Anthony "Tony" McDonnell (born 10 February 1976, in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
) is a retired
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 for Irish side,
UCD.
McDonnell would spent the entirety of his career with UCD, becoming the clubs record longest serving player in history.
A former St Kevin's Boys player McDonnell made his League of Ireland debut on 27 March 1994 at Abbeycartron in a 2–1 win over Longford Town.
He went on to represent College until 2007, and is second on the all-time appearances list for the Dublin club as well as the club's sixth highest league goal scorer. He was also the club captain for the best part of a decade. He played as a right- or centre-back, but in later seasons he was deployed as a central midfielder. He made 308 league appearances for UCD, scoring 28 league goals, before deciding to call time on his career on 6 December 2007. The latter period of career was blighted by hamstring injuries, a major factor in his retirement. Asked about this in an interview, he replied that his hamstrings were "
ghter than a camels ass in a sand storm. They say all the lightning quick players have trouble with them……so no idea why I do!"
He was a nominee for the
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 ...
player of the year in the 2005 season, and was appointed chairman of 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 ...
in August 2006. He has also worked as a pundit on RTÉ's
Monday Night Soccer
''Monday Night Soccer'' is a former football television programme shown on RTÉ Two each Monday evening during the football season. Presented by Peter Collins, he was usually joined by two guests, like manager Damien Richardson and former Mill ...
show since retirement and still regularly attends UCD's home games.
His uncle is
Maurice Swan and his cousin is
Derek Swan
Derek Anthony Swan (born 24 October 1966) is an Irish former footballer who played as a forward. He played for Home Farm, Bohemians, Port Vale, FC Wageningen, Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk, Glentoran and UCD.
Club career
Swan began his career ...
.
Honours
Club
*
Leinster Senior Cup (football)
The Leinster Senior Cup is an association football cup competition organized by the Leinster Football Association. It is currently contested by LFA affiliated League of Ireland clubs, Leinster Senior League Senior Division clubs and invited teams ...
**
UCD 1995/96
*
FAI Super Cup
The FAI Super Cup was an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland. It was played for between 1998 and 2001. It was a pre-season tournament played in the summer before the regular League of Ireland season began. ...
**
UCD 2000/01
Individual
*
League of Ireland Premier Division Player of the Month The League of Ireland Player of the Month is awarded monthly to the best player in the League of Ireland. The winners are selected by Soccer Writers' Ireland, commonly known as the SWI (formerly known as Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland).
Win ...
**
UCD (March 2006)
See also
*
One-club man
References
External links
Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, Tony
Republic of Ireland association footballers
Association footballers from County Dublin
University College Dublin A.F.C. players
League of Ireland players
1976 births
Living people
Association football defenders