Katy was one of only 20 players in 2014 to be offered a full-time 7's contract by the RFU. She went on to represent the British Women’s Sevens squad in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, contributing 17 points from a try and six conversions during the global event.

 

In 2017 Katy was offered a full-time contract again, this time in the 15 a side version of the game, where she earned her place back as England's first choice fly half. She went on to play a key role in securing Englands place in the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup Final against New Zealand in Ireland.  

 

Continuing as a full-time rugby professional, Katy was part of the squad which finished runners up to France in the 2018 6 Nations, losing by just one point in the crunch game of the series. Later in the same year Katy joined an illustrious group of only six England players to make 100 appearances for their country, earning a century of caps in the match against USA at Allianz Park on November 9th. England won the fixture 57-5 with Katy scoring a try, kicking 12 points and earning the Quilter player of the match award.  

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In 2019 Katy gained further honours as England renewed their dominance in the 6 Nations, lifting the trophy for the eighth time of her career after a strong performance against Scotland at Twickenham.  During the tournament Katy also made history by joining Owen Farrell and Jonny Wilkinson in scoring more than 500 points for their country, becoming the first woman ever to do so and becoming England's highest ever female point scorer.

 

Katy was nominated by her peers for the RPA Player's Player award in both 2018 and 2019 and in November 2019 was recognised for some of the strongest performances of her career, shortlisted by the International Rugby Board for World Player of the Year.

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On the domestic front, in 2020 Katy joined Sale Sharks as player/coach and in 2021 was made Women's Performance Lead. 

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Also in November 2021 Katy was named in the Barbarian Women's squad for the clash against the Springbok Women’s XV at Twickenham.  Katy, playing in her final match, was one of the stars of the show and was named player of the match thanks to an inspired display that included one try and four conversions.

Outside of training and competition commitments Katy enjoys engaging with a wide variety of client groups in both corporate and educational settings, aiming to share her experiences and inspire audiences of all ages.