Mitchell Glenn Donald (born 10 December 1988) is a 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 ...

who plays as a

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 ...

. He previously played for

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the ...

, where he went through the youth program. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Suriname national team.

Club career

Ajax

Born in

Nieuw-Vennep Nieuw-Vennep is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It's located near the capital city Amsterdam as well as Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. It has a population of 31,415 (2021), and is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, which ...

, Donald joined Ajax following spells at amateur sides SV Bijlmer and

A.V.V. Zeeburgia The Amsterdamse Voetbalvereniging Zeeburgia is a association football, football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. It has been dubbed "Royal warrant of appointment, royal supplier" as many Dutch professional footballers started at Zeeburgia youth t ...

. He joined the first team of Ajax after the 2006–07 winter break in February 2007. Donald made his professional Ajax debut under manager

Henk ten Cate Hendrik Willem ten Cate (born 9 December 1954) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player. In the 2005–06 season, he was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the team won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. ...

on 14 February 2007 in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

clash against

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for th ...

. In August 2007 he participated in the 1–0 win over

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, wh ...

to clinch the Johan Cruijff-schaal, his first trophy. Donald made his Eredivisie debut on 23 September 2007 in a match against AZ, coming on as a substitute for

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Dirk Jan Klaas "Klaas-Jan" Huntelaar (; born 12 August 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker. Huntelaar played for PSV, De Graafschap, AGOVV Apeldoorn, Heerenveen, Ajax, Real Madrid and Milan, before joining ...

. He went on to make two more substitutes appearances in the 2007–08 season, on 25 November 2007 against

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vit ...

and on 13 January 2008 against AZ. Donald made no appearances in the Eredivisie in the 2008–09 season under manager

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and retired professional player, who played for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

after being badly injured in pre-season at the

Amsterdam Tournament The Amsterdam Tournament ( nl, Amsterdam Toernooi) was a pre-season association football competition, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The competition was hosted by Eredivisie club Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. It was inaugurated in 1975 as t ...

in a challenge on Inter's Adriano, but he reestablished himself in the squad following the appointment of

Martin Jol Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16 January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. He played over 400 games during his career which included spells in the Netherlands, Germany, and England, as well as earning three caps w ...

. On 27 July 2009, almost exactly a year after injuring himself there, Donald appeared once again at the Amsterdam Tournament in a match against S.L. Benfica. Jol stated that the game of Donald was "surprising" and that his game was "very good and beautiful for such a young player. It also gives confidence and that is important". On 20 August 2009 he came on as a substitute in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

match against Slovan Bratislava, and was in the starting lineup the following week in the away return match. On 20 September 2009, Donald played his first Eredivisie match in 20 months, coming on as a substitute in an away match against

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, followin ...

. On 11 December 2009 (one day after his 21st birthday), Donald scored his first Eredivisie goal for Ajax in a 3–0 victory over

N.E.C. NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion f ...

Loan spell at Willem II

On 29 January 2010,

Willem II Willem II may refer to: People * William II, Prince of Orange (1626–1650), stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands * William II of the Netherlands (1792–1849), King of the Netherlands Other uses * Willem II (football club), a Du ...

signed the midfielder on loan from

until June 2011, where he joined his Ajax teammate Jan-Arie van der Heijden. On 5 February 2010, Donald scored on his debut for the club from

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-lar ...

in a 2–1 loss to

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

. Playing with Willem II, Donald collected 18 appearances at total, including 4 matches in

relegation play-off In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

Roda JC

On 2 February 2011 Donald signed a contract for

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie ...

, but he first joined on 1 July 2011 to his new team. Donald made his official debut for Roda JC replacing

Laurent Delorge Laurent Delorge (born 21 July 1979) is a Belgian former footballer. He formerly served AA Gent, Coventry City, Lierse SK, RSC Anderlecht, ADO Den Haag, Ajax and Roda JC Kerkrade. Career After scoring five goals in ten appearances in his J ...

in 3–0 defeat against

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

on 13 August 2011. While with the club, Donald collected 102 matches in all competitions for three seasons at total, scoring 16 goals.

Mordovia

In summer 2014 he signed with

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 200 ...

side Mordovia Saransk.

Red Star Belgrade

On 12 August 2015, he signed a 6-months loan deal with Serbian side

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in ...

, with option for permanent 2-year deal, under the condition that he appear in more than half the league games until the 2015-16 winter break. On 18 January 2016, it was announced that Donald had signed a 1.5-year contract with Red Star lasting until June 2017. In march 2016, it was announced that his gross salary amounts to 1.005.030 euros. On 27 July 2017, Donald became the first foreign captain in the club history, leading the team in 2–0 victory over

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

. He made his hundredth appearance for the club in the Eternal Derby, played on 13 December 2017. Scoring a goal in 2–1 away victory over

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

on 7 March 2018, Donald archived his 104 match for Red Star Belgrade, equalizing with

Carlos Eduardo de Fiori Mendes Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

as a most capable foreign footballer in the club history. Several days later, on Friday 9 March, he was hospitalized due to cardiac problems. On 14 April 2018, Donald became the most capped foreign footballer in the club's history. Replacing

Nemanja Radonjić Nemanja Radonjić ( sr-cyr, Немања Радоњић, ; born 15 February 1996) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Italian club Torino. He has also represented the Serbia national team s ...

in 81 minute of the Eternal Derby, Donald noted his 105th official game with Red Star Belgrade. He had been sent off after conflict with Seydouba Soumah on the field in last minutes of the match. On 19 May 2018, Donald scored in the final match of the

2017–18 Serbian SuperLiga The 2017–18 Serbian SuperLiga was the twelfth season of the Serbian SuperLiga since its establishment. The season began on 21 July 2017 and ended on 19 May 2018. FK Partizan are the defending champions from the previous season. Teams The leag ...

season, against

Voždovac Voždovac ( sr-cyr, Вождовац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2011 census results, the municipality has a population of 158,213 inhabitants. The municipality is located in the south-central part of the urban ...

for winning the second trophy with the club. The match was noted as his last under contract with Red Star, after he refused to sign new deal.

Yeni Malatyaspor

Donald moved to Turkey in summer 2018 by signing with Yeni Malatyaspor.Mitchell Donald profile
at Soccerway

International career

Born in the Netherlands, Donald is of Surinamese descent. He made 3 appearances for the Netherlands Under-21 team in 2009. He debuted with the Suriname national team in a 6–0

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tour ...

win over

Bermuda ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , ...

on 4 June 2021. A few weeks later on 25 June Donald was named to the Suriname squad for the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was originally scheduled t ...

Personal life

He is the older brother of the footballer

Joël Donald Joël Donald (born 13 May 1996) is a Dutch football player who plays for SVV Scheveningen in the Dutch Tweede Divisie. Club career He made his professional debut in the Eerste Divisie for SC Telstar on 9 September 2016 in a game against De Gr ...

. In late 2017, Donald owned a hookah lounge in Belgrade. Donald is the father of 2 daughters and is married to Esra Donald

Career statistics

Honours

;Ajax *

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. O ...

: 2006–07 * Johan Cruijff Shield:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

;Red Star Belgrade *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...

(2): 2015–16, 2017–18 ;Individual *

Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season The Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season is an annual award given to a set of 11 footballers in the top tier of Serbian football, the SuperLiga, who are seen to be the best 11 players of the calendar season. Winners 2008–09 Source 2009–10 ...

(2): 2015–16, 2016–17

References

External links

Voetbal International profile
* *
Mitchell Donald Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donald, Mitchell 1988 births Living people People from Haarlemmermeer Association football midfielders Footballers from North Holland Surinamese footballers Dutch footballers Netherlands under-21 international footballers A.V.V. Zeeburgia players AFC Ajax players Jong Ajax players Willem II (football club) players Roda JC Kerkrade players FC Mordovia Saransk players Red Star Belgrade footballers Yeni Malatyaspor footballers Büyükşehir Belediye Erzurumspor footballers Eredivisie players Russian Premier League players Serbian SuperLiga players Süper Lig players Suriname international footballers Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Surinamese expatriate footballers Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Serbia Expatriate footballers in Turkey Surinamese expatriate sportspeople in Russia Surinamese expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Surinamese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Russia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players