Simon Thomas Donnelly (born 1 December 1974) is a Scottish professional football player and coach. Donnelly played as a forward 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 ...

for Queen's Park, Celtic,

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 ...

, St Johnstone,

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 and

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 ...

. 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. 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 to Jackie McNamara 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 ...

, and Mark Wilson at

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. 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 al ...

. In July 1999, Donnelly – along with Phil O'Donnell – joined

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 Fo ...

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, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

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

in July. During his time at East End Park, his injuries returned and he was released two years later having made fewer than forty league appearances. He joined Partick Thistle 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 in a friendly against Oxford United. 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, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, Donnelly rejoined the ''Jags'' as a player-coach, scoring against Morton in a 2–0 win at Cappielow 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 was appointed manager.

International career

At end of the 1996–97 season, Donnelly made his

debut, making substitute appearances in the friendly matches against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

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

, working with another former Celtic player, Mark Wilson. Donnelly and Wilson were sacked by Brechin in October 2020.

Personal life

Donnelly grew up in Burnside,

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 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.

Career statistics

Celtic player Simon Donnelly
FitbaStats

Honours

Celtic *

: 1997–98 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1994–95 *

: 1997–98; runner-up: 1994–95

References

External links

Simon Donnelly profile
at the Scottish Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Simon Living people 1974 births People educated at Stonelaw High School Sportspeople from Rutherglen Scottish footballers Queen's Park F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Scotland under-21 international footballers Scotland international footballers Premier League players Scottish Premier League players 1998 FIFA World Cup players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Association football forwards Partick Thistle F.C. non-playing staff Dundee United F.C. non-playing staff York City F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from South Lanarkshire