Aaron Martin Donnelly (born 8 June 2003) is a Northern Irish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for club

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

and the

Northern Ireland national team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. From 1882 to 1920, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Foo ...

. He turned professional at Nottingham Forest in August 2021. He spent the second half of the 2022–23 season on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

and was loaned out to

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

for the 2023–24 season.

Early and personal life

Aaron Martin Donnelly was born on 8 June 2003 in

Magherafelt Magherafelt (, �mˠaxəɾʲəˈfʲiːlt̪ˠə is a small town and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,805 at the 2011 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county and is the social, econo ...

to Noel and Martina. He has family from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

and is related to Dec Donnelly. He played

gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

as a forward growing up.

Club career

Nottingham Forest

In June 2019, Donnelly signed a deal with English side

from

Dungannon Swifts Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish, semi-professional football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the ...

, who he had played for since he was twelve. He had been scouted by

Gary Brazil Gary Nicholas Brazil (born 19 September 1962) is an English former professional footballer and football manager, who is now academy manager at Nottingham Forest. He scored 160 goals in 658 league and cup games in an 18-year professional career. ...

and Bob Shaw whilst playing in the

Victory Shield The Victory Shield is an annual football tournament competed for by the under-16 teams of Scotland, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The Victory Shield had traditionally been competed for by the four Home Nations, but the Football A ...

. In August 2021, Donnelly signed his first professional

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

with Forest. That deal was extended at the end of the 2021–22 season when Forest gained

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. He made his professional debut for Forest on 23 August 2022, when

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Steve Cooper started him in a 3–0

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

win over

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

. In December 2022, Donnelly had extended his contract with Forest.

Port Vale (loan)

On 23 January 2023, Donnelly joined

EFL League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

for the remainder of the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season. Manager

Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player who played in the English Football League. He is the manager of club Port Vale. A box-to-box midfielder, Clarke began his career with ...

said that Donnelly would provide competition on the left-side of defence following the departure of Connor Hall earlier in the month and noted that assistant manager

Andy Crosby Andrew Keith Crosby (born 3 March 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player who is interim manager at club Port Vale. A defender during his playing days, he began his career at Leeds United, but made his debut in th ...

had coached the player with the Northern Ireland under-21s. Donnelly made his debut in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

on 28 January, playing on the left-side of a back three alongside Nathan Smith and

Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was an American military officer, politician, and statesman. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He w ...

as the Vale kept a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in a 0–0 draw at

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

. On 4 March, he scored his first career goal to secure a 1–0 win over

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

, and dedicated the goal to a deceased supporter whose memory was being honoured with a minute's applause as Donnelly's volley hit the back of the net.

Dundee (loan)

On 24 July 2023, Donnelly joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club

on a season-long loan. Donnelly would suffer an injury in training shortly after, with Dundee manager

Tony Docherty Tony Docherty (born 24 January 1971 in East Kilbride) is a Scottish football player and coach. Career Docherty's short career began in 1987 with Dunfermline Athletic before moving to English side Cambridge United. In the early 1990s, Dochert ...

saying Donnelly "will be out for a while", and returned to Nottingham for treatment. He returned to Dundee ahead of schedule in September. He made his debut for the Dee on 28 October, starting in a 2–0 league victory away at

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

. He missed ten weeks due to injury. He was diagnosed with

Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome (WPWS) is a disorder due to a specific type of problem with the electrical system of the heart. About 60% of people with the electrical problem developed symptoms, which may include an abnormally fast heartbeat, ...

and underwent surgery in January. He said he had a good 2023–24 season despite the initial injury and health scares, making 21 total appearances, helping Dundee achieve a top six finish and earning call-ups to the

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

senior squad.

International career

Donnelly has competed with the

national team at under-17 and under-21 level. He received his first call-up to the senior side in June 2023. He was again called up in March 2024. Donnelly made his debut on 11 June 2024 in a friendly against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

Estadio Nueva Condomina Estadio Nueva Condomina, currently known as Estadio Enrique Roca de Murcia for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-use stadium in Murcia, Spain. Completed in 2006, it is used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and hosts the homes matche ...

in Murcia, Spain. He substituted Ciaron Brown in the 69th minute of a 2–0 victory for Northern Ireland.

Style of play

Donnelly is a left-sided defender who is aggressive in both defence and attack, providing crosses going forward, along with overlaps and underlaps.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Aaron 2003 births Living people Sportspeople from Magherafelt Men's association football defenders Association footballers from County Londonderry Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Northern Ireland men's international footballers Dungannon Swifts F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Dundee F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players