Kevin David McDonald (born 4 November 1988) is a Scottish 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 ...
who plays as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for club
Exeter City
Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...
.
He began his career with
Dundee before moving to England to sign for
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
, for whom he played one season in 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 Fo ...
. He spent two full seasons with
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
before moving to
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
in 2013 where he spent three seasons. McDonald signed for
Fulham in 2016 and made his full international debut for
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
in March 2018. His career was disrupted by illness, which resulted in him needing a kidney transplant. He left Fulham in 2021 and, after recovering from the operation, he signed for
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
.
Club career
Dundee
Born in
Carnoustie
Carnoustie (; sco, Carnoustie, gd, Càrn Ùstaidh) is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast. In the 2011 census, Carnoustie had a population of 1 ...
, McDonald was initially signed as a youngster by
Dundee and worked his way into the first team for the Scottish Championship side. He had been the subject of a £75,000 bid from
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
in June 2006 which was rejected by Dundee.
By May 2008, Dundee manager
Alex Rae told the media that he would let McDonald leave the club if a suitable offer was received.
On the same day it was revealed that Dundee had rejected an offer of £250,000 from English
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
side
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
.
Burnley
Burnley eventually had a second offer of £500,000 accepted, and McDonald was signed on a three-year deal,
scoring his first goal for the club in a 3–0 win over
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
at the end of November 2008.
In Burnley's 2008–09 League Cup campaign McDonald scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Arsenal at Turf Moor. His second strike against the Gunners was particularly precise, an outside of the right foot strike from the edge of the area.
His career with Burnley suffered after he left the stadium without permission (after being substituted) during a 6–1 defeat against
Manchester City in April 2010.
Out of the Burnley first team, he signed for Championship rivals
Scunthorpe United on a one-month loan in October 2010. This was followed by another loan to League One side
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...
in February 2011, running until the end of the 2010/11 season.
Sheffield United
At the end of the 2010–11 season McDonald was released by Burnley and undertook a trial with League One
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
leading to a one-year contract with the
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...
club.
McDonald made his debut for the Blades against
Brentford on 13 August 2011.
Initially used as a substitute he gradually became the focus of the team's midfield and a regular starter as the season progressed and the team contested for a promotion place. An injury during the play–off semi-final victory against
Stevenage meant that McDonald missed the
play-off final, which was lost on penalties to
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
. Out of contract, it was initially uncertain whether he would return to the club, but following negotiations he signed a new two-year contract with Sheffield United at the end of July 2012 whilst in Malta on their pre-season tour.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
![Kevin McDonald](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Kevin_McDonald.jpg)
On 14 August 2013 McDonald moved to fellow League One club
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
, signing a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee (reported to be £750,000). After making his Wolves debut as a substitute in a 2–1 win at
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
on 17 August 2013, he scored his first goal two weeks later in a 3–1 win at
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 ...
on 31 August.
McDonald became a regular starting player in the Wolves' side that set a new League One points record (103) as it won the division. At the conclusion of the campaign, he won both the Fans' as well as the Players' Player of the Season Awards, having been already also named in the PFA's League One Team of the Year.
At Championship level, he remained a regular member of Wolves' team, featuring in every league game as the club missed out on the play-off on goal difference. Over the summer he attracted interest from fellow Championship club
Fulham, who reportedly bid for the midfielder after failing to agree a new contract at Wolves. He admitted to being aware of the interest and said "it is obviously a bit unsettling not knowing where you are going to be". He subsequently agreed a new three-year deal at Wolves that was due to run until summer 2018.
Fulham
Despite his new contract agreement with Wolves, McDonald eventually moved to Fulham after the 2015–16 season, signing for the London club on 22 July 2016 for an undisclosed fee in a three-year deal (with the option of an additional year). He scored his first goal for Fulham in a 2–2 draw with
Cardiff City on 20 August 2016.
In March 2021, McDonald stated that he will receive a kidney transplant in April 2021 which may end his playing career prematurely.
[ McDonald was unable to play for Fulham during the 2020–21 season due to his illness.] He said in July 2021 that he had undergone the operation, having received a kidney from his brother Fraser. In August 2021 McDonald revealed that his kidney disease was IgA nephropathy
IgA nephropathy (IgAN), also known as Berger's disease () (and variations), or synpharyngitic glomerulonephritis, is a disease of the kidney (or nephropathy) and the immune system; specifically it is a form of glomerulonephritis or an inflammati ...
, a chronic disease characterised by the gradual build-up of an antibody in the kidneys' filtration system that causes a gradual deterioration in kidney performance.
Dundee United and afterwards
After leaving Fulham at the end of the 2020–21 season upon the expiry of his contract, McDonald went six months without a club. During January 2022, he trained with Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
, and signed a short-term contract with them on 1 February 2022. Released by United at the end of the season, he went on trial with Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
, playing for them in a pre-season friendly but missing out on a contract due to injury. He subsequently trained with Fulham's under-21 team and planned to do some coaching.
Exeter City
On 31 January 2023, McDonald signed for League One club Exeter City
Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...
on a short-term contract until the end of the season having been training with the club for a short period. McDonald scored his first goal for Exeter on 25 February, in a 2–0 win against Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...
.[ It was also his first goal since he received a kidney transplant in 2021,] and came eight days after his daughter was born.
International career
McDonald received his first call up to the senior Scotland team when Gordon Strachan
Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Co ...
called him up for a match against Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in August 2014. On 29 September 2015 he was called up again for games against Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
. McDonald was selected again in March 2018, this time by Alex McLeish
Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...
, for friendlies with Costa Rica and Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
. He made his international debut in a 1–0 home defeat against Costa Rica.
Career statistics
Honours
Burnley
*Football League Championship play-offs
The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...
: 2009
Wolverhampton Wanderers
* Football League One: 2013–14
Fulham
* EFL Championship play-offs: 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
, 2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
Individual
* PFA Team of the Year: 2013–14 League One[
* Football League One Team of the Season: 2013–14]
References
External links
Kevin McDonald profile
at the Scottish Football Association website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Kevin
1988 births
Living people
People from Carnoustie
Footballers from Angus, Scotland
Scottish footballers
Scotland youth international footballers
Scotland under-21 international footballers
Scotland international footballers
Association football midfielders
Dundee F.C. players
Burnley F.C. players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
Notts County F.C. players
Sheffield United F.C. players
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
Fulham F.C. players
Dundee United F.C. players
Exeter City F.C. players
Scottish Football League players
English Football League players
Premier League players
Kidney transplant recipients