Don Donovan (23 December 1929 – 26 September 2013) was an Irish professional football player and manager.

Career

He was a right back who played for

Everton F.C. Everton Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Liverpool that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club was a founder member of the Football League in 1888 and has compe ...

and Grimsby Town. Donovan joined Everton in 1951 from junior football in Ireland and went on to play 187 times for The Toffees scoring just twice. In August 1958, he was transferred to Grimsby Town for a fee of £5,000 where he played until 1964 before becoming player manager of

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

. He was a huge success at Boston, winning League titles in each of his three seasons with the club. At international level, he represented

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

five times at senior level making his debut in November 1954 His son Terry Donovan was also a professional footballer who went on to play for the

, and his granddaughter is

Keeley Donovan Keeley Emma Donovan (born 14 May 1983) is an English journalist and broadcaster, working for the BBC as a weather presenter for television and radio stations in the North of England. Early life Donovan was born in Grimsby and grew up in nearb ...

, the

weather presenter A weather presenter (also known colloquially in North America as a weatherman or weather broadcaster) is a person who presents the weather forecast daily on radio, television or internet news broadcasts. Using diverse tools, such as projected weath ...

Death

Donovan died on 26 September 2013.

References

External links

Don Donovan
Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Transfer Database

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Don 1929 births 2013 deaths Association footballers from Cork (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Everton F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Boston United F.C. players English Football League players Republic of Ireland association football managers Boston United F.C. managers Men's association football fullbacks