O'Neill Donaldson

O'Neill McKay Donaldson (born 24 November 1969) is an English former footballer.

Career

Donaldson began his career at non-league Hinckley United where his form attracted the attention of Football League scouts, leading to him ultimately signing for Shrewsbury Town in November 1991. Donaldson did not gain a regular first team spot at the club, most often appearing as a substitute and was given a free transfer to Doncaster Rovers in 1994. Although he did not gain a regular first team place at Rovers either, Donaldson's reputation grew from a brief but goal-heavy spell on loan at Mansfield Town and it was his form at that club which convinced Sheffield Wednesday to sign him for £50,000.^[1]

Donaldson made his debut for the Owls as a sub against Manchester City on 18 March 1995.^[2] However he quickly faded from the first team picture at a time when Wednesday boasted the likes of Mark Bright and David Hirst up front and Donaldson was forced to settle for a reserve role at the Hillsborough club. He largely imprssed during a loan spell at Oxford United, although then manager Malcolm Shotton blamed the player's agent for blocking a deal that would have brought Donaldson to the Manor Ground on a permanent basis.^[3] Indeed such was the desire to see Donaldson remain at the club full-time that a local fanzine editor even wrote to the player in an attempt to convince him to reconsider.^[4]

Ultimately Donaldson was released by Wednesday in March 1998 for a frustrating two month spell at Stoke City, before he spent a further three years at Torquay United where injury and a lack of form once again denied him a regular first team place. He left the league in 2001 for a brief spell at Halesowen Town in the Western Division of the Southern Football League before retiring from football.

Career statistics

• Sourced from The English National Football Archive

References

External links

• O'Neill Donaldson career stats at Soccerbase