Donovan Ashton Simmonds (born 12 October 1988 in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

) is an English

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 last played for

Kingstonian Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...

. He plays as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. Simmonds began his youth career with London side

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

, before moving to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

where he failed to make any appearances. He spent two spells on loan with Gillingham and in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

with

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, before being released in 2009. He spent a short spell with Maltese club

Floriana Floriana ( mt, Il-Furjana or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a fortified town in the South Eastern Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014. Floriana i ...

, before returning to the United Kingdom to sign for

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...

in the

Scottish Football League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

. Simmonds signed for Conference North club Nuneaton Town in September 2010, and for

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

two months later. He later signed for Chelmsford City in September 2012.

Playing career

Coventry City

Simmonds joined

on a free transfer, signing a two-year deal following his release from the

academy at the end of the 2006–07 season. Simmonds had impressed while on trial, playing in two friendly matches and a testimonial match against

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

, in which he netted in a 5–0 win. He was one of a number of Coventry signings to have previously worked with manager Iain Dowie during their brief time together at Charlton.

Gillingham

On 28 March 2008, it was announced that Simmonds had joined Gillingham on loan until the end of the season, where he was given the number 2 (a number usually associated with right-backs). Simmonds made his ''Gills'' debut in a 2–1 home win against Luton Town on 1 April.

Kilmarnock

On 13 August 2008 Simmonds joined

on a loan deal set to last until 5 January 2009. Simmonds scored his debut ''Killie'' goal with a late header against

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

after coming on as a sub. In December, Kilmarnock announced that his loan deal had been extended until the end of the season.

Floriana

On 19 August 2009, it was confirmed that Simmonds had joined Maltese Premier League side

, following his release from Coventry. Simmonds scored his first goal since joining ''the Greens'' in the 1–0 win over Hamrun Spartans on 4 October 2009. After leaving Floriana, Simmonds trained with

, playing two trial matches to try to win a deal.

Greenock Morton

Simmonds signed for Scottish First Division side Morton on 27 February 2010, until the end of the season. He was released by Morton at the end of the 2009–10 season.

Rushden & Diamonds

Simmonds signed a contract with Rushden & Diamonds on 6 August 2010.

Nuneaton Town

He then signed for Conference North outfit Nuneaton Town on 20 September 2010 and played his debut less than 24 hours later in Nuneaton's 3–0 defeat of

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

Dover Athletic

Simmonds returned to

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

for his third club in less than half a season, joining

in December 2010 and scoring on his début against

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously ...

. He was released in May 2012 by the club.

Chelmsford City

Simmonds signed for

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

club

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

in September 2012. He scored two goals and made an assist in an FA Cup 1st round tie with local rivals Colchester United, which Chelmsford won 3–1.

Tilbury

In November 2013, Simmonds signed for

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

club,

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

and featured regularly in their starting lineup, before leaving the club at the end of the season.

Tamworth

On 2 August 2014, Donovan joined Conference North side Tamworth following a successful trial period, and was joined on the same day by

Brendon Daniels Brendon George Kofi Nana Osei Mainoo Daniels (born 24 September 1993) is an English footballer who plays as a winger for club Stourbridge. He turned professional at Crewe Alexandra in May 2011, but was released after two years with the club ...

and George Grayson.

Bishop's Stortford

Simmonds joined

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

in October 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simmonds, Donovan 1988 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Waltham Forest People from Walthamstow Men's association football forwards English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Charlton Athletic F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Floriana F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Nuneaton Town F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Tilbury F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players VCD Athletic F.C. players Kingstonian F.C. players English Football League players Isthmian League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in Malta Black British sportsmen