Ryan Henk Donk (born 30 March 1986) is a 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 as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club Kasımpaşa. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Suriname national team.

Club career

RKC and AZ

Donk impressed in the 2005–06 season at

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional football club based in Waalwijk, that is currently competing in the Eredivisie. Its name is derived from 'Rooms Katholieke Combinatie' ('Roman Catholic Combination' in Dutch) and was established as a merger ...

and with an expiring contract, he wanted to make a step up to a higher level. AZ first approached him, but other clubs including

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

, PSV and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

showed serious interest in him. Donk chose to go to AZ as a replacement for

Joris Mathijsen Joris Mathijsen (born 5 April 1980) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is the director of football at Willem II. Club career Mathijsen started his football career at SV VOAB in Goirle after he visited a tr ...

who had been sold to German club

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

, thinking it to be the best for his development. Initially, AZ intended to loan Donk to Waalwijk, but he stated his intent to stay at the club in an attempt to push into the first team. He earned himself a place in the starting lineup and impressed with his performances.

Loan to West Brom

On 31 August 2008, Donk signed for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

for one year on loan. He made his debut in a 1–0 win away at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

on 28 September 2008.

Club Brugge

On 26 June 2009, Donk moved from AZ in his home country of the Netherlands, to Belgium to play for

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

Kasımpaşa

At the start of the 2013–14 season, Donk transferred to Turkish side Kasımpaşa for an undisclosed fee. He played as a central defender for the team in his first two years, however during the first half of the 2015–16 season before transferring to

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

, he played mainly as defensive midfielder.

Galatasaray

On 5 January 2016,

announced that they had signed Donk. On 9 January 2016, Donk made his debut for Galatasaray and scored his first goal in penalty box against

Karşıyaka Karşıyaka () is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. The district extends for twelve kilometres along the northern and eastern coastline of the tip of the Gulf of İzmir. Its centre is at a distance of to the north from the traditional cen ...

in the

2015–16 Turkish Cup The 2015–16 Turkish Cup ( tr, Türkiye Kupası) is the 54th season of the Turkish Cup. Ziraat Bankası is the sponsor of the tournament, thus the sponsored name is Ziraat Turkish Cup. The winners will earn a berth in the group stage of the 201 ...

. He also made an assist for his teammate Bilal Kısa in same match. On 31 August 2016, after being rarely used by Galatasaray during his first season at the club, Donk joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

in a season-long loan deal, with a buyout clause.

Return to Kasımpaşa

In August 2021 Donk joined fellow Turkish club Kasımpaşa on a one year deal, with an option for a further year.

International career

In 2007 Donk was called up by Jong Oranje coach

Foppe de Haan Foppe Geert de Haan (, born 26 June 1943) is a Dutch association football, football coach. He is known for his long association with Friesland, Frisian club SC Heerenveen. De Haan was the manager of the Tuvalu national football team during 2011 ...

to be part of his squad for the

2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2007 were held from 10 June 2007 to 23 June 2007. It was the 16th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. Summary For the first time, a host nation was chosen ahead of the competition – the Nethe ...

held in the Netherlands. Donk participated in both of their first round group matches against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

(1–0 win) and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

(2–1 win) to secure a semi final spot and to qualify for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. During the tournament his sister was involved in a car accident. Donk left the Dutch squad for a day and returned into the tournament after it was known her health was improving. After the Dutch qualified for the semi final and Olympics Donk took off his football jersey to reveal another shirt having the text "Dit toernooi is voor jou, ik hou van je." (This tournament is dedicated to you, I love you.) on it to support his sister. In the semi finals against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(1–1, 13–12 after 32 penalty kicks) Donk assisted

Maceo Rigters Maceo Rigters (born 22 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker for SC Heerenveen, Dordrecht, NAC Breda and Willem II in the Netherlands, for Blackburn Rovers, Norwich City and Barnsley in England, and fo ...

to score his 90th-minute equaliser with a

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before d ...

which took the game into extra time. Donk was the only Dutch player on the field at the end of the game not to shoot a penalty after one England player (

Nedum Onuoha Chinedum Onuoha (born 12 November 1986) is an English former professional footballer and television pundit for ESPN. He also works for Manchester City as a community ambassador. As a player he was a centre back, but could also play at right ba ...

) was unable to shoot due to an injury while England had no substitutes left. The Dutch went on to retain their 2006 title by beating

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

4–1 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. After his display at the tournament, Donk made the pre-selection of the Dutch national team on 6 August. Born in the Netherlands and of Surinamese descent, Donk was called up for a friendly match with the

Suriname national football team The Suriname national football team ( nl, Surinaams voetbalelftal; Sranan Tongo: ) represents Suriname in international football. The team is controlled by the Surinamese Football Association, which is a member of CONCACAF. History Although th ...

in 2014, but was not given permission to join the squad. In 2015, Donk expressed an interest in representing the

Turkey national football team The Turkey national football team ( tr, Türkiye Millî Futbol Takımı) represents Turkey in men's international Association football, football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation ( tr, Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu ...

, being eligible through residence in the country. He has not received a formal callup to the team. In November 2019, Donk got an official call up by

Dean Gorré Dean Roberto Gorré (born 10 September 1970) is a Dutch-Surinamese football coach and former player. He is currently the interim coach of the Curaçao national team. Playing career Gorré made his debut on 20 April 1988 for SVV. He also went ...

to represent Suriname. He made his debut, as a team captain, on 24 March 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against the Cayman Islands and scored the second goal in a 3–0 victory. In June 2021 Donk was named to the 23-man Suriname squad for the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was originally scheduled t ...

Style of play

A tall and commanding defender, Donk has drawn comparisons to many former footballers – one being former Dutch defender

Jaap Stam Jakob Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation. Stam played for several European clubs including P ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Surinames' goal tally first.''

Honours

Galatasaray *

: 2017–18, 2018–19 *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

: 2015–16, 2018–19 * Süper Kupa:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

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 ...

References

External links