Lorne Garfield Donaldson is a Jamaican

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who was most recently the head coach of

Chicago Stars FC Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chica ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL).

Playing career

Donaldson attended and played soccer at Kingston College in Jamaica. He also played for Cavalier F.C. in 1980, Donaldson entered

Metropolitan State University of Denver Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver or Metro State) is a public university in Denver, Colorado, United States. It is located on the Auraria Campus, along with the University of Colorado Denver and the Community College of Denver ...

. He was a 1981 NAIA First Team All American soccer player. In 1995, MSU Denver inducted Donaldson into its Hall of Fame. Donaldson also played for the Denver Kickers when they won the 1983

National Amateur Cup The National Amateur Cup, also known as the USASA Amateur Cup, is an American knockout soccer competition open to all amateur teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation through United States Adult Soccer Association The Unite ...

. In 1997, he played one game for the

Colorado Foxes The Colorado Foxes were a professional men's soccer club originally based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and USL A-League. Founded in 1990, the club moved to San Diego, California in ...

Coaching career

Following the completion of his playing career at MSU Denver, Donaldson continued as an assistant coach with the men's soccer team while finishing his degree. He served as an assistant coach with the

before becoming the head coach. He was the 1996

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

Coach of the Year. In 1997, he became a coach with the Douglas County Soccer Association. The Douglas County Soccer Association runs the Real Colorado Foxes, a team Donaldson coaches. On 29 January 2001, Donaldson became an assistant coach with the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. In June 2022, Donaldson was named Head Coach of Jamaica Women women's football team. In July 2023, Donaldson lead Jamaica's "Reggae Girlz" to their second consecutive World Cup. The Jamaica Football Federation, said after a conversation with Lorne Donaldson, whose contract as head coach of the Reggae Girlz runs out on 30 September 2023, there will not be a renewal. After guiding the Reggae Girlz to a second successive World Cup appearance and a historic berth in the round of 16 this summer, the veteran coach, made it clear that he had not had contract renewal talks with the federation and that the chance of him continuing seemed slim. The JFF and Donaldson met to discuss his contract and after an extended discussion, both parties agreed not to renew the contract. On 20 December 2023, the

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

(later renamed Chicago Stars FC) announced Donaldson as their new head coach. He led 2023's bottom-of-the-table team to the 2024 playoffs in his first season. After getting just one win from six games to start the 2025 season, Chicago fired Donaldson on 30 April 2025.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Lorne Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Jamaican men's footballers Men's association football players not categorized by position MSU Denver Roadrunners men's soccer players Cavalier F.C. players Colorado Foxes players Jamaican expatriate men's footballers Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Jamaican football managers American Professional Soccer League coaches Women's association football managers Jamaica women's national football team managers Jamaican expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup managers Chicago Red Stars head coaches Chicago Stars FC head coaches