Simon Thomas Donnelly (born 1 December 1974) is a Scottish 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'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player and coach. Donnelly played as a
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
or
wide 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 ...
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 ...
,
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
Dunfermline Athletic
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...
,
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...
and
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.
He established himself at Celtic, winning the Scottish League title in 1997–98 and being a member of the Scotland squad at the
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
. In 1999 he moved to English football with Sheffield Wednesday, but struggled with injuries in his time there. Returning to Scotland, he played for St Johnstone, Dunfermline and Partick Thistle before his playing retirement in 2011.
He has since moved into coaching, acting as
assistant manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
to
Jackie McNamara
Jackie McNamara (born 24 October 1973) is a Scottish professional football agent, and former player, manager and executive. He won 33 international caps playing for Scotland, and filled a variety of defensive roles in his career.
McNamara beg ...
at Partick Thistle,
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
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
Brechin City
Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...
.
Club career
A wide forward, Donnelly started his career at Queen's Park but left in 1993 to join
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 ...
. He made his league debut towards the end of the 1993–94 season, appearing as a substitute in a 0–0 draw against Hibernian. Playing in the majority of matches from March onwards, Donnelly scored five league goals in 12 appearances. He failed to improve on this tally in the following season as he did not score in 17 outings, although the team reached both domestic cup finals, and he was part of Celtic's
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1995–96 season, Donnelly became a regular, missing only one league match and scoring six goals, and featured in the majority of the 1996–97 campaign.
The 1997–98 season saw Donnelly's best return of goals, scoring 10 goals in 30 league matches as Celtic won the
Scottish Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...
and
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
. The following season, he scored five goals in 23 appearances in what was his final year at
Celtic Park
Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...
. In July 1999, Donnelly – along with Phil O'Donnell – joined
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
on a Bosman free transfer.
Donnelly's time at Wednesday was interrupted by a series of injuries and he played only a dozen matches 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 Foo ...
that season, scoring once as Wednesday were relegated. The following season, he featured in just three matches, although he played in 23 games in the 2001–02 season. In his final season at Hillsborough, Donnelly scored two goals in fifteen league matches before being released.
Joining
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 ...
on trial, Donnelly instead returned to Scotland with St Johnstone, signing a one-year deal in August 2003. Surprisingly, given his injury history, he featured in every league match of that season, scoring eight goals before signing for
Dunfermline Athletic
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...
in July. During his time at
East End Park
East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of .
The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Championship sid ...
, his injuries returned and he was released two years later having made fewer than forty league appearances.
He joined
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...
in June 2006 and played regularly for three seasons. He was initially released at the end of the 2008–09 season, and made a substitute appearance 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 Green ...
in a friendly against
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
. However, following the departure of Partick coach John Henry to
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, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
, Donnelly rejoined the ''Jags'' as a player-coach, scoring against Morton in a 2–0 win at
Cappielow
Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton, w ...
later that season. In a similar pattern, Donnelly was then released by Partick again at the end of the 2009–10 season, but soon re-signed once more on a one-year contract. In 2011 he ceased playing but continued at the club as a coach after his friend and teammate
Jackie McNamara
Jackie McNamara (born 24 October 1973) is a Scottish professional football agent, and former player, manager and executive. He won 33 international caps playing for Scotland, and filled a variety of defensive roles in his career.
McNamara beg ...
was appointed manager.
International career
At end of the 1996–97 season, Donnelly made his
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
debut, making substitute appearances in the friendly matches against
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. The following season Donnelly also featured regularly for Scotland, playing in a number of friendlies ahead of the 1998 World Cup, although he failed to make an appearance during the tournament. Donnelly won ten Scotland caps during his career, and had played for Scotland under-21 before appearing for the senior side.
Coaching career
On 30 January 2013, Donnelly left Partick Thistle and joined Dundee United as assistant manager, accompanying Jackie McNamara who had been appointed manager. He left Dundee United in September 2015, following McNamara's departure.
Donnelly was announced as York City's assistant manager two months later, following McNamara to Bootham Crescent. After McNamara's resignation as manager and appointment as chief executive, Donnelly left the club on 16 October 2016.The big interview: Ex-Celtic star Simon Donnelly has gone from Bhoy to man and has a brilliant CV - now he just needs a job Daily Record, 13 August 2017
In September 2020, Donnelly landed the assistant manager's job at Scottish side
Brechin City
Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...
, working with another former Celtic player, Mark Wilson. Donnelly and Wilson were sacked by Brechin in October 2020.
Rutherglen
Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...
and attended
Stonelaw High School
Stonelaw High School is a non-denominational state high school located in Rutherglen, Scotland near the city of Glasgow.
Admissions
Stonelaw High School is a leading Scottish school delivering the new National 4/5 qualifications introduced by t ...
. His father
Tom Donnelly
Thomas Mathew Donnelly (born 1 October 1981) was a rugby union player who played for Montpellier in the Top 14. He also made 15 appearances for the All Blacks since 2009 and played for Otago Rugby Football Union. He moved into a coaching care ...
was also a footballer, who failed to break into the team at Rangers in the late 1960s but played for
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
and
East Stirlingshire
East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...
over the next decade before becoming a school teacher.
Scottish Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1994–95
*
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...