O'Neill McKay Donaldson (born 24 November 1969) is an English former 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 lea ...

who played as a striker. He notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, as well as in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

. He also started and finished his playing career in non-league with Hinckley United and

Halesowen Town Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground. History The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rec ...

respectively.

Career

Donaldson began his career at non-league Hinckley United where his form attracted the attention of

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

scouts, leading to him ultimately signing for

in November 1991. Donaldson did not gain a regular first team spot at the club, most often appearing as a substitute and was given a free transfer to

in 1994. Although he did not gain a regular first team place at Rovers either, Donaldson's reputation grew from a brief but goal-heavy spell on loan at

and it was his form at that club which convinced

to sign him for £50,000. Donaldson made his debut for the Owls as a sub against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

on 18 March 1995. However, he quickly faded from the first team picture at a time when Wednesday boasted the likes of

Mark Bright Mark Abraham Bright (born 6 June 1962) is an English sports correspondent and former Association football, footballer. Born to a The Gambia, Gambian father and English mother, he was adopted into a foster family in Stoke-on-Trent at an early a ...

and David Hirst up front and Donaldson was forced to settle for a reserve role at the Hillsborough club. He largely impressed during a loan spell at

, although then manager Malcolm Shotton blamed the player's

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...

for blocking a deal that would have brought Donaldson to the Manor Ground on a permanent basis. Indeed, such was the desire to see Donaldson remain at the club full-time that a local fanzine editor even wrote to the player in an attempt to convince him to reconsider. Ultimately Donaldson was released by Wednesday in March 1998 for a frustrating two-month spell at

, before he spent a further three years at

where injury and a lack of form once again denied him a regular first team place. He left the league in 2001 for a brief spell at

in the Western Division of the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

before retiring from football.

Career statistics

Source:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Oneill 1969 births Doncaster Rovers F.C. players English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Halesowen Town F.C. players Hinckley United F.C. players Living people Mansfield Town F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Premier League players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands Stoke City F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players English Football League players