James Doona (born 15 January 1998) is an Irish professional footballer, currently playing for

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

side

Glenavon Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Gar ...

Club career

Youth career

Raised in School Street in

The Liberties The Liberties (Irish: ''Na Saoirsí'' or occasionally ''Na Libirtí'') is an area in central Dublin, Ireland, located in the southwest of the inner city. Formed from various areas of special manorial jurisdiction, separate from the main city g ...

, Doona started playing football with Lourdes Celtic. His form there earned him moves to two of the country's top schoolboy clubs, Crumlin United and then Stella Maris. Doona's took his first step towards

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

football by signing for

Inchicore Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchicore railway works (b ...

club

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

's youth setup. In August 2015 Doona signed for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

Under 19's squad, where he played for the 2015 short season and the also 2016 season with them.

Shamrock Rovers

2015 & 2016 seasons

Doona's first involvement with the

first team was on 8 September 2015 when he played in their 1–0 Leinster Senior Cup. He made two more first team appearances for the first team that season, both in the Leinster Senior Cup, a semi final win over

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

, playing alongside

Damien Duff Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional football manager and former player who played predominantly as a winger. He has been the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C. since November 2021. He began his prof ...

as well as playing in the final as Rovers lost 3–1 to

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

. Doona's first league appearance in senior football came on 29 May 2016 when he came off the bench in a 1–1 draw with

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

at the

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium ( ga, Staid Thamhlachta) is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of the stadium in July, 1996. The stadium is now ow ...

. His first senior goal came on 19 August 2016 when he scored the fifth goal in a 5–0 away win over

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

in the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

. In all, Doona played in 12 games in 2016, scoring one goal.

2017 season

2017 saw Doona become a full member of the first team squad as he no longer had any involvement with the Under 19's. This allowed manager Stephen Bradley to use Doona a lot more and this saw him feature in 27 games, scoring 6 goals. He scored an important 120th minute winner over

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

in the semi-final of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

and also played in the final as Rovers lost 3–0 to

. He was mainly used off the bench however as he started in just 4 of his 18 league appearances as well as being an unused substitute in all 4 of Rovers

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

campaign as they played against

Stjarnan Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan, commonly known as Stjarnan, is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær.and in the top 10 in the World and they have won the League ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

before being knocked out by

FK Mladá Boleslav FK Mladá Boleslav is a Czech football club based in the city of Mladá Boleslav . The club currently plays in the Czech First League. Mladá Boleslav were runners up in the 2005–06 Czech First League and went on to play in the 2006–07 UEFA ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. In the off-season, Doona trained with

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

who were set to sign the 19 year old but a move never materialised.

St Patrick's Athletic

2018 season

On 12 December 2017, it was announced that Doona had signed for his boyhood club from his native

. The transfer was seen as a shock move among

circles but upon signing, Doona spoke of how he lives only 2 minutes from

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, C ...

as well as speaking about how he regularly attended games before starting his own career and has fond memories of

Chris Forrester Christopher Stephen Forrester (born 17 December 1992) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic in the League of Ireland Premier Division. He has also previously played for Bohemians, Peterborough Un ...

Christy Fagan Christopher Joseph Fagan (born 11 May 1989), known as Chris or Christy Fagan, is a retired Irish footballer who played as a forward. He last played for St Patrick's Athletic in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Club career Born in Dubli ...

and

Killian Brennan Killian Brennan (born 31 January 1984) is an Irish retired footballer who played as a midfielder in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Career Early career Noted for his wing play and ability to fire in accurate crosses, Brennan was signe ...

's performances on the way to the club's 2013 title win. He made his debut in a 3–1 Leinster Senior Cup win away to

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Fánaithe Bhré) are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''B ...

on 4 February 2018. Doona got his first assists for the Saints when he set up two goals for Michael Leahy in extra time of the Saints 4–4

draw with

. Doona played the full 120 minutes and scored his penalty in the shootout as his side lost 8–7 on penalties. Doona struggled for game time under

Liam Buckley Liam Buckley (born 14 April 1960), is an Irish former professional footballer. He made two appearances for the Republic of Ireland national football team. He was most recently the manager of League of Ireland Premier Division club Sligo Rover ...

but the manager left the club in September, with his assistant

Ger O'Brien Gerard O'Brien (born 2 July 1984) is an Irish former professional footballer who played in the League of Ireland as a defender. He is the current Director of Football of St Patrick's Athletic, who he spent 5 seasons playing with. His former cl ...

restoring Doona to the team towards the end of the season. On the last day of the season, Doona scored his first goals for the club as he scored twice in a 5–0 win over Derry City in front of the onlooking newly appointed Saints manager

Harry Kenny Harry Kenny (born 13 April 1962) is an Irish footballer who last managed at St Patrick's Athletic before resigning in August 2019. During his playing career he spent 13 seasons playing for Shamrock Rovers. Harry, or 'H' as his friends nickn ...

. This display impressed Kenny enough to offer Doona a new contract for the 2019 season on 23 November 2018.

2019 season

Doona's first goal of the season came in the

, scoring in a 2–1 loss at home to

on 1 April 2019. On 22 October 2019 Doona came off the bench away to Derry City in the 77th minute and scored 2 goals within 5 minutes to give his side a 3–1 win, his first league goals of the season. This earned him his first start of the season, away to Champions

on the last day of the season. It was announced on 6 November 2019 that Doona had been released following the end of his contract. Doona played in two friendly games with the

PFAI The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland (PFAI) is the representative body for professional and semi-professional footballers in Republic of Ireland. Players from all nationalities in the League of Ireland are represented, not just Iri ...

's out of contract squad, scoring in a 5–1 win over Rochdale XI and another in a 1–0 win over Home Farm.

2020 season

On 8 January 2020, it was announced that Doona had signed a new one year contract with

, with manager Stephen O'Donnell changing his mind on Doona having originally allowed him to leave the club. Doona started the 2020 season off when he scored 2 goals in a 5–1 pre-season friendly win over

Cobh Ramblers Cobh Ramblers Football Club (CRFC) ( ga, Cumann Peile Chóstóirí Chóbh) is an Irish football club. The club, founded in 1922 and elected to the League of Ireland in 1985, hails from Cobh, County Cork and play their home matches at St. Colm ...

on 16 January 2020 and another against

Galway United Galway United Football Club (Irish language, Irish: ''Cumann Peile Ghaillimh Aontaithe'') is an List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Fi ...

on 4 February. The season proved to be a difficult one for Doona, as the league season was halved due to the

Coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

which also saw the

and Leinster Senior Cup abandoned. As a result of this, Doona struggled for game time, playing in 8 of the club's 19 league and cup games, starting just 1 of them as his side finished in 6th place, missing out on European football on the final day of the season.

Athlone Town

Doona signed for

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

side

on the 21st December 2020, ahead of the 2021 season. Doona made a total of 25 appearances for the club, scoring 6 goals as they finished in 7th place.

Cork City

On 6 November 2021, Doona signed for fellow

club

ahead of the 2022 season. He made his debut for the club in a 6–0 win over

at the

Carlisle Grounds The Carlisle Grounds is a football stadium in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. Situated directly behind the Bray D.A.R.T. station, it is home to Bray Wanderers A.F.C. History The Carlisle Grounds can claim to be the Football Association of I ...

on 18 February 2022. Doona's first goal for the club came on 9 May 2022, when he scored a 25th minute penalty in a 3–0 win away to

Treaty United Treaty United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Limerick. The club was founded in 2020 following the demise of Limerick F.C. and began playing in the League of Ireland in 2021. They play their home matches at Market ...

in the Munster Senior Cup Semi Final. Doona made 19 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring 1 goal as they won the

2022 League of Ireland First Division The 2022 League of Ireland First Division season is the 38th season of the League of Ireland First Division, the second tier of the Republic of Ireland's association football league. The title was won by Cork City. Overview The First Division ...

, earning promotion To the Premier Division.

Longford Town

He signed for

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

of the

on 16 December 2022 for the 2023 season.

Glenavon

Following the expiry of his Longford Town contract, Doona signed for

side

on 16 November 2023, being eligible to play from 1 January 2024. He scored on his debut for the club, a 4-0 win over Knockbreda in the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

, and his first league goal came in a 2-2 draw with Linfield on 10 February.

International career

Doona made 2 appearances for the Republic of Ireland Under 18's on 28 and 30 November 2015, both against Czech Republic Under 18's.

Career statistics

''Professional appearances – correct as of 26 April 2024.''

Honours

St Patrick's Athletic * Leinster Senior Cup:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Cork City *

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doona, James 1998 births Living people People from The Liberties, Dublin Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Stella Maris F.C. players Crumlin United F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Athlone Town A.F.C. players Cork City F.C. players Longford Town F.C. players League of Ireland players Men's association football midfielders Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers