Ray Donnellan (30 December 1926 – 9 July 2008) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er. He was born into a footballing family, with his relatives including

Steve ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

and Frank Donnellan.The Footy Almanac
/ref> He played with the

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL) between 1949 and 1951, appearing in a total of 40 games. In 1953, Donnellan moved to the ACT where he played for the

Manuka Football Club Manuka Football Club is a defunct Australian rules football club that played in the AFL Canberra from 1928–1991. The club played at Manuka Oval in the inner-south suburbs of Canberra. It merged with Eastlake Football Club in 1991. Notable pla ...

in the

Canberra Australian National Football League AFL Canberra is the name of the local governing body for and premier competition of Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory (and the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales). It acts as an umbrella to several competitions be ...

(CANFL). He was runner-up in the

Mulrooney Medal The Mulrooney Medal is an Australian rules football award for the best and fairest player in the AFL Canberra first-grade competition. It has been the premier individual award for Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory sinc ...

in his first season, and in 1955 won a premiership the following year as Manuka's

captain-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

. He also captained the CANFL to wins in representative games against the NSWANFL and QANFL. Donnellan switched to Ainslie for the 1957 season as captain-coach. He and the club won consecutive premierships in 1958–59, and also made the grand final in 1960 losing to

Eastlake Eastlake may refer to: Places ;Australia * Kingston, Australian Capital Territory, formerly called Eastlake ** Eastlake Football Club, an amateur Australian Rules Football Club named after that location ;United States * Eastlake, Lake County, C ...

. Donnellan moved to

Acton Acton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Acton Australia * Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie * Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton Canada ...

in 1961, as non-playing coach. Outside of football, Donnellan worked as a public servant with the federal Department of Territories and its predecessors. He worked in the areas of parks and recreation, including as superintendent of

Lake Burley Griffin Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Walte ...

for a time, and was involved in organisation of the 1977 Pacific Conference Games and the establishment of the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS). Donnellan was also an occasional sportswriter for ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', writing mainly on football issues.Retirement press release
/ref> His nephew

Luke Donnellan Luke Anthony Donnellan (born 26 March 1966) is a former Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly between 2002 and his retirement in 2022, representing Narre Warren North. He was the Minister for ...

became a politician in Victoria.

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnellan, Ray 1926 births 2008 deaths Ainslie Football Club coaches Ainslie Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Fitzroy Football Club players Manuka Football Club players Manuka Football Club coaches